Ball game

We all went to Ben's softball game. The weather was cool, but not rainy. The game was short and intense. The Urban Achievers (Ben's team) lost 3 to 4, but Ben did really well. Cecilia slept through the beginning, then got a little fussy and hungry. She's been fussing more and more lately, so I think she's entering into a new stage.

Weekend in Cape Girardeau

We spent a long weekend in Cape Girardeau so Ben could go to Nick's bachelor party. We left Thursday night at 9:00 pm and got into Cape around 5:30 am on Friday morning. We hoped Cecilia would sleep, and she did for a good portion of it. However, we had to stop several times because she got very upset in her car seat. We spent Friday relaxing, and then Ben left early Saturday morning for the bachelor party. They went floating down the Current River, then camped out. Unfortunately, it was the middle of a heat wave. Boys don't talk about those parties much, but I understand that they had fun.

While Ben was gone with Nick, Elliott, and Stuart (+others), Cecilia and I hung out with Na-naw Swoboda. Several visitors came by in the morning, including the next door neighbors, Sandy and Nathan, Mary Ellen, Katie, and Danika. They brought Ceilia some womderful clothing and we are so excited to dress her up in them (especially Ben!). Celia spent her first time away from both mom and dad with Na-naw while I rehearsed with the pianist for Ashley and Nick's wedding. She did ok, although she did get a little upset for a while. Later, Kathy and I took her to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, which didn't go as smoothly as past excursions have. She fussed quite a bit and we ended up eating more in shifts. I think she was fussy because of all the new things and people.

Sunday morning we took her to church and she was so good throughout the service. She talked the whole time, but much less than the toddler in front of us! After church, we got back to na-naw and pa-paw's house and Daddy was home! Celia and Daddy got some quality time together for a while, and then Na-naw and Pa-paw got to watch Cecilia again while Hannah and Ben got their first solo dinner together since Celia was born! We went to The Pasta House and had a wonderful meal, and Hannah got her first glass of wine in about a year. It was wonderful and relaxing for mom and dad. We couldn't stay away too long, though, and we went straight back to our baby girl. She was so good for Na-naw and Pa-paw, but she missed us and we missed her.

Sunday night, the whole family was together, and the girls worked on final projects for Nick and Ashley's wedding. We are so excited! I can't wait to get a special dress for Cecilia and go back to Cape for the special day!

FYI - we took a picture (above) of Ben and Cecilia's feet together! It's like me and mini-me!

Our first happy bath!

Today, Cecilia was spending some time in our new "hotsling" when she spit up - a lot. It was almost like a fountain. So, mommy peeled the clothes off her and managed to remove the now soiled hotsling without everything spilling on the floor. It was clear, since she even managed to soak her diaper cover, that Cecilia needed a bath. This is typically a difficult feat because she dislikes baths. Recently, I had started to get in the bath with her because it keeps her calm a little longer. This time I didn't want to get in the tub with her without Ben there to get her in and out. So, I used her baby tub. Usually, this is not well received. This time I filled it up more full than usual, and Cecilia spent the bath looking around and kicking in the water. I didn't have the hands to take pictures during the bath, but I took a few videos after the bath was over. Yeah for happy baths!



It's just amazing how fascinating it is to watch your own baby. I just can't get enough of it!



Cecilia did in fact wet the changing pad before I got her in a diaper! Too much video time. Oh well, that's why we have 5 :)!

Father's Day

We celebrated our first Father's Day as a family. Ben, in fine husband and father form, took care of Cecilia in the morning and allowed Mommy to sleep in. After hanging out for a while, Ben opened his presents.


Ben decided to use his Best Buy gift card, so we packed up and headed to the local store. He picked out a Star Wars game and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Afterward, we went to dinner at Ben's choice of Buffalo Wild Wings. It was also Cecilia's first dinner at a restuarant. She did well, although she needed to be held most of the time. We came home after dinner and Ben gave us his comments on the day. It was a wonderful first Father's Day!


As for the videos, I know I am not a professional. I'm considering taking some sort of photography class beacause I am really terrible at pictures and videos. So, sorry about the quality.

1 month check-up

Cecilia had her 1 month check-up today, and all is well! I uploaded her growth charts, but the long and the short of it is that she is tall and skinny. She is in the 94th percentile in length and the 49th percentile in weight. At 9 pounds 3 ounces and 22.5 inches she is gaining weight at about 2 ounces a day and getting longer. She is rapidly outgrowing the 0-3 month clothes, especially anything with legs. Her 0-3 month onesies still fit, but the 0-3 month sleepers are in the "grown out of" bag. She is getting so big!

An outing to the terrace

We took Cecilia out to the Terrace, a lovely spot at the UW Memorial Union. Ben's research group met there for pizza and beer last Friday. Everyone oohed and aahed over her. She was all dressed up in a cute yellow dress from her Aunt Allison, which everyone loved. We were also complimented on our "travel system" - a.k.a. the stroller that the car seat fits in. Go figure - engineers love the vehicle. The people in the pictures are Sara and Drew - friends that are in Ben's research group. They were all very excited to meet Cecilia!

She is growing so fast. She's long out of the newborn sleepers, and as of last night we're considering retiring all the 0-3 month sleepers too! Her legs are so long that when she's in them she can't quite strech her legs out. The 3-6 month sleepers are still a little big, though. She can still wear pretty much all of her onesies, though. We cannot, however, swaddle her in the receiving blankets anymore. Either she's grown too much or straightening her legs more than she used to. Probably a combination of both. So, we swaddle her in what we call the Monkey blanket that Elliott and Becky gave her. We don't swaddle her much, but she does enjoy it during naps. Dr. Sears' book says to not swaddle too much because this is a period of rapid development in the hips.

She is more interactive and alert everyday. She stares at us and occasionally will touch our faces. We're not sure how much of it is intentional, but one afternoon she put her hand in Ben's mouth and left it there for a while. We got a picture, which we'll have to post soon. She smiles when you talk to her, provided she's not hungry or wet and alert. She loves the lullaby "Guten Nacht", and she's growing bigger everyday!

Back on Track

After our visit with the LC, we're back on track with breastfeeding. The latch is going better, but we've still got to be diligent about it. It will be a long couple of weeks while we get the hang of it, but improving all the time. Our LC also gave the red light to introduce a bottle, since we'll have to do that while I work. We haven't done it yet, but we're doing reading about the best way to go about it.

Cecilia is being more interactive everyday. She's growing more alert and looking around. Her personality is also becoming more apparent. She doesn't like to be alone. Instead, she wants to cuddle and be held. She sleeps in bed with us at night and we hold her or lay with her most of the day. So far, she doesn't like the ring sling. I'm working on that, because wearing her would allow us to do more while she's snuggling with us. She also LOVES kisses and smiles after being kissed. She plays a game with us. While we're burping her, she tosses her head towards our head and we kiss her cheek. At first I thought is was an accident, but she keeps doing it and seems to have sufficient control to do it on purpose. She usually smiles during the game, too. She loves to be rocked and will fall asleep to the lullaby "Guten Nacht" (sorry, I can't spell in German). She's a good baby and we're having so much fun learning about her!

Softball game and new breastfeeding problems

Today was a blow for breastfeeding. I developed sore nipples which is a clear indication that we're not latching correctly. We e-mailed our LC and have an appointment for Wednesday so we decided to finger feed for the rest of the day to let my nipples have a rest before they get really bad. Hopefully we can correct the latch problems and get back on track. It's hard to think that we've come this far and may not make it.

We also took an outing to Ben's softball game. It seems that everytime we take Cecilia, it rains and gets cold. The sprinkles were light enough that Cecilia was able to enjoy the game while sleeping in her stroller. Ben played a great game, getting a hit every time at bat and making to big plays at third. The team lost the game, though, 9-4. In Hannah's opinion, the umps were calling a biased game, but what can you do about it? The team played great defense after the first inning, but the bats never got hot. Cecilia and I cheered on Daddy, though!

Totally Breastfed

Well, it's been 3 long weeks, but it looks as though we are done with the nipple shield and breastfeeding normally! We had an appointment with the lactation consultant (LC) this morning, and Cecilia had a whole feeding on the breast with no shield or other help. She's not an expert, but things are better. She only gained 3 ounces this past week on the nipple shield, so we have some techniques to help her eat better. Part of it is that she falls asleep right away and pacifies without getting a good feeding. So, we are going to have to stimulate her and be assertive about feedings until she starts getting good feedings. Right now she's developing the habit of pacifying on the breast from the end of one feeding until the beginning of the next. This is draining on mom and interfering with her finishing a feeding, rather "snacking all day". Our LC feels that it might interfere with my milk production and prevent her from getting a good feeding. So, we're going to make her stay awake until she's done and then take her off the breast. The good news is that she doesn't mind coming off the breast when she's full, she just won't volunteer to do it.

We've been really worried about her intake the past couple of days because she stopped stooling. Her stools went down until there were none yesterday and only a small one this morning. Well, at the LC's office this morning she let it all out. We were discussing her stools and she let a huge load out. We were laughing about how she'd stored it all up, Ben cleaned her up and got a new diaper on her, and not more than 5 minutes later she let out an even bigger load! She definitely got rid of a couple of days worth of stools. It's amazing that such a little person can hold so much! It was funny that as soon as she did it, everyone (Ben, me, and the LC) had to look to check out the quality and quantity. It's also amazing that being a new parent makes you obsess about urination and bowel movements!

Day 2 of Breastfeeding only!

So, we are still breastfeeding only, and Cecilia is refusing to finger-feed! We breastfed last night, and it seemed to go well. She went to bed at 10:30 and then woke at 3am. She fed for an hour and slept until 6 am. This is good and normal, but at the 6am this morning she decided that she wanted to nurse for a few hours. Around 8, I gave a slightly dozing baby to Ben with instructions to finger feed so I could sleep before he went to work. Not too much later, she was hungry but only took an ounce from Ben and wanted the breast! It looks like she prefers breastfeeding, so babysitters may have some trouble with her. It's a good sign for the future, though.

We are still using the nipple shield, but I'm working on getting her to latch without it for part of a feeding. So far, this has had limited success. She still doesn't like to keep her mouth open wide unless something, aka a nipple shield, is making her. It's only her second day breastfeeding, though, so hopefully it won't take her too long. In the meantime, I'm still supposed to pump after feedings. I try to do this, but she likes to nurse for a long time most of the time and I don't have the opportunity to pump. My supply still seems ample, so lets hope everything remains good. The next step - get her off the nipple shield and on to the breast alone!

Cecilia Breastfed Today!

Cecilia breastfed today! We had an appointment with our lactation consultant today and found a way to successfully use a nipple shield. Cecilia got 2.4 ounces during feeding at the clinic. We're going to try and go with just breastfeeding and no supplementing for the next few days. It's a little scary since we won't know for sure how much she's getting now, but exciting too. We haven't done a feeding at home yet, but things are definitely looking up!