Baby Sullivan | Week Three

Here we are at week three. I'm starting to go pretty stir crazy and really need to get out of the house. Due to my infection from my c-section, I haven't been cleared quite yet to drive. I've been homebound for far too long. My goal is to drive to pick up Marin from my parent's house tomorrow evening. It's time. I can't take this much longer! At least we have air conditioning now in our home. 

Sullivan is growing like a weed already. He went in for his 2 week check last week and was close to 10 pounds already. With the way he has been eating, it would not surprise me one bit if he is already at the 10 pound mark. He's still a great eater. He has been giving us longer stretches of sleep every once in a while at night and I am super thankful. 

Daddy has been back to work the past few days. I am very thankful for lots of visitors and grandparents that take Marin for the day every once in awhile. Just being able to focus on Sullivan for a little period of time helps me feel like I have my head above water. It makes having a newborn seem easy. Having a newborn and a toddler, totally different story! Marin has been a great helper for the most part but I know she's going stir crazy most days too. I'm not a fan of the amount of screen time we've had lately but I know this is just a season of transition. Fall is coming, preschool is coming. I will go back to work. This will all change soon. 

At three weeks, Sullivan is eating every three hours during the day. We've had longer stretches of sleep at night. He doesn't hate tummy time and is getting a lot more alert. He's already so strong and is starting to hold his head up. He's still in size one diapers and is wearing 3 month old onesies. 

Week Three. 

Baby Marin | Week Fifty Two

This is it. We made it to one year. I am a few days late in posting this but I wanted to make sure we celebrated our little one's birthday, surrounded by family. I realize that she probably won't remember much of this party, but mid-party, Saturday evening, I took a step back and realized how greatly loved our little girl is. There was a pretty intense snowstorm going on outside and family still braved the drive to our home. 

Marin thoroughly enjoyed opening up her presents and playing with her new toys. Her attention span was shockingly long when it came to opening up her presents. She understands the concept pretty well, I believe. Marin received a lot of new clothes, which she needed. She also received some awesome toys, including a drum set, a circus tent to play in, and a little car to ride around on. She was given puzzles and books, bath toys and even the beginning of a college fund that family can place money in throughout the rest of her life. 

She is well loved. 

She also loved the cupcake, once she figured out what to do with it. She was a lot cleaner about that whole process than I expected. Granted, I still had to clean a lot of cupcake off of the floor, but we didn't have to give her a bath afterwards. 

She slept like a rock that evening and didn't wake up until almost 8 am. Marin has started her first year with a bang. 

Baby Marin. Week Fifty Two. 

Baby Marin | Week Fifty One

One more week until Marin is one. I just sent out the invite for her birthday bash. I am debating whether or not we should get her a smash cake or just a cupcake. I've already bought her way too many birthday gifts over the past few months. 

The weather has been abnormally amazing for February and we took full advantage of that earlier today. We haven't been out in the jogging stroller in far too long. Most of the time, the stroller just sits in our living room and our cat uses it as a hiding place when he is running away from our crazy baby. But, today I decided to pack us a lunch, bring my camera, and we walked to the park that is literally right across the way from us. 

I need to get our kid out more into the world, into nature. I want her to be the type of child that plays outside any chance she gets, dirty knees, sun kissed, and only coming in when the street lights start coming on. We played outside a lot when we were younger. I want Marin to not be cooped up in the house all day. I can tell she isn't outside enough. She's still not sure of grass and leaves. She is finally old enough to crawl around through the grass and she is constantly on a path of discovery. 

We ate our lunch in the sunshine. I would like many more days like this one. 

Baby Marin. Week Fifty One. 

Baby Marin | Week Fifty

2 more weeks. 2 more weeks until our little baby is a one year old. This time last year, I was big and pregnant and waiting for her arrival. February 8th was my due date. We went far past that day and Marin took her precious time in getting here. We waited until ten days past my due date. We did lots of waiting, and wondering, and waiting some more. 

Marin and I try to make a trip to see the Great Grandparents once a week or so, as our schedule allows. I always love going down. It gets us out of the house and she always has fun. We usually have lunch and play on the floor. We usually make the trek down after her morning nap and hang out until right before her afternoon nap. That's what we did today, although as I write this, she is supposed to be taking a nap and I can hear her playing around in her crib. Go to sleep, child. 

Marin has been fighting a gnarly cold the past few weeks. Her nose finally has stopped running constantly but she now has a lovely cough instead. Having a sick baby is a tough thing. She really hasn't been sick at all yet, so this feels like new territory. It's tough when they can't tell you what's going on and you just make sure they are comfortable and cozy. I am ready for this sickness to be out of house. 

(She wasn't quite sure about the Cabbage Patch doll.) 

Baby Marin. Week Fifty. 

2 more weeks. 

Baby Marin | Week Forty Eight

"Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."  

Proverbs 22:6 NLT 

Music runs through our family's veins, it is in our bones. Even when we go through seasons where we aren't playing music as often as we once did, in our younger, childless years, we still always find it and it always finds us. I believe that Marin has music in her as well. She dances. She sings. She lights up whenever music is playing anywhere we are. 

The day will come in the not so far off future when I will sit down at the piano with Marin and teach her just like my grandma taught me. She will probably have those moments of watching the clock during practice and long for the time when she can go out and play with her friends. But, maybe in the further future, she will feel the freedom of playing in front of and with a group of people for the first time. She will feel the heat and nervousness but then also the moment of realizing that she is doing something truly special. There's nothing like it. 

Maybe she will be a drummer. Maybe she will play guitar. Maybe she will play piano. Maybe she will sing. Maybe she will write songs. 

I can't wait to see her love for music grow and morph. 

Week Forty Eight. 

Baby Marin | Week Forty Seven (11 Months)

Tomorrow Marin will be 11 months. We are barreling quickly towards having a one year old. I don't have a ton to say today other than the fact that she is growing like crazy and is keeping me on my toes. Marin loves to get into EVERYTHING. I can't blink without her crawling across the room and going straight for something electronic. 

She has decided that she no longer likes bananas and turned up her nose this afternoon at sweet potatoes. We are still trying all sorts of new foods, which is an adventure in itself. 

(Marin's hat is from Ember Kid.) 

Nap times have been hit and miss this week. She has been taking great morning naps but the afternoon naps have been a bit of a struggle. She's moving around in her crib as I write this. I have had to move the baby monitor way out of her reach. 

Baby Marin. Week Forty Seven. 

Baby Marin | Week Thirty Eight

I don't have my ducks in a row this week. I don't have my stuff together. We are leaving for North Carolina for 3 days without Marin this morning. I have been packing and preparing. We have been making our lists and checking them twice. I don't think it has fully hit me yet that we are leaving our little girl for a few days. She will be in good hands but I know we will miss her like crazy. I'm sure I will wake up at 5 am wondering where the baby monitor is and why I can't hear her. 

I didn't pick up my camera to photograph her this week. My phone did though and that will have to do. This is the first Baby Marin post though that hasn't been taken with a DSLR. I made it 37 weeks though and that has to count for something. It's also stupidly cold around these parts and trying to get out and about to snap some photos definitely didn't happen. 

So, I will leave with this adorable, bundled up munchkin. She is not a fan of hats and mittens yet, but we are working on that. 

Baby Marin. Week Thirty Eight. 

Baby Marin: Week Thirty Two

This week has been a good one. A super busy one, but a good one. Everything feels like it's falling into place, one dream after another. We are heading into a good, new season. I welcome it with open arms. We also welcomed little Gunnar Nolan into the world one week ago. He is adorable, has so much hair, and Marin doesn't know quite what to do with her new little cousin quite yet. She kind of just looks at him like, "What do I do with it?" I am super excited to be an auntie and can't wait to spoil the little dude silly. That's what aunts are for, right?

 

Marin seems like such a giant baby compared to little Gunnar. I hold him and then I pick up Marin and can't believe how much she is growing! It makes me realize how long ago the newborn stage really was. 

Week Thirty Two. 

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Eight

This week was the twenty eighth week of Marin's life so far. We also celebrated the coming arrival of her cousin, Gunnar.  He will be here before we know it and Marin will have a whole new perspective on life and sharing all of the attention. I'm excited for that because I think it will be great to have her around some other babies. She barely has experienced that so far. When the time comes for us to have another child at some point, Marin will need to learn how to be a sibling. 

She is nearly mobile. Baby gates will need to be purchased soon and cupboards will need to be secured. She isn't crawling yet but either rolls across the room in the blink of an eye or I've caught her doing an army scoot-crawl. The days of having a child that stays in one place are going to be behind us very soon. 

She tried peas this week and isn't a huge fan. She gets so excited to sit down and eat, hopes it bananas, and then realizes that peas are what's for dinner and makes the funniest faces of disgust. Her face is like, "Mom, are you trying to torture me? Gross!" We are working on the whole loving vegetables thing. It is taking some time. 

She had her 6 month check up last week. She weighs just shy of 14 lb. and is 25" long. The pediatrician stated that she is a little petite but that it is nothing to worry about. She also predicts that Marin will be somewhere around 5'7", which is crazy to think about. Marin as a grown adult. I don't even want to take my mind in that direction yet, she is still our little baby for now. 

We also bought a jogging stroller off of Craigslist and I've really enjoyed taking her out in it. It is good to get out of the house more often when our days are just us together. I can get kind of stuck between the naps, feedings, and diaper changes. Fresh air does us both a lot of good. 

Week 28. 

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Five

This time, next week, our little gal will be 6 months old. I can't even believe it. To say that time has flown would still be a understatement. I don't know where it has all gone. There are so many times lately where I feel like I was just huge and pregnant, waiting for Marin to arrive, 10 days later than my due date. The waiting game made it seem like time had stopped completely. Fast forward twenty five weeks and I have a baby that is growing up so fast!

In the past few days alone, I feel like a whole other side of her has blossomed. She has really found her voice. So many noises come from her on a very consistent basis now. Lots of raspberries are being made from her cute, little lips. In the blink of an eye, she rolls herself halfway across the room. I have to watch MUCH CLOSER now than before. She's a quick one. She's a noisy one. She's making our lives more interesting every single day. I love it.

We've tried some solid food here and there but so far her interest has been minimal at best. She hasn't quite decided if she is a fan of bananas yet. She does enjoy chilling in her high chair a lot, which helps me actually cook real food while she hangs out with me in the kitchen. Her only mission while in her chair is to throw every single toy from her tray to the floor. I think her inspiration comes from watching my parents play fetch with their doggies. Marin sees and Marin does and she finds it very funny.

Everyday is a new adventure. I hate leaving her when I go to work because she is just becoming so fun each and every day. She also wears me out so much on the days I get to spend all of my time with her. We've had a lot of pretty early mornings lately but she is back to sleeping mostly through the night and I am forever thankful for that.

A never ending adventure.

Week Twenty Five.

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Three

This week has presented many ups and downs. We go from having wonderful afternoons to nights where we can seem to get Marin to calm down to sleep. Sunday night was one of those nights. The day was perfect. Marin was a little angel and even napped long enough for me to make some good headway on a wedding I'm currently editing. As we were going through our normal bedtime routine she just decided that the routine wasn't what she needed that evening and the tears flowed. The only thing that finally got her to sleep, aside from probably pure exhaustion, was pacing the room in dad's arms. I think it's the beard. It calms all things.

Still no little teeth yet but I know we are in the midst of breaking through tiny gums. We tried some banana the other day and she wasn't too thrilled with that quite yet. It's all so new and unknown, for both her and us.

I pray for many good naps today and the next. She is growing faster than I think even she can keep up with.

Week Twenty Three.

(PS. Nobody freak out. Dad was holding her and keeping her safe while she was getting her picture taken by the mirror before and after bath time.)