Lemon Heaven

When we were blessed enough to get meals delivered to our doorstep all the time after Norah was born, someone made us the most delicious lemon squares. I have never met a dessert I didn't like, but this one was hands down, MY FAVORITE non chocolate food ever. I bugged the giver for a couple of weeks after she brought them by and this week she emailed the recipe and I whipped up a perfect batch of my own. STILL my favorite! YUM!

Another Try

Since the doctor advised us the Norah should be upright all the time to aide her keeping her food down, we have decided to give the BabyBjorn another try. We tried it before, but she just didn't seem to like it, so we gave up. Now that it might be my only chance to have free arms during the day, we are forcing her to hang out in it. She still doesn't love it and cries when she first gets in, but most of the time after about 10-15 minutes of carrying on and constant bouncing, she falls asleep for a bit and gives us a break.

Good Buddies

Since Norah has been so needy lately, not allowing me much time to play with other kids, they have become such good friends. It has been super sweet seeing the two of them play their games together all day long. Their activities vary, sometimes coloring, sometimes listening to books on CD, sometimes dancing or just playing and reading books. Whatever the activity, I am so glad they have eachother while Norah requires so much of my attention.

The French Braid

A while back, Ava got her haircut and the stylist braided her hair. It was Ava's favorite thing ever as long as the braid stayed in. She kept asking me to recreate it for her and up until this week my attempts were pretty meager. In my People StyleWatch magazine it says braids are totally in, motivating me to figure it out. Well, I did!

Three Expressions of Norah

Norah has three expressions, most of the time she has a scowl on her face. We aren't sure if it's intentional, but it looks a lot like this.

The next one is a spacey look, which she has almost as often as the scowl. It looks a little something like this.

And the rarity, but favorite face, is her sweet little smile. She doesn't have a lot to smile about, always crying and spitting up, but never sleeping, so when she sports this one, we are in awe!

Baby Birdman

Kyle and I have been watching the NBA playoffs while bouncing Norah late into the evening. We are rooting for the Lakers, of course, and they are playing the Nuggets for a seat in the finals. A player on Denver's team has a mohawk and he is nicknamed the Birdman, so here is Norah with her own version of a Birdman doo. We are still rooting for the Lakers, but thought it was a cute hairstyle for our baby girl.

New Medicine

The medicine smells nasty, I can only imagine how it tastes. She takes it as well as can be expected considering her palette is accustomed to milk only and Zantac smells like straight up peppermint.

First Outfit

Well, after 6+ long weeks of a fussing baby, I finally broke down and went to the doctor to get some medicine. I thought this whole time that she was spitting up/crying/not sleeping because of something I was doing wrong, but after thinking about it for awhile and talking to some friends, I decided that wasn't the case.

The doctor said anytime there is projectile spit-up, something is wrong and that we should try some medicine after all the other stuff I had been doing for 6 weeks wasn't working. Zantac was the medicine of choice, but that I should also try to keep her upright all the time including at night and to let her keep nursing until she stops on her own (less crying, less bubbles).

I'm not sure if the medicine is all it's cracked up to be, but all the other stuff seems to help a little bit. She has been slightly happier, so I was feeling motivated to get her dressed for the first time ever in hopes she might actually keep it clean for at least a little bit. We'll see.

Sort of a Smile

Kyle and I were changing one of Norah's diapers together and she started making these faces. The last one almost looks like a smile to me!

Magic Seat

In hopes of helping Norah feel a little happier, we purchased our first ever bouncy seat. Neither of the other kids ever had one, but Norah is extra whiney, so we thought it might make her happy to sit in a vibrating seat sometimes. The first time she sat in it, she almost instantly fell asleep, something she rarely ever does without some super bouncing, etc. Good purchase!

Still Not So Good

Norah has been crying A TON lately. She is one month old now and we haven't seen any decrease in fussiness. We are assuming she is colicky (crying for no apparent reason) and that she will make a change at around 6 weeks. I wish she was a little happier so we could enjoy this time of her life more.

The other night I was telling Kyle that I feel like Norah fusses so much I am always holding her because she is crying, which isn't that cool for a parent. Well, a minute later she seemed content just laying there, so I wanted to hold her while she was so happy. As soon as I picked her up she started crying again, it was pretty gut wrenching.

Super Swaddle

The kids have totally noticed Norah being swaddled up all the time and this morning we decided to let them try it out.

Ava loved it, she rolled in and out of it with ease, but Jack was a little uneasy when he couldn't get right out of the blanket. He kept saying, "Help, help!"

Kyle even held each of them so I could get an idea of how big these kids are compared with Norah!

The Swaddle

While I was chilling at the hospital by myself for so many hours, I discovered some health videos on demand and watched most of them. Among advice on recovery I found a video based on the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. The take away for me, were the 5 S's-swaddle, sway, shh, swing and suck. We are firm believers in the swaddle and suck and have come to adapt the shh and sway as well.

In this picture Norah is swaddled twice. Her little arms are always busting out causing her to startle herself, but with the double swad, as we have come to refer to it, her arms are totally pinned and she is as happy as can be!

Holding Hands

This was taken the day Nana left, the very same day that things started to get back to normal. Normal, as in, not crying ALL THE TIME!!

While Kyle and the kids were dropping Nana off at the airport, I was at home trying to figure out what was going on with our sweet baby girl. I tried feeding her less and ended up learning I was overfeeding Norah.

The lactation consultants at the hospital told me 10-15 minutes of nursing on each side and I tried to follow that advice despite knowing neither Ava or Jack ate for that long. Throwing advice to the wind and following intuition led me to the knowledge that Norah is just like our other kids, not eating more than 6 minutes on each side!

Our sweet baby has returned, too bad it took a week if fussiness to figure her out!

New Outfit

With Nana's arrival came gifts for everyone. Jack got a new green ball, Ava got a microphone that we can't figure out and Norah got this cute little number. The size is 6 months, but our 75 percentile baby fit into it perfectly! You can see from her face that she was pretty fussy when we first put it on, but that was par for the course this whole week!

Being Held

While Nana was visiting, Norah was the fussiest she has ever been, forcing me to spend a lot of time on the couch holding her. I think most of the time Norah was awake this week, she was crying and therefore being held, it was a trying time for me, but thanks to Nana is was bearable.

Bracelet Boy

Jack and Ava both love to go in my jewelry drawer and put on whatever suits their fancy. Since I have a rule that I won't buy any jewelry that costs more than $5, I don't mind at all. Today, though, Jack decided to put on a whole bunch, it was super cute and even coordinated with his outfit.

Handstands

Handstands were a favorite activity for the kids during Nana's stay, both kids got pretty good there towards the end, and from the look on Nana's face, she was having a good time too!

Group Photos

The kids were so excited when they found out Nana was coming to visit, Ava was totally pumped to pick her up from the airport and was even willing to give up her seat in the second row and move to the third row to accommodate everyone.

Both kids were requesting Nana put them to bed every night and for her to help them with other various activities. It is always so nice when family comes to visit, it is fun for everyone.

Most of all, though, we loved that Nana was able to spend some QT with the newest grand baby. Newborns are only small once and having family meet her so early on, is the best!

Grandkids

A visit from Nana always brings delight to the kids' lives, but this time, it made life way more enjoyable for everyone. She was here for a week to help out, since I was ordered not pick Jack up for at least 3 weeks by the doctor.

She was able to read books, go to the Rocket Park, get some more books at the library, let me take some time alone with the big kids and lots of other low key activities while Kyle was working. It was so wonderful to have someone so experienced around to help out with Norah's third week.

We have heard that weeks 3-6 are the fussiest times for a newborn and Norah is no exception to the rule. The week of Nana's visit was her crankiest time ever and the week where we needed the most help. Thank goodness for Nana!

Norah's First Bath

Norah's first bath happened a couple days after her umbilical stump dropped off, unfortunately for a milky smelling baby it was way over due. The sponge baths she was getting up until now just weren't keeping the rotten milk smell at bay.

Despite her dire need to be cleaned up, she was not happy about the temperature of the water and the general nakedness she was forced into, proving once again, Norah prefers being swaddled to anything.