Buddies

3 months old

Well, my darling sunshine baby is one quarter of a year old already. She is so sweet and fun and cute. She rolls over from tummy to back, likes to sit up with a little support, and really loves when I hold her so she can look over my shoulder. She still loves to be cradled, but only when she's sleepy. Otherwise, she wants to see the world.

She regularly laughs out loud, as well as fake coughs and fake cries. She thinks her dad is hilarious. She loves when she's lying on her back and someone looks at her upside-down. She enjoys watching her own feet and is more and more interested in Coqui. She will look at books and reach for then when we read to her. She loves anything with a face: people, stuffed toys, illustrations in books, reflections in mirrors.

Mary Lawton goes to sleep between 7 PM and 8 PM. We're not really strict with bedtime, because sometimes she's exhausted at 7 PM, and sometimes she wants to play until 8. She was sleeping great, from about 8 PM until 4 AM, then she would eat and go back to sleep until 7 AM. Well, two nights after starting daycare and 3 more nights after that, she woke up every 1.5-2 hours all night. It was a L-O-N-G four nights. I'm hoping this was a combination of daycare mixing her up and a 3-months growth spurt. Last night was much better--she woke up at 1:14 AM and 4 AM. We're crossing our fingers she can settle down again.

We love you, sweet bluebird!

Mother's Day!

I finally have the opportunity to be honored on Mother's Day! Sweet LJ asked me for gift ideas and told me that Mary Lawton had $38 to spend. (I'm not sure where she's getting her money, but anyway.) I made him a list from which to choose:

• Breakfast
• Time to go running
• An insulated cup
• Oil change
• BOB handlebar console to go with the BOB I bought myself for an early Mother's Day present
• Lots of kisses and cuddling
  

I had a fabulous Mother's Weekend. Sweet LJ and Sweet MLJ spoiled me rotten, and in the end, I got to go running and breakfast out on Saturday morning (I ran to the restaurant and met them there), a homeade breakfast Sunday morning, a car wash and gas fill-up in addition to the oil change, everything else on my list, and so much love and so many kisses I nearly fell out.

On Sunday Sweet LJ rode his bike to Stone Mountain, and Mary Lawton and I drove to meet him there. We hiked about halfway up the mountain. Mary Lawton fell asleep pretty quickly on the way up, woke up at the turnaround, and then fell asleep going down.

Something else cool that happened that weekend is that while running, I found $3 on the street. Yay--free money! That afternoon I went to visit my friend Jane, a master gardener, who was volunteering at a Keep DeKalb Beautiful event to promote composting, etc. They were selling raffle tickets to win a rain barrel. The raffle tickets were $3, so I bought one with my found $3. I got a call last week that I won the rain barrel! We already have one, and I'm hoping we can connect the two to really harvest some rain.

Thanks, family, for the wonderful weekend. I'm so happy to be a mom.

The rollover

Nic, she's wearing her Spring Chicken onesie--her favorite.

Another milestone!

Mary Lawton has been dying to roll over lately. She rolls from her back to her side, and when she's on her tummy she just struggles, knowing there must be a way to end tummy time! Well, this morning (2 months, 3 weeks old) she rolled from her tummy to her back very easily. I started yelling, "she rolled over!," and Sweet LJ came running. (I think he didn't believe me.) Lucky for me, she did it again for her daddy. She rolled over 2 or 3 more times, all tummy to back, then let me know she was tired of being my trained monkey.

I caught one rollover on video and will upload it asap.

Milestone!

Mary Lawton finally noticed the clip-on mobiles hanging in her crib last week. She actually played with one when I put her down for a nap. On Saturday, I heard her wake up from her nap over the monitor. She wasn't crying, though, only chattering to herself. I peeked in on her and found her playing with one of the mobiles! She played quietly for about 20 minutes after waking up. Hurray!

Yes, baby safety police, I realize you probably spot a few potential hazards in this photo, Don't worry--we're good.

First babysitter

Sara came over on Saturday to stay with Mary Lawton while we went to Andrew and Gail's engagement party. Sara, we can't thank you enough. We had a great time at the party, and I was very relaxed because I knew she was in good hands.

Spring day

2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day old

Playing

Mary Lawton is really enjoying toys lately. She can play for 45 minutes or more, batting at toys, grabbing them, and gazing at herself in the mirror. Her favorite is a purple octopus that hangs from the play mat toy bar. He has a smiley face, and she thinks he's smiling at her. She stares at him and giggles and smiles back.

My first attempt at adding a video to a post. I shot this with my digital camera, so the quality isn't great (plus I don't really know what I'm doing).

I love this face!

2 months, 1 week, 2 days old

An evening with Lilly

Alisa and Joe invited us over for a great dinner last night. We continued to try to get a good photo of Mary Lawton and Lilly together. Lilly seems more interested in Mary Lawton now. She was smiling at her and calling her "baby." She also wanted to touch her a lot:

I like your foot.

I like your face.

I like our matching pacis.

Mary Lawton's first festival

Well, it's spring festival season here in the ATL. My friend Sara lives in Inman Park in the middle of the Inman Park Festival. She invited people to gather at her place and go to the festival parade together, and we took her up on it. It was a day of firsts for Mary Lawton: first festival, first MARTA ride, first encounter with a MARTA panhandler, first encounter with bad festival vendor art, first parade, and first corndog. No, just kidding about the corn dog, but I can't wait to buy her festival corndogs when she gets older then eat half of them myself.

Thanks for your hospitality, Sara!

A festival-loving family!

A visit to Stone Mountain

Mary Lawton went to Stone Mountain for the first time on Thursday. We walked a few miles around the mountain. Coqui went with us, and they don't allow dogs on the walk-up, but maybe next time we'll leave Coqui at home and try hiking part of the mountain.
Mary Lawton slept the whole time. I planned to take more pictures, but as soon as I took this one, I forgot all about the camera.

Two months check-up

Yesterday Mary Lawton had her two-months well-baby doctor appointment. She's doing great.

Weight: 11 pounds, 1.5 ounces (50th-75th percentile)
Length: 23 1/2 inches (90th percentile!)

The doctor said she's "long and lean" and was very pleased with her overall health. She was impressed with ML's strength and the way she's controlling her head. The doctor turned her over on her tummy to see how she would do, and ML immediately pushed up and looked around. It was fabulous. She got three vaccines and was a little irritable that night but recovered just fine.

Milestone!

On Friday morning at 2 months, 1 day old, during tummy time, Mary Lawton pushed up onto her forearms, raised up her head and chest, and looked around. She did it over and over again. Today she repeated these exciting baby push-ups. I tried to get a photo, but I was a little late each time. Here she is on her way down.

Thanks, Julia!

Thank you, Julia, for coming to see us on Friday. I've missed you, and I know Mary Lawton was thrilled to finally meet you. She enjoyed her first ladies' lunch, and she's happy to have learned 2 of the rules for ladies' lunches:

1. Remember the chicken salad
2. No farting during lunch

Busy Thursday

On Thursday Mary Lawton was 2 months old, and we had a busy day. That morning we had our first mommy-baby pilates class. The instructor reassured us that she's seen everything and not to worry if we had to stop to change our babies, feed our babies, soothe our babies, etc. I was very impressed that no matter what happened, the instructor just kept going. Obviously she's done this for awhile. Mary Lawton was pretty good. About halfway through she got fussy, so I put her on a mat beside mine and she fell fast asleep. Overall, it was hilarious--crying babies, mother stopping to breastfeed (not me), mother acting like her baby needed something so she could stop the leg lifts early (me). It was a good workout, too.

After pilates, I think I did some yard work while Sweetest Girl in the World took a nap, but I can't really remember.

On Thursday night we went to another free jazz concert. The band and singer were good again. I think there are only 2 more concerts this season. Hopefully we can go again. A nice way to spend the evening.

2 months old

two months old

Dear Mary Lawton,
I love your little two-months-old self. I love your smell--your intoxicating, pure baby smell. I love how you smile at me when I come to take you out of your crib. I love how happy you are when you're on the changing pad. I love how you look at everything, especially the new things you've never noticed before. I love how you stare at your daddy. I love those cheeks. I love how you get one of your legs going and kick, kick, kick. I love how you make an O with your lips like you're trying to whistle. I love how you sleep with your arms up over your head, your feet together, and your knees bowed out. I love your fake cry. I love your eyelashes that are so long they touch your eyebrows.

You are the sweetest girl in the world, and we love you like crazy.

Mary Lawton's first Easter

An Easter photo shoot

The Easter Bunny brought Mary Lawton two books--I Spy Little Bunnies and one of my favorites from childhood, Put Me in the Zoo. We spent the day at Alisa, Joe, and Lilly's house. Mary Lawton had a great time seeing everyone. Thanks, Lilly, for sharing your toys with Mary Lawton.

Ready for a nice spring day

7 weeks, 3 days

On Thursday the 4 of us (including Coqui) went to the jazz concert at old Scottish Rite. The weather was perfect, and the music was pretty good. (We went to one last year and it wasn't so good.) As long as the weather is nice, I think we'll go to at least one more. It's strange to think back to this time last year. . . not yet pregnant, no baby, but I remember watching all the children who were there. What a wonderful feeling to have a complete little family. Also strange that I wrote the band was good, but my memory is telling me it was bad.

The most comfortable spot in the world

Leaning on Dad7 weeks, 2 days

Nap time

Starting to wake up

Sees Mom

Escaping her swaddle

How long will our good fortune last?

Last night: Bedtime at 8 PM, asleep at 8:30 PM, woke up at 2:30 AM, woke up at 6:30 AM

Today: has been napping in her crib since around noon. I want to take a picture, but I'm sure it will wake her up. I'll try it when I hear her stirring.

7 weeks old

The major highlight this week is that Mary Lawton not only is sleeping in her room every night, but in her crib! (She was sleeping in the bassinet in her room.) Right now she is taking a nap in her crib!! Her eye was a little red on Saturday, so we took her to the doctor and got some drops. It looks fine now. Can I tell you how much I love that her pediatric practice has Saturday hours? While we were there on Saturday, I learned that they have secret Sunday hours, too, mainly for those who were sick on Saturday and get sicker on Sunday. Oh, and on Saturday she weighed 10 lbs., 2 oz.

She is so sweet--a very happy, fun baby. I love you, sweet girl.

Trying to catch a smile

6 weeks, 3 days

I ran yesterday.

On Monday at my postpartum appointment, my doctor said I could do whatever I wanted to do. Yesterday I ran for 31 minutes. Remember that "run" is a relative term, but no one pointed and laughed. My quads are a little sore today. I guess that's good. I anticipated I'd get the ok to go ahead and start running again, so on Sunday I bought this and this at REI. They certainly aren't attractive, but they get the job done.

6 weeks old

This was a BIG week for Mary Lawton. I didn't want to jinx it by writing about it too soon, but I think it's safe now. For a week she's been sleeping in her own room! And waking up twice! She wakes up around midnight and 4-5 AM. Hurray! I feel like a new person, and I think Sweet LJ does, too. She seems happier now that her days have more structure, and I'm definitely happier. Sweet LJ's motto used to be "happy wife, happy life," but the other day he told me that now it's "happy baby, happy life." (I said no, it's still happy wife...)

She smiles more and more, likes to look at herself in the mirror, has started talking to the birds over her changing pad, and still loves baths. We go for at least one walk a day, and sometimes she stays awake for the entire walk (20 minutes) just looking around, which amazes me. (She doesn't last as long on the hour-long walks.)

I've been really bad about taking lots of photos like every new mother is supposed to do, so here's a quick one from Monday when she was officially 6 weeks old.

Don't mess with my Soothie, yo.

Cousins!

Mary Lawton got to meet her Valdosta cousins last week. She was thrilled. We promise to come back to South Georgia to see you again before she's all grown up.

With Kent, Aunt Cheryl, and Summer

Let's hope she'll be as pretty as her cousins!

Uncle Butch with Kayla, Kent, and Summer

Kent is a professional baby wrangler. Kent, I forgot to tell you Mary Lawton has another cousin named Kent! He's 15.