Happy 29th Birthday Erin! (For the first time) And other reasons to celebrate

Happy Birthday, Aunt Erin! We love you!

It is also Nora's 4 month "birthday". Which means I have met my initial goal of exclusively 'milking the cow'. I don't plan on stopping, but I celebrated by picking up a BJ's size container of formula.. just in case.

Happy 4 months, my beautiful baby!!

Nora's first Christmas and 4 month stats

Today was Nora's 4 month appointment (she turns 4 months on the 30th so I'll post the elephant pics another day). She now weighs 12 lbs 2 oz and is 25 inches long. She gained over a pound this month! Go Nora!

Here are some of my favorite pics taken during the holiday weekend.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Kristy, John and Nora

Nora's first meeting with Santa!

Nora's THREE Month Stats, and her first Thanksgiving

Nora now weighs 10lb 13oz and is 24 3/4 in. long. According to the nurse, she is the height of a 4 month old and the weight of a 2 month old - nothing bad, she is just still my tall and skinny girl. Here are some pictures of her first Thanksgiving and her 3 month shots!

Hanging out with cousin Aaden.

First Thanksgiving with Daddy...

.... and with Mommy.

Nora's 3 month pictures.

My Happy Baby

Nora is all smiles these days! She is feeling much better and is a very happy baby. Also, she is SUCH a daddy's girl. She wakes up with us in the morning and loves it when Daddy gives her a good morning kiss. She follows him around with her eyes while he gets ready for work. It's the cutest thing.

Playdate Fun

We went to Aunt Nanci's yesterday for a playdate with Emma, Brendan, Gavin and Aaden. Babies everywhere!!

Getting Older

Yesterday I turned 26.. closer to 30 now! Crazy to think about. We got to enjoy a night out - we went to Caffe Navona and had some yummy Italian food. We skipped the canolis and went to Denville Dairy for dessert instead. Thaaat's right. And we survived a few hours away from Nora. Had to happen sometime!

The babysitters, and 'Mommy and Daddy':

And today, Nora turns 2 months old!! I can't believe it. Time really is flying. As promised, here are her 2 month shots with the elephant. Also, showing off her train from Grandma Diane!

Mommies are for drying tears

We just got back from Nora's 2 month appointment -- she now weighs 10 lbs 1 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long. She is now in the 90th percentile for height and "a smidgen under" 50th percentile for weight. Still my tall and skinny girl! The doctor was satisfied with her growth.

We need to start doing more tummy time, as the doctor noticed - by her oddly shaped head - that she favors the left side. He said it should even out by 6 months as long as we try to keep her off her back while she's awake.

The doctor also noticed her "princess" attitude.. haha.. don't bother the princess!! I think we're in for a wild ride when she gets older!

Today she also got her first two shots - one in each leg. The nurse did great, and it was over before I realized it started. I was doing ok until I saw the real tears coming from Nora.. a first for me.. I waited until the nurse left the room to start my sniffling. So I comforted Nora while my mommy comforted me. But by the time she was bundled up in her carseat (with a pacifier in her mouth of course), she was fine. She is now very sleepy.. I am anticipating a long night ahead of me - lots of cuddling and a little Tylenol, and she'll be back to normal in a day or two.

showing off

Nora is all dressed up today!

So far, so good

If the last 48 hours or so are any indication, we've got a brand new baby! The Zantac seems to be working wonderfully. She is a much happier baby now - she used to need to be held anytime she was awake (and often to sleep) and was attached to her pacifier for comfort. I noticed yesterday that she only used her pacifier for one nap and bedtime. She doesn't seem to need it while she's awake now.

Feeding her has been easier. She can now latch on and stay on until she's done. I'm wondering if she will gain weight quicker now? I'm sure she's eating more. She still has some gas but that is much easier to deal with than the reflux, in my opinion. Once the burp is out, she's fine. Significantly less gas than before though, since she's not taking in so much air from crying and sucking on the pacifier.

AND she's been sleeping better. She used to take 15-20 minute naps if I was lucky, because she would always be woken up by the reflux pain. Once she got Zantac, she started taking nice, LONG naps - sometimes waking up to eat and then going right back down. On Monday night (the day we got the medicine) she slept for 6 straight hours! I wasn't so lucky last night, but close.

I took this picture right before typing this, and she is still in the same position as I finish. :)

First 'sick' visit to the doctor :-(

Nora has been struggling with stomach issues for about a month now - when I initially called the pediatrician they told me it was just bad gas. She screams bloody murder at nearly every feeding and has a hard time passing gas (burps, poo's, whatever). I have been giving her baby gas drops but it only seems to help a tiny bit. Finally, after a very rough weekend, I called the dr again this morning to let them know I am not convinced it's just gas - no baby should be in this much pain just to eat.

Today the pediatrician said he believes Nora has reflux. I found this online and she has all the symptoms (poor baby):

constant or sudden crying or colic like symptoms
irritability and pain
poor sleep habits typically with frequent waking
arching their necks and back during or after eating
spitting-up or vomiting
wet burp or frequent hiccups
frequent ear infections or sinus congestion

So we are now home with a filled prescription of Zantac, and fingers and toes crossed that it helps!! I hate seeing her in pain!!

On a brighter note, she is still getting bigger and cuter every day! She seems to be noticing her toys a little more - especially the colorful bugs on her 'chair'. She hates tummy time but I still try to fit it in a few minutes every day.. gotta get rid of that bald spot! :) She looks like a little old man.. haha.. the hair only seems to grow on the bottom half of her head!

Pumpkin Picking

Well actually I brought my own! We had a fun day with Aunt Erin, Brendan, Gavin and Aaden!

Cousin Emma has arrived!!

I am so excited about my new 'niece' Emma! John, Nora and I all got to visit her in the hospital, as well as her proud parents Kim and Jon, and grandparents Nanci and Stan. I am so happy that we got a picture of Nora and Emma's first meeting. Now we can start scheduling playdates for Nora, Emma and Aaden!

Congratulations Andersens and Omlands! Can't wait to see tons of pictures!

Nora is ONE month old!

Nora is now a whole month old! I can't believe it... but she is getting bigger every day. She is now 9 pounds 1 ounce and 22 3/4 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height - so she is long and lean according to the doctor! But she is gaining weight nicely - she gained a little over a pound since her last visit.

She is now searching feverishly for her thumb.. it is so cute to see her try to suck on her hand.. I wonder if she will be a thumb sucker! For now the pacifier will do. (Although that's a no-no according to the doctor.. shh don't tell!).

I took her one month pictures today, even though she's technically one month plus one day. We didn't have time yesterday and I don't think she was in the mood... close enough though! I'll take her picture every month with the elephant so we can see how quickly she grows.

Just a cute picture..

Tomorrow is Nora's ONE MONTH doctor appointment. Can you believe it?? I will post her new stats once I have them. For now, here is a great picture of what I am convinced is a real smile.

Married for 2 Wonderful Years

John and I celebrated our second anniversary at Bonefish grill earlier this week. We brought along little Nora.. since next year we will probably be begging for a sitter! :) What a great 2 years it has been and we have so many more exciting years ahead of us!

And don't you just love this face??

Kisses from Daddy

Nora loves getting kisses from Daddy.. the only man she's allowed to kiss for the next 40 years or so ;-)

Nora's first pediatrician visit

The doctor said she is doing fabulous - she now weighs 7 lbs, 14.5 oz and is 21 3/4 in. (gained 3.5 oz and 1 inch since birth). She was a great little patient - barely cried, even when she was almost naked on the table. Love my little girl!

Here is a picture of her in a cute dress..

Nora Madeline has arrived!

Since I got 4 hours of sleep last night (note: that's a GOOD thing), I thought I would make my blog announcement!

Nora came into the world on Sunday, August 30th. She is the perfect baby (I am biased of course, but even the pediatrician says so). She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 3/4 in.

Here's my quick little birth story: .. I started feeling contractions at 7:30pm on Saturday night, went to the hospital around 4am on Sunday. Although my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart (with the lovely epidural) my cervix refused to dilate past 2cm. Also the baby did not react well to the pitocin so I finally had a c-section at 4pm.

I am recovering very well from the c-section. I only needed Percocet for a few days, and am now on Advil a few times a day. Although I still have more recovery ahead of me, I am starting to feel like a normal person again!

John is an incredible Daddy.. he plays with her, cuddles with her, changes diapers (and always gets the grossest ones.. but still does it with a smile on his face) and gives her lots of kisses. Nora is a daddy's girl for sure - if she hears his voice her eyes perk up and she starts looking around. It's the cutest thing.

And here's a little video of Nora being totally cute. :)

**oh I wanted to add - since lots of people have asked I figure more are wondering - her middle name is prounounced "Mad-uh-LYNN" (not LINE)

Aaden Robert Szymanowicz

John and I have another nephew!!! We love being Aunt Kristy & Uncle John!
Sweet little Aaden came into the world on August 25th. I can't believe he's 3 days old already! John and I were blessed with the opportunity to meet him just 6 hours after his birth..