Baby Website - Baby Journal

Cate's first trip to NYC!!! (8/8/06)

What a fun weekend!! Last Thursday we packed up the house (literally!!) and headed off to the airport for Cate's first flight and her first trip to the Big Apple. The reason for the trip was to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary on August 4th. And boy did we celebrate!

First off, Cate did wonderfully on the plane ride there. She even got a picture with the pilot before boarding the plane! We had a really crabby gate agent who wouldn't allow us to pre-board, but once we got on the flight everything was smooth sailing. The cabin was very well pressurized, so no ear troubles at all.

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental hotel right on Central Park up at Columbus Circle. The hotel was wonderful and the room was great. We got a suite which worked out perfectly for having an infant.

We flew in grandma Arlene and Reid to join us and to act as Cate's babysitters during the evenings so that Kurt and I could go out with friends. Thursday night we went to go see one of our all time favorite New Orleans funk bands, the Meters. They played at this really cool theater (the Nokia theater in Times Square) and we saw TONS of our Tulane friends there. What a fun night!!

Friday during the day we all (Sarah, Arlene, Reid, Kurt, Cate and I) walked from the hotel to go grab lunch at the famous Carnegie deli. YUM! Then Sarah and I went shopping while Kurt and Cate napped and Reid and Arlene walked around town and around Central Park. Friday evening Kurt's friends from Chicago Issei and Aya came over to the hotel to visit with everyone and to see Cate. Then Issei, Aya, Sarah, Kurt and I all went to dinner at Spice Market - an amazing, trendy, Asian-fusion restaurant. Had a fantastic dinner. Then afterwards we headed to a bar where we once again met up with a bunch of Tulane friends. So fun!

Saturday the group (Sarah, Arlene, Reid, Kurt, Cate and I) went to a fantastic brunch at a place called Isabella's (I think?) and then our social director Sarah had organized a "meet and greet" with Cate in Central Park at Sheep's Meadow. What a wonderful afternoon. We just lounged around on blankets under the shade of a tree in the park and drank champagne and visited with friends.

Saturday night Sarah was the babysitter so that Kurt and I could go out for an anniversary dinner at Grammercy Tavern. Had an amazing dinner! We got the "summer tasting menu" which was amazing. Foie gras, langustinos, turbot, bacon (yes, they served a bacon course), and rack of lamb, followed by a cheese course and then amazing dessert. Yum!!!

Sunday, surprise surprise, we did brunch again! And then had to make the trek to our favorite place in NYC - the Magnolia Bakery for some cupcakes. We bought a dozen to have some to bring home for Walt, Jane, Rick and Cristine.

The flight home was unfortunately not as great as the flight there. The pressurization was terrible and I knew when both Kurt and my ears were hurting that poor little Cate was probably going to have a fit. And she did. For about the last 30 minutes of the flight she cried and cried on and off between trying to suck on the pacifier. But when we landed her ears must have finally adjusted and she was totally fine. Poor girl.

Anyway, Cate decided to show off while in NYC and hit a big developmental milestone - she now rolls over from her back to her tummy!! We had her on the bed just laying there while we were trying to get dressed ourselves and next thing I know she's rolled over. So I put her onto her back again, and she did it again! Over and over. Too funny. It's like, now that she knows how, she can't stop! She hasn't figured out yet how to go back the other way, so when she gets sick of being on her tummy she just starts fussing until we put her back onto her back. But we were both pretty proud.

Anyway, check out the Photo Album page for a few pictures. If you'd like to see more, just shoot one of us an email and we can email you the kodakgallery.com album.

16 Weeks Old Already!! (8/1/06)

Amazing to think that it's been 16 weeks. She's almost 4 months old! This time last year, we were in the Isle of Capri and had just found out we were pregnant! Man a lot has changed in one year.

Not too much to report on this week. Things have been pretty status-quo. This past weekend we went to grandpa's pool both days. On Saturday Cate spent the longest time ever swimming away - she was probably in the water close to an hour and a half or so. It was such a brutally hot day, that the pool was the only place to be.

We did a bit of shopping at Gymboree and got a few really cute fall outfits. We had $100 in coupons at the store, so that worked out great!

Cate is starting to get a little bit better at taking her bottle. For the past few weeks she's been extremely difficult to feed - thrashing her head back and forth, and crying the whole time, spitting the nipple out but then wanting it back immediately. We started to worry that maybe she had reflux and was doing these things because she was in pain? We called the pediatrician and the nurse recommended giving her Malox. I tried it once, and she hated it and immediately spit it all out. However, suddenly this past weekend she's started taking her bottles much easier. Still turns her head back and forth, but doesn't fuss as much. Thank heavens - it was a rough job trying to get her to eat for a while.

Her 4-month pediatrician appointment is on August 14th - we are really excited to see what she weighs now. We are guessing somewhere between 14 and 15 pounds.

Well, this Thursday we are off to NYC - Cate's first flight and her first trip to the Big Apple. She's becoming quite a traveler. She'll have been to both Chicago and NYC, two of the largest cities in the US, before she's 4 months old! We are going to celebrate our 5-year anniversary. Can you believe it's been 5 years?! And we are flying in grandma Beanie (Arlene) for the occasion. She's going to babysit for us on Thursday and Friday nights so that we can go out and catch up with all of our NYC friends. Then Arlene heads back to Chicago Saturday evening, and then godmother Sarah is going to watch Cate on Saturday night so that Kurt and I can go out for an anniversary diinner. It'll actually be the night after our anniversary, but oh well. We're excited about our hotel - we are staying at the Mandarin Oriental on Central Park right at Columbus Circle. Great location and supposed to be a fantastic hotel. Plus, as an added bonus, the Meters, a 70's New Orleans funk band, are playing a show on Thursday night that we're going to go to. It'll be great music, reminding us of our college days, and we'll also get to probably see a lot of Tulanians at the show!

Well, off to go try to pack a few things while the little girl snoozes. The picture attached with this posting was taken today. I went to the front yard to pull a few weeds and set Cate in her little Bumbo seat and she was LOVING it! She loved watching me pull the weeds and Tabitha wander around the yard. She loves being outside, and being able to sit up to see everything was a bit hit.

A Visit From Opa Horst! (7/28/06)

Last weekend Cate's grandpa (or opa as they say in Germany) Horst came up from Ocala, FL for a visit. Cate had lots of fun going out to restaurants, to the pool, and just sitting around watching golf on TV with her opa. The weather was pretty nice too - probably a welcome change from the heat and humidity of Ocala. Or as Horst calls it, Slocala. :-)

Not too much else to report from the past week. Gymboree class yesterday was more exciting than usual because there were 4 new babies & mommies that joined the class! All of the new babies were just right about Cate's same age too, so it was fun for me to see Cate's development as compared to the rest. Of course, I feel that she's far more advanced (not to mention cuter!) than the others, but then again, I am her mother... But Cate's new favorite thing these days is standing. No more sitting or laying around for this girl - she wants to stand, and even make attempts at walking. Silly girl. It seems cute now, but I'm sure I won't think it's so cute if she winds up one of those kids who is walking already at 8 months! We'll see.

Save the Date: Catherine's Christening!

For those who might be interested in attending, we have set the date for Cate's baptism. It's going to be during the 11:00am service at Riverside United Methodist Church (Rev. David Griebner) on Sunday, October 8th. Cate will be just under 6 months old, which I think is a good time to do it. So far we know that both godparents will be in attendance! Godfather Graham and his wife Dai will be in town from Chicago that weekend for the OSU football game the day before, and godmother Sarah is also flying in from NYC for the game and the baptism. So save the date...

Boy Things Have Changed... (7/18/06)

Friday Night Party

This past Friday my friends from high school, Kelly and Brendan (parents of Cate's "boyfriend" Will) hosted a cookout at their home. They invited all of our in-town friends, most of which we all went to high school together. It was a lot of fun and great all getting togehter and catching up. But one of the guys really summed things up when he said "boy these parties have changed, haven't they? It used to be that everyone would walk into these parties with a six pack on each shoulder. Now it's a six pack on one shoulder and a baby carrier on the other!" So true. Things have definitely changed, but in the best way possible. There were, I believe, 8 kids there ranging in ages from 6 weeks up to 5 years old - all children of my high school classmates! What fun it was just sitting around and watching them play, showing them off, watching them smile at each other. Hopefully we'll have another such get-together before the summer is over.

New Weekends at the Scioto Pool

Just this past weekend we discovered our new weekend evening activity - hanging out at Scioto's pool. First of all, it's a great time to take Cate swimming there because the crowds are down and you don't have to worry about tons of kids splashing her or screaming around her. But more so for us, they have grills set up and a really great, gourmet food grill menu with a full bar set up on the pool patio. So you can swim with the kids, and then not even have to worry about getting dressed - just go over and have a great dinner in your swimsuit. And the whole place is parents with young children, so it's great fun. This will be our new summertime weekend ritual, I feel.

Kindermusik

I mentioned in last week's journal entry that we've been going to Kindermusic class, so I thought I'd elaborate on what this is for those who are unaware. It's hosted at a woman's house, and it's basically just a bunch of parents and children (from around 2-3 months up to 1 year or so) singing songs and moving around to the rhythm. It actually ends up being sort of a workout for the parent - lots of lifting the babies up and down along with the songs we are singing, or walking around in circles. But it's very fun and so cute to see the kids giggle and smile when you hoist them up over your head singing "ZOOOOOOMMMM!!" We have our third class tonight - looking forward to it!

The Miracle Blanket - what a miracle!!!

Well, as of last week Cate has begun sleeping completely through the night. From when we put her down around 8-9:00pm, she sleeps soundly through until around 6-7am! And the only thing we changed to bring about this amazing advent is swaddling her in what is called the Miracle Blanket. It's basically a baby straight-jacket, but hey - if it works, it works! What a wonderful invetion. And for those of you scowling as you read this and thinking to yourselves "we never swaddled our children" or "isn't that baby torture?", you should see Cate's immediate calming when we get her wrapped in it and the smile on her face once she's snuggly wrapped up. Plus, we've cleared it's use with our pediatrician who responded to our question of "how long are we OK to keep swaddling her?" - her response was "as long as it works!" If you need more convincing, I refer you to read the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. Anyway, we are finally, after 3 months, getting a full nights sleep - well, Kurt is anyway. :-)

Video Clips

We are working on figuring out how to upload video to this site and hope to have some little clips of the girl very soon, so stay tuned...

3 Month's Old! (7/11/06)

The Latest Updates

Hard to believe that three months have passed already! But Cate just seems to be getting bigger and more like a real person every day. She now just loves to stand, she's started trying to roll over (from back to tummy) and she's done it all by herself a couple times, her favorite new play toy is her doorway jumper seat (she could bounce in there for hours!), and she smiles and talks all the time. She's having a lot of fun, it seems, learning how to make different sounds. And she also seems to love blowing bubbles, which ends up resulting in a soaked shirt because of all the drool involved. And she's really discovered her own hands and often times we'll catch her holding her hands together, just staring at them. Very cute.

Her First 4th of July

She had a fun 4th of July weekend. We did a little bit of swimming over at grandpa Walt's pool, and just had fun taking lots of walks around the neighborhood. But on the 4th we took her to 5 parties! She did great at all of them. We started the morning at a pre-parade party over at a neighbor's house. We skipped the parade due to rain, but then went to the annual after-parade Fox/Riegel brunch, and then to an after-parade cookout at my friend Tori's house (her little son Sam is one of Cate's play friends as he is her same age). Then after a brief family afternoon nap we made it to the neighborhood block party down the street. This one she was still snoozing, so we just put her in the stroller and she slept while we mingled. Finally we headed over to our friends Becca & Eric's house for a cookout and fireworks watching party. The cookout was a blast, but we didn't make it for the fireworks - Cate was getting sleepy again and it was time for her to hit the bed. But a great, fun day overall.

Help from cousin Taylor

For the two weeks prior to 4th of July weekend, my cousin Taylor came in town to stay with us and help out with Cate. It was wonderful having her here as she was able to help me tremendously just giving me the free time to take a shower or whatever else I needed to do. And Cate so enjoyed playing with her - Taylor was really able to make her smile. Both Cate and I were sad to see her head back to Chicago.

First Trip to Chicago

This past weekend we packed up the "family truckster" (aka my wagon) and took Cate on her first big road-trip and her first visit to the windy city. She did great on the car rides, only getting fussy at the very end when we hit the Chicago traffic. And she was great all weekend. Thursday night she got to meet the whole Chicago family - her great-grandpa Leo, great-uncles Steve and Greg, great-aunt Patty, 2nd cousins Stacey and Greer - and also all of our friends who live there. Her godfather Graham got to hold her for the first time (as Kurt hummed the Godfather theme music) and Graham's mom Cindy kept laughing about how silly and "pointless" her fluffy skirt was that we had her dressed in. We spent lots of time just strolling around the neighborhood or taking her for walks in the Bjorn. And we also took her to the top of the Sears tower! Overall it was a great trip and a great weekend overall. And it gave us a good idea of what items we'll need to be sure to bring with us to our NYC trip next month, and what items we can leave behind.

Back to Reality

But now we are back to the usual daily grind. Tonight is our second Kindermusik class though, so that should be a lot of fun. And Thursday we go back to Gymboree, which she still loves. Otherwise, things are pretty much the same around here. I'll try to post some updated pictures soon, so check back to the Photo Album frequently!

2 Month's Old!

2 Month Pediatrician Appointment

Well, our little chunk is now 12 pounds 2 ounces and 23 inches in length. That is 70th percentile for both weight and length. And her head circumference is 50th percentile. So she's just perfect! The doctor was impressed with her weight gain considering that she's only getting breastmilk (I guess formula babies tend to be the ones to gain more weight). But the poor girl had to have her first round of immunizations at this appointment. Four shots with what Kurt and I thought were HUGE LONG NEEDLES! It's a good thing our little girl has chunky thighs to absorb those needles. But she did great. Obviously she cried while she was getting stuck, but she calmed right down afterwards with her pacifier and was pretty snoozy afterwards. Not fussy.

Gymboree

We had another good Gymboree class last Thursday. But this was was extra intense because we were the only mommy and baby there! So it was a real one-on-one with the instructor. She enjoyed herself as always, and really seemed to like the bubbles, which she couldn't have cared less about the last time they used them.

Friday Mom's Walking Club

A new thing we tried out this past Friday was a meet-up down at the riverfront with four of my girlfriends from high school and their babies. Two of the babies were also born in April, and one was born in January. We all met with our strollers and our dogs and walked the long path at the river together. It was a lot of fun, and we plan to make it a regular, weekly occurance. Afterwards, my friend Kelly and her little 5 month old boy Will joined Cate and I for a swim over at my dad's pool. Once again, she just seemed to love the swimming.

Speaking of Walking...

Yesterday was a really nice day here in Columbus, so when Kurt got home from work we took cate on a huge 3 1/2 mile walk. We went all over our neighborhood and then to OSU's Beekman Park (Lane & Kenny). This is a great path and we are glad to have "discovered" it - it will prove to be a regular walking trail for us. Tabitha loved it too, but she was exhausted when we got home.

Well, hope everyone is enjoying their week! This afternoon Cate and I are going to meet Kelly and Will (5 months old) over at my dad and Jane's house for some more pool time! We've gotten some new floats from Target, so we're excited to try them out. Another gorgeous day here in Columbus.

8 Weeks Old: Our Little Swimmer

Well, the big update of this past week is that Cate has experienced her very first pool day! On Saturday Kurt and I dressed her up in her adorable little swimsuit, cover-up and sandals (all from Baby Gap) and headed over to Scioto Country Club. We spent a little time dipping her into the toddler pool, which she seemed to like a lot. However, it was pretty busy and there were tons of toddlers and young kids running around, throwing things, and splashing everywhere, so it was a little distracting. The baby pool was freezing cold, so we didn't think that was a good option. So in stead we packed her up and headed over to the pool at her grandpa Walt's house.

This was a much better location - the water was even warmer and it was totally private, so no splashing kids to worry about. She just loved it. Kicked her little legs under the water and splashed her arms a few times. Very, very cute. We tried to get a bunch of pictures of the event, of which we posted some to the Photo Album page. Such a cutie!

In other news, last week was another Gymboree class which she again just loved. It was her and two other babies and the other mom's just kept commenting on what a good baby Cate was! They were very impressed with her neck control and how well she can support her own head.

She's getting bigger by the minute, it seems. We haven't had her officially weighed in quite a while, but we did put Kurt on the scale and then I handed Cate to him and the difference was about 13 pounds!! So she may already be somewhere close to that! We have her two month pediatrician appointment on Monday, so we'll find out for sure then. That is also the appointment where she has to get her first round of vaccinations, so I'm not looking forward to it. The doctor recommended giving her infant Tylenol just before the appointment to help with any pain she may have, so we'll give that a try.

This week has been a bit of a challenge for us because we are watching Maggie, Rick and Cristine's dog, while they are off on their honeymoon. Tabitha has been less than thrilled about having to share her home, but they have been getting along fairly well. We hired a neighborhood girl to come over and walk both dogs every day, so that has been pretty helpful. But Rick and Cristine return tonight, so Tabitha will be thrilled, I'm sure.

7 Weeks Old - Rick's Wedding, Gymboree, & more!

Rick's Wedding / Memorial Day Weekend

Well, this weekend was Rick and Cristine's wedding and I have to say that little miss Catherine was the best baby ever!! Friday Arlene and Reid came into town. Kurt was at work, so CJ and I took them out to lunch. That afternoon was the rehearsal, so we left Catherine with Arlene for some grammy time. Then that evening she and Reid babysat while Kurt and I went to dinner with friends. Afterwards we all went over to my dad's house and Catherine was awake and entertained all of us by playing on her grandpa's knee. She slept so well Friday night - one of the longest stretches ever - close to 6 hours!

Saturday I went with Cristine, her mom Laura, Jane and her mom Janet to get manicures and pedicures, and then Cristine, Laura, Sarah and I went to meet all of the other bridesmaids and some of Cristine's other friends at Buca di Beppo (a big family style Italian restaurant) for a bachelorette luncheon. Catherine stayed home with her grandma and Kurt was off playing golf. Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner which was just an outdoor barbeque at dad's. It was casual "jeans" attire, so we put little CJ in the cutest embroidered jeans from baby Gap and she was by far the hit of the party. Tons of my aunts had never met her before, so they basically just passed her from one aunt to the next the entire night. She never cried once and was just an amazingly perfect little girl. Again that night she slept wonderfully giving us a 6 hour stretch.

The wedding was on Sunday and we put her in the most adorable little pink dress, courtesy of her great grandma Janet. She looked so sweet I could have eaten her up and once agin she was SUCH a good baby. She never cried once. The wedding was at the Franklin Park Conservatory and the ceremony was outdoors. Fortunately it was a beautifully sunny day, however unfortunately it was close to 90 degrees! But she did great - stayed awake but quiet the entire time. I couldn't have been prouder. Both Kurt and I were in the wedding party, so Sarah held her for the ceremony and fanned her with a program while Arlene held up a scarf to shield her from the sun. Then she stayed at the reception for a couple hours, but then Arlene and Reid took her home so that Kurt and I could relax and have some fun. It was a great night. Again, a fantastic sleeper Sunday night.

Monday Kurt and I hosted the after wedding brunch / Memorial day cookout at our house in our backyard. We had it fully catered, so that made it doable for us - there would have been no way we could have gotten it done with everything else going on that weekend. But it turned out great. We had a tent in our backyard for shade and it was great catching up with family again. Catherine was a bit worn out at that point from all of the activity of the weekend, so after about an hour of greeting family, she konked-out in her swing that we'd brought outside.

So overall a really great weekend! Now we're back to our normal boring days of Tabitha, Cate and I, except for one addition - we also have Maggie, Rick and Cristine's little 8 month old Puggle puppy. She's a little crazy, and I can't believe I agreed to watch her while they are on their honeymoon, but so far it isn't going too terribly. I hired a neighbor girl to come and walk the two dogs every day to ensure that they get in at least one walk per day. It's hard for me to take them and handle CJ at the same time, so it's working out well. Unfortunately Maggie already peed once on our great room carpet that we just had professionally steam cleaned last week, but oh well.

Now miss Cate is sleeping in the sling I'm wearing. I did post some pictures of her from this weekend to the Photo Album page so be sure to check them out!

Gymboree

In other news, last week CJ and I had our first experience with Gymboree. For those who want to know more about what this is, check out their website at www.playandmusic.com. But basically it's a class for mom's and their infants (this class is level one which is birth to 6 months old) where you sing songs and interact with your babies in various ways. Last Thursday we played with some small vollyball-sized beach balls (rolled them over our babies, had Cate track it back and forth with her vision, and had her roll over it on her tummy), played with Jimbo the puppet, had tummy time on a mirrored surface, blew bubbles, did infant massage, and sang some songs while clapping and patting our babies. It was really cute and Cate really seemed to enjoy it. She didn't fuss at all and was very attentive the whole time. She was the youngest in the class (there was a 3 month old and a 4 month old), but she wasn't too young at all. She also seemed very interested in just looking at the other two babies faces - she was just enthralled by them. So it was a great time, and we decided to go ahead and sign up for the weekly classes - Thursdays at 12:30.

Kindermusik

Another class that we are signed up for is Kindermusik. It's somewhat similar, but focuses more on singing, and has workbooks and things that you can continue the learning process at home. This class doesn't start until June 27th, but we are looking forward to it. For those interested in learning more about what Kindermusik entails, go to www.kindermusik.com.

6 Weeks Old Already!?

Wow - she's six weeks old. If I were a teacher, I'd already be heading back to work! I couldn't imagine leaving her yet. She just seems to grow more and more each day. Just this morning she was smiling at Kurt (just a little smile, but a smile no less) as he was holding her in the rocking chair and talking to her.

So far she's been pretty good about sleeping at night - she'll usually sleep a 4 hour stretch, and a 3 hour stretch, just needing me to get up to feed her once in the middle of the night. And it normally takes me an hour to feed her and get her calmed back down to go back to sleep. Which really isn't too bad. However, having said that - the girl does not sleep much during the day. She takes 15-30 minute naps a few times during the daytime, but that's it. The rest of the day she mostly wants to be feeding, but we also play around on her little play mat, we read books, play in her bouncy seat or her aquarium swing, wander around in the sling or the Baby Bjorn carrier, or take walks outside and around the neighborhood with Tabitha - sometimes in the stroller and sometimes in the Baby Bjorn carrier. She definitely does not like to be put down (unless it's in her swing), so it's hard for me to find the time to get other things done during the day, but the sling and Bjorn do help a little with that.

This weekend will be a big one for CJ with Rick's wedding on Sunday. All of the family will be in town, starting on Friday, so there will be many of her "fans" wanting to hold her and play with her. She's all set with a gorgeous little pink dress for the wedding from her great-grandma Mahr. We still need to figure out her attire for the other events (rehearsal dinner and after-wedding brunch/cookout), but I'm sure we'll find something cute. Anyway, it will be fun to be able to show her off.

This morning was nice - I got a dozen hot-pink roses from Catherine and a little Happy Birthday card from her as well. What a lovely start to my birthday! Tonight Kurt is taking me out to dinner, so CJ will be well taken care of by her grandma, grandpa, great-grandma and great-grandpa over at my dad's house. Big night for the little girl!

Well, as soon as I can get them, I'll post some pictures we took of CJ on mother's day (Rick took them with his camera, so I just need to get them from him) to the Photo Album page. And of course we'll be taking tons of pictures this weekend that I will post as well. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!!

5 Weeks and counting...

Well, Catherine just keeps getting bigger and more like a real person each day. She really is a pretty good baby. Thank goodness she doesn't seem to be colicky at all (knock on wood). She does like to be on the move when she's awake though. No sitting around for this little one.

Last week we had her 1 month pediatrician appointment. She weighed in at 9 pounds 10 1/2 ounces (60th percentile) and 22 inches (70th percentile), but her head circumfrence was only 30th percentile - a small little head :-) Otherwise she's totally healthy! Unfortunately next month's visit won't be so fun - she'll be given 4 shots. I've heard people recommend giving her a dose of Tylenol before the appointment to help not make the pain so bad and to help her sleep afterwards, so we may try that.

We had a really good weekend. Saturday Kurt, CJ and I went to lunch at the Morgan House - a great little place way up north in Dublin. Afterwards we went to go visit KC and Jenni at their house becasue they live not even a mile from the restaurant. Murphy got to see her, so that was fun too. Then we made a stop off at Saks Fifth Avenue on the hunt for a dress to wear in Rick's wedding. We didn't find a dress for that occasion, but we did find a cute little floral dress that she wore the next day to Mother's Day brunch and she'll probably wear to the after-wedding brunch/cookout.

Mother's Day, CJ, Kurt, Rick, Cristine and our friends Becca and Eric and I all went to brunch at Scioto. It was great, as usual. And little CJ was just wonderful. I think it's good we are getting her used to going out - she's such a good baby! Then we basically just spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. Kurt got me flowers - some beautiful pink roses. And I also got an awesome "mama" necklace as a combo mother's day/birthday gift.

Not too much else to report. This Saturday is CJ's first "play date" over at my friend Kelly's house. She and Will (Kelly's 4 month old son) will play together with our high school friend Tori and her little boy (who was born shortly after CJ) and our other high school friend Jackie and her 9 month old son Charlie. Should be a lot of fun. And it's supposed to finally be a nice day! We've had a TON of rain lately.

Looking forward to next weekend when all of the family will be in town for Rick and Cristine's wedding! Can't wait for all the fun!!!

4 Week Old Update

We just can't believe that 4 weeks have gone by already. I do apologize for not having sent out the birth announcements yet - they will be mailed out within the next week or so. Anyway, things have been going well at the Stuckenbrock household. The breastfeeding difficulties are working themselves out and getting much better. Catherine really is a very good baby. Sleeps well (although no longer is content in her bassinet, she only will sleep either on our chest or in her swing) and isn't fussy unless she's hungry, wet, or wants to suck.

Let's see what's transpired over the past week...

Last Friday was Catherine's debut appearance at HFI. Grandma Jane and I packed her up in the car and took her out to visit daddy and grandpa and all of the other HFI crew. She did very well - didn't fuss until the very end of our tour. Friday night was a big night - first dinner out as a family! Our next door neighbors who have a 19 month old little girl invited us to join them for dinner over at the club. It was great - really nice to be out, and Catherine did very well. Plus it was fun for us to get to show her off a bit to various people we knew at the club.

Saturday grandma Arlene came in town for a quick visit and some babysitting duty. Saturday night Kurt & I went to a charity fundraising event, so Catherine and grandma had some good one-on-one time together. Then Sunday we all went out to eat together for lunch. Another meal out for little Kate. After taking Arlene to the airport on Sunday evening, we headed over to grandpa Walt & grandma Jane's house for dinner. Here she was a little fussy - she'd had a pretty big day and was overly tired, we think. But getting her so tired during the day worked great for us Sunday night. We put her down around 11pm and she only woke up for a feeding once, around 3am!! Then didn't wake again until around 8am. Wonderful night. We wish they could all be like that :-)

Yesterday we had another visit to the lactation consultant who seems to think that Catherine is showing a LOT of progress. She thinks she just needs a bit more practice and she'll have the feeding thing figured out. Then last night we had our first dinner out with just the three of us. Went to our favorite restaurant, Figlio, and Catherine slept the entire time. Such a good little girl.

No real plans for today. Tomorrow night Kathy and Ryan are coming over for dinner. Thursday night we are on the hunt for a baby sitter because we are supposed to go to another event that night. And Thursday is her next pediatrician appointment as well - her one month check-up. We weighed her at the lactation consultant yesterday and she's now up to 9 lbs. 5 oz's. We're interested to see how long she is now because she is starting to grow out of one or two of her little tiny newborn clothes, so we know she has to be getting a bit longer.

Well, that's all there is to update for this week. Be sure to check the photo album page - we posted some of the pictures that her uncle Rick took during her "photo shoot" for the birth announcement. They turned out so great. And keep an eye out in the mail for the announcement. Hopefully we'll have them out within the week!

The first 3 weeks...

Wow - it certainly has taken me a while to get to a point where I have a free second to get back to updating this site! I'd heard from quite a few people that the first few weeks are the hardest, and boy were they right!

Catherine (Kate) is just wonderful. Completely healthy, normal and beautiful. The delivery went rather well. The heightened strength of the contractions due to the pitocin made the pain just unbearable, so I did finally give in and opt for an epidural. What a relief! And the pushing phase really didn't take all that long. Just over an hour, which isn't like some of the horror stories I'd heard/read about. Little Catherine was crying right off the bat, but it was sort of a strangled-sounding cry, so they had someone from neonatal come in and suction the vast amount of mucus she had in her tubes out. Such a little beauty though, and so much hair!

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday around noon (delivered Kate on Tuesday around 5pm). When we got home, Kurt's mom Arlene was staying at our house so we had a bit of help. But basically we were just absolutely exhausted, and trying to get the hang of breast feeding was about all we could manage those first days. The breast feeding started off very well. However, once my milk really came in I became engorged and all hell broke loose. Catherine could no longer figure out how to latch on and it was a rough period.

We've since gotten through the engorgement, mastitis, and any number of other breast feeding problems, and are on our way to success. She's still not an efficient sucker, so we meet regularly with a lactation consultant and she's giving Kate treatments that are supposed to help her become more efficient. That way we can have a more normal 30-45 minute feeding session rather than the 2-4 hour sessions we currently have! Because of her current inneffiency, I'm having to pump every 3 hours round the clock, and when she starts to slow down on the breast, we give her a bottle of expressed breast milk. Also, at night when I'm exhausted, we can just give her a bottle rather than me having to stay up for one of those marathon feeds. It's working for right now, but I am getting a bit weary of being so tied to that pump. I told myself I'd give it at least three weeks (that time span is up today), but I'm going to stick it out a bit longer in working with this lactation consultant and see if we can't get the hang of this.

Anyway, Arlene stayed until the Wednesday following her delivery, and grandpa Horst came in town from Monday to Wednesday as well to see and hold the little girl. Then on Sunday the 24th godmother Sarah came in town for a few days as well to help out and see the little girl. The visitors were really nice to have around, but it's also been nice just trying to get into a normal routine on our own.

Kurt went back to work very early - didn't even take a full week off work. So Kate and I have had to figure things out on our own, but we're doing a good job. I do try to nap when she is sleeping, but I also take some of her sleeping stints to just try to get a few things done around the house (and type up this update!). She does not yet have any sort of regular schedule whatsoever, so don't even bother asking when is a "good time" to come over or when does she normally go to sleep for the night because there is no answer to those questions. It's different from day to day. We allow her to dictate the schedule, so we just feed when she's hungry, and she naps whenever she feels like it.

Her first visit to the pediatrician went very well and she's totally 100% healthy, no health problems at all. She didn't loose any weight after leaving the hospital (our little piggy) and the Monday following our Thursday check-out, she had already gained 4 oz's since birth to be up to 8 pounds 5 ounces. I also just weighed her yesterday at the lactation consultant's office and she is now up to 8 pounds, 15 ounces!!! She's growing fast.

Anyway, that's about all of the updates for now. We hope to get some birth announcements put together soon and have them mailed out in a week or so. I'm going to attempt to come onto this site weekly (every Tuesday) for an update, but we'll see how feasible that is.

Off to go do some laundry of little tiny clothes!