Laura Is Four Months Old!

Like Dad said, Laura is getting so big, so fast. Where have the tiny infant days gone? While we can't give you a complete list of "Laura stats" yet (Dr. appointment to come on Aug. 10), here's the scoop on our little lovebug so far.

Height: 25 and 1/4 inches

Weight: 13 lbs., 1 oz.

Likes: Looking at trees, pulling hair, the word "boom!," chewing/sucking on her fingers, pacifier, rocking with her head on my shoulder, sitting in the Bumbo, zerberts on the tummy, linking rings, when we pretend to eat her, screaming (not in anger, just for fun), giggling.

Dislikes: Blankets and toys on her face (ahem, Dad), her scratchy cradle-cap covered head, early evening when she has not napped, the dining room at Ruttger's.

Laura has reached a milestone which she will only selectively repeat, rolling from her tummy onto her back. I have only seen it once or twice a few weeks ago, but I guess she finally gave a repeat performance today for Dad and Grandma Janelle. Last month I was bemoaning how horribly she was sleeping. It's better, but not great. She wakes up quite a few times at night, but usually it's just a quick pacifier intervention and then we're back to sleep. She's also napping, although she seems to prefer 3-4 short naps of 30 min. to an hour rather than the 2 long naps she "should" be taking. Any naps are good to me!

We also strongly suspect her first tooth is in the works. There is a LOT of drooling, chewing, poor nursing (and biting! ow!), and some fussiness. Poor Laura. I hope it holds off for a while because I think her big gummy smile is so cute! We are loving her so much; it's fun to see her develop skills and a little personality. I'm trying not to think about a month from now - school for me, daycare for her, boo-hoo-hoo.

Look, I have Pooh on my hands!

Pooh Bear
The moment I saw this outfit, I have been waiting for this day to post this headline.

Laura, am I a funny dad or what!?!


4 Months Old
Today, Laura turned four months. As many people say it, I have to reiterate, time really does fly. From birth to today, life has gone by in a blink of the eye. I don't think I completely soaked up all the newborn joys and experiences. It is hard to remember way back to the beginnings of Laura (tongue-in-cheek).

First Week of Daycare (sort of)
This week is our mini-test of what life will be like when Laura is in daycare. Mom is finishing up her last class at Hamline for her Master's degree in Education while Dad has work. Both grandmas have stepped up to take care of Laura during the day. On Monday and Wednesday, we dropped off Laura at Grandma Barb and on Tuesday and Thursday, Grandma Janelle came to our house. Since today is the last day and we haven't heard any disturbing reports about Laura yet, this looks promising for our real daycare lady.

Laura's First Ruttger's Vacation

Highlights
This year's trip to Ruttger's Resort on Bay Lake was memorable for a number of reasons. We had two first-timers, Kaitlin and Laura. Dad fished Bay Lake for the first time. Laura swam in the indoor pool and had her first boat ride. Matt beat Grandpa Glenn at the putting contest. Matt also won back-to-back BINGO games - $15. Uncle Michael and Auntie Kaitlin did a little paddle boat fishing. Dad quit golfing.

Ruttger's Recap
Every year on our way to Ruttger's, Mom and I stop at the big Walleye monument in Garrison for a picture. I believe this is our 5th picture and 5th time that I have reminded Mom that the fish is a walleye. HA! Over the years, Mr. Walleye has taken a beating from the weather and people touching it. Luckily for Laura, this year, he has been either replaced or refurbished...not sure. But over the next number of years, we can watch Laura grow with Mr. Walleye as a backdrop.

As a first-time parent, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my little girl grow, develop, and discover her surroundings. During this trip, we bought an infant Speedo so Laura could swim in the indoor pool. The outdoor pool and lake was chilly and after her experience with cold water at the baptism, the water temperature controlled indoor pool was better suited for her first-time swim. Even though, she didn't move her arms or legs, it was fun watching her float around the pool in Mom's arms.

Earlier in the trip, the entire crew went on a pontoon cruise. I was especially happy to see Laura's pleasant reaction to be on the water. She did a great job handling the sun, wind, and being bundled in the tiny life jacket. Laura looked so cute in her infant life jacket but she definitely was annoyed with wearing it! Once again, the plug (pacifier) came through, calming her down.

The overall weather was OK but not great. The temps were relatively mild, clouds were abundant and rain appeared off and on throughout the vacation. Grandpa and I had to delay our tee time on Tuesday by several hours due to a downpour. Nevertheless, the girls were hearty and made due with what sun we had.

The trip was fun as usual, although Dad's golf game was downright frustrating. Laura was a little fussy during the dinners and a few nights, but overall she was near perfect! I am excited to see what she can do next year at Ruttger's Resort.

Sorry, Laura!

I think I say, "Sorry, Laura!" at least once a day. I bang her into things when I'm carrying her car seat, today I accidentally clocked her in the forehead with her glow-worm, I accidentally bump her awake when she's sleeping...you get the picture. NOTE: Please do not report mom to child services. I am TRYING to be careful. Anyway, a couple of days ago I had my biggest "Sorry, Laura!" yet.

When she was just a few days old, I attempted to cut her fingernails with some baby-sized clippers. On the second finger, I clipped finger and not nail, and she started to cry, and then I started to cry. I felt so bad. After that I switched to filing with a nail file and that worked much better for all parties involved. Until now, when her nails are a little more substantial and grow like weeds, so I switched back to the clippers. All "nail salon" sessions have been successful, up until Thursday. We got through one hand, and then I nicked her on the thumb of the second hand. She fussed a little, and mom did not cry about it this time (but apologized profusely).

However, the thumb would not quit bleeding!!! I didn't think I could put a band-aid on it because she'd probably just eat it off and/or what if she has a latex allergy? So I let it bleed assuming it would stop. As you can see from her outfit, it took quite some time. I also tried to take a close up of the injury but my pictures get blurry if I zoom in too far.

Sorry, Laura! I love you!

Choosing a Day Care Provider

Day care
With roughly a month before Mom heads back to work, we are in the process of choosing a day care provider. Are we a little late with this, maybe. Did I want to pay a non-refundable fee of $50/week to hold the spot, not really. So it is what is it is. The pickings are slim and will only get slimmer because most providers are only allowed to care for 2 children under one year of age.

Decision-making
There are so many variables to take in account and things to do when choosing a day care person. I won't bore you with all of the questions we asked during our first interview but Mom did a terrific job on coming up with great questions.

Philosophies
Mom and I bring different philosophies to the process for choosing who will be watching Laura. Mom is very thorough on her decision making process. In order for her to feel comfortable, she needs to interview, check references, look at the toys, and evaluate the house. I totally agree with every one of those but where we differ is "interviewing more people" and using our "gut feeling."

Mom has to interview a couple more people to be comfortable with this decision. I am not saying that she is wrong but I was more than happy with our first person. My gut feeling says, after the interview and tour of her house, is that Laura will be in good hands. She passed all the questions we asked, references were positive on her ability to care for children, and her wage and time-off is fair market value. The only negatives are the toys, crib, and high chair are a little outdated. With time running out, once again, my gut feeling says...she is the one. But, there are two votes and Mom has yet to cast. Stay tuned!

Video
Below is a fun video of Laura taking a bath, having a good tummy-time session, and another spit-up episode.

Talk to Me, Baby!

One of the best things about watching Laura grow is seeing all the new skills she picks up along the way. When we take her for stroller walks now, she is super alert and loves looking up at the trees. She's also doing better on tummy time and can lift her head AND shoulders up off the blanket, which thrills her mom to no end. But probably the most enjoyable new skill is Laura's chattiness. She has been able to coo and make little noises for quite some time, but she is just starting to test out her voice and see how much (and how loud) she can talk!

Laura's favorite chatting buddies are: herself (in the mirror), pictures of babies (her Uncle Matt's 3 month baby photo was especially exciting), babies in magazines, and her glow-worm from Marty and Merrissa. She likes talking to us too, but sometimes I get the feel that she is giving us some sass...it doesn't always sound as "friendly" as when she's talking to her other buddies. Nevertheless, we are always happy to hear what she has to say.

Exception: when she tries to tell me anything between the hours of 11pm and 7am. I hate when she tries to pull cute on me in the middle of the night, giving me charming smiles during 3am diaper changes. It is impossible to be irritated with her. Sleep is continuing to be the thorn in my side; I'm so annoyed to admit that I am doing ridiculous things I swore I'd never do, like sleep on the floor next to her crib. The evil green Soothie pacifier is still causing us all sorts of sleepytime struggles...be ready Laura, "cry it out" is on the horizon...

Congrats to Mary and Kevin

Mom and I would like to send a special congratulations to new, first-time parents, Kevin and Mary. Mary delivered a 6lbs, 12 oz, healthy baby girl named Lindsay Mercedes at 10:31am. I can foresee Laura and Lindsay teaming up to pester little Evan. Now we wouldn't let that happen, right!?!

In other news...

Laura is back in the crib
We took Laura out of her carseat for night-time sleeping and put her back into the crib. Laura becomes restless quite often in the carseat. At one point, we thought this change was a cure all, now it is in need of an overhaul. I believe Mom is rather impatient and should stay the course, but I can't say too much because she is the one who gets up in the middle of the night to calm Laura. So, why did we go back to the crib? Mom read in a book that we could create a boundary under the sheets with a towel, and slightly elevate one side of the mattress. We also went back to swaddling - to control her hands, because she rubs and claws at her face way too much. We will monitor these changes and modify if needed. To what...beats me?

Discovery of Craigslist

After helping out Grandpa George clean out his garage, I came across my old subwoofer and amp from the good 'ol days. As I took the sub off the shelf, it blew my mind that this item was there for 9+ years. I am surprised he didn't make me take it years ago. Anyhoo, I figured I would try to sell it (since I have no use or room for it) on Craigslist. Three hours after posting, someone was interested and emailed me to look at it tomorrow. Man, that was way too easy and fast...good job Craigslist!

Fishing 2009

Dad didn't take his annual Lake of the Woods fishing trip this year. For a number of reasons, the group decided to stay close to home and fish Mille Lacs and the neighboring, Borgen Lake. Dad didn't catch the big walleye but he did reel in his largest largemouth bass. Super fun catch! The bass "tail danced" out of the water two times. We didn't have any measuring devices on the boat but these pictures are more than enough proof it was a nice catch!

4th of July

Oh, Wisconsin.
Land of my family, you have given us many wonderful things. Cheese, Leinenkugel beers, Noah's Ark waterpark....

But your easy access to fireworks for the home enthusiasts? Not cool Wisconsin, not cool. Little Miss Laura is NOT happy about going to bed tonight and we unfortunately live in a neighborhood where MANY people are happily setting off their own personal fireworks show.

Happy 4th, everyone!

Laura's Baptism

Laura's Baptism was back on June 14th. It was a really nice day; we had a lot of family celebrating with us and showing Laura their love and support. One of the most special things about Laura's Baptism was her baptismal gown - she is the third generation to wear it! My mom, aunts, myself, my brothers, and my cousins have all been baptized in this gown. I thought it was really neat that Laura got to wear it too.

The Baptism liturgy at our church was nice. Our musical friends John (who played piano for our wedding) and Jane were on hand and that was pretty meaningful for Grandma Barb and myself since they rearranged schedules to be the musicians for that day. At our church, babies are "dunked" naked in the font, and then they are dried off and put in their white garments. Although Laura likes baths a lot, this was a different story. The water in the font was lukewarm at best, and of course she shrieked when Dad dipped her in! She calmed down pretty quickly afterwards and looked so sweet in her gown.

We were very happy for Laura to become a part of her church family and especially thankful for the support of her godparents, Auntie Lynn and Uncle Scott.