Tag Archives: Jessica

Last weekend my parents came into town. They stayed at my brother’s house, but they spent a few hours when they first arrived with Jessica and I. My Dad hadn’t seen Jessica since she was 1 day old.

Jessica and her Papa

We then met up with everyone for dinner where Jessica sucked on her pacifier (since she had gotten fussy in the car) and then fell asleep. She took such a nice nap, we even did a quick stop in the grocery store on the way home. Although, I have to say HEB’s carts aren’t ideal for a baby carrier, so until she gets bigger I won’t be able to go to HEB with just her.

Jessica Sucking on her Pacifier

She much prefers her bouncer to her swing, but as long as she is very happy when put in the swing, she’ll enjoy it and even fall asleep in it.

Jessica in her Swing

Doesn’t Jessica look like she’s praying in this next picture? It was taken after a diaper change, so maybe she’s praying that that Daddy will be faster at flying her in for a milk pick-up. James has taken to flying Jessica to me and she really seems to enjoy it. I need to get a picture of it.

Jessica Praying?

On Sunday, we met up with my parents and my brother’s family for lunch to celebrate Julia’s birthday, who hit the quarter century mark. Don’t Aspen and Jessica look cute together? I can’t wait until they both get bigger and can have play dates.

Cousins Aspen and Jessica

On Monday, Jessica became one month old. Time is certainly flying by. She is rapidly growing. The Gerber brand 0-3 month onesies are now too short, although the Carter newborn onesies are still long enough, but not for much longer. Jessica enjoys eating and can be quite the noisy eater. Sometimes, she gets so excited to eat and will gulp so much that she almost causes herself to choke. She is starting to be more alert during the day and enjoys kicking on her tummy time mat both on her back and on her stomach. She can keep herself occupied for quite some time in her bouncer, which is great since that allows me to eat lunch or get dressed. Jessica is a good sleeper, albeit an often noisy sleeper. She has consistently been going to bed in the 9-10 o’clock hour, waking up around 2:30 AM and then again between 7:30 and 8:30 AM. Although last night, she didn’t wake up until 5 AM and then 9 AM, which made me pretty happy. Although, if I had known she was going to sleep that long I would have put a doubler in her diaper and prevented James from changing the crib sheet at 5 AM.

Jessica, 11/16/09

Jessica, 11/18/09

Jessica, 11/19/09

As a side note, at my postpartum check-up at the OB’s office earlier this week, I’m 6 pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight. Of course, since I only gained 30 pounds, I lost a third to half of that weight by the time we went home from the hospital.

Sleeping Jessica, 11/7/09

On Tuesday, Jessica had an ultrasound performed on her hips. This is a common precautionary test for breech babies. She slept the entire time, even with that cool gel. The ultrasound technicians said it would be nice if more babies were that calm. Below is a picture taken after they finished the test. We found out the result and everything is normal. On a side note, Dell Children’s Hospital is really well laid out.

Hip Ultrasound, 11/10/09

Sleeping Jessica, 11/11/09

When I set her in the crib after changing her diaper, so I can wash my hands, I’ve been setting her so she can look in her mirror and it keeps her happy.

Jessica Checking Herself Out in the Mirror, 11/11/09

I can tell she’s growing because the newborn clothing is getting too small, well mainly too short. See the below photo. She’s at the maximum length before it gets too short, although she still has a little ways to go before it gets too tight.

Jessica Ready for Bed, 11/11/09

Jessica is such a happy baby. Very infrequently does she get really upset. Although she still doesn’t like baths. We’re hoping that will change.

Happy Baby, 11/12/09

Sometimes when we go on walks, she is awake and alert, watching the bugs hanging from the stroller/carrier handler. Other times, as seen in the below photo, she sleeps the entire walk.

Jessica in her Stroller, 11/12/09

We’ve been trying to give Jessica a little tummy time every day, although sometimes that doesn’t happen. She seems to enjoy herself and will kick her legs and try to roll over. She’ll do this until she gets frustrated with her current inability to complete the front to back roll. Her actions made us wonder at what age can babies be expected to roll-over. I searched the internet (such a handy tool) and found some differing opinions, but most say around 3 months with some saying as late as 6 months is normal. Check out our wiggle worm in the little video below.

As a side note, Jessica’s cousin Trevor was born yesterday morning. See Sarah’s blog for pictures. They’re only about 3 weeks apart, when their due dates would have put them 6 weeks apart. I guess they wanted to be closer in age since Jessica came a little late and Trevor came a little early.

Today, we took Jessica to the doctor. Normally, you take a baby for a well-check at 2 weeks of age, but because her weight gain was so good at 1 week old, the pediatrician pushed Jessica’s visit to 3 weeks old. When put on the scale today, Jessica weighed 8 pounds 13.4 ounces. That is a weight gain of almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks. Wow, she is growing like a weed! Needless to say, Jessica is a good eater. During the day time, she eats on demand. Sometimes she goes 1 hour between feedings, sometimes 3 hours and anywhere in between. She had been waking up 2 times a night to feed, but the last 2 nights, it has dropped to once around 3 AM, going about 5-6 hours between feedings. This is kinda exciting, because she is somewhat getting a schedule, of course, it is a schedule to subject to change.

James had quite the experience while we were at the doctor’s office. The weigh-in required Jessica to be nude. After being weighed, he was about to lay her down on the exam table to diaper and dress her, but before he could lay her down, she decided she was cold and peed all over his hand and the exam table. It is fortunate that 1) she is a girl and 2) James had her just inches from the top of the table and not up against his body.

James and Jessica, 18-days old

Her umbilical cord stump fell off earlier this week. This is great, because now I can really start using the cloth diapers. With the diaper covers I had purchased, it was hard to keep the umbilical cord uncovered and as I wanted to prevent moisture being trapped in that region, we had mainly been using disposables. As soon as I’ve hard more time to experiment with the different types of cloth diapers and covers that I purchased, I’ll write a post on what I’ve found works best for us. That experimentation will also involve James, because I want him to not find cloth diapers too much of a chore to change. Below is a picture of Jessica napping while I changed the sheet in her crib since we had a diaper leakage issue.

Jessica in her Bouncer, 20-days old

Another picture of her napping. The majority of pictures I took of her this week are of her napping. Of course, she is so cute when she is asleep, it’s hard to resist getting out the camera. But I will need to take more pictures of her awake. This should get easier as she will spend more time awake as she grows.

Jessica Napping, 21-days old