Running with Abby

Running has not been the easiest since Abby was born. It was either wake up at 5am (after getting up multiple times during the night) or try to squeeze it in once Eric came home from work in the evenings. I have been wanting a jogging stroller since before Abby was born but it kept getting put off. Basically Eric and I take forever making purchases because we have to research all the brands, etc.

And then I met the nicest lady at the park. I had barely met her and she offered me her jogging stroller - for free. She had overheard me talking to my friend about how Eric and I had been looking for one and trying to decide which brand we were going to get. Turns out she has been wanting to get rid of hers. After going to her house and trying (unsucessfully) to pay her for the stroller, I drove away the new owner of a jogging stroller. Although it wasn't one of the brands we had been looking at, the price was sure hard to beat!

And it works great! I was a bit worried that Abby wouldn't like it to much since she has always hated being strapped into her car seat (she hadn't ever even been in a stroller before this, we would just wear her everywhere).  She has been so great though! It actually usually puts her to sleep.  Which I wish it didn't, but now I just have to plan my runs so it is close to her normal nap times.

These are from right after our very first run together. I am loving this!

A conversation with Abby

Abby - 4 months

Dearest Abby,

Happy 4 months, pretty girl! This month you have really amazed me with how much you have grown and learned. I was just telling your Daddy a few days ago how I feel like I didn't get to really enjoy your teeny tiny newborn stage as much as I wish I could have because I was so worried and stressed every second of every day with whether you were starving and whether I would ever be able to feed you all on my own. I won't ever get those days back, but I can cherish each moment and day I have with you now. Like when I was feeding you today and you fell asleep in my arms. Instead of putting you down right away in your crib, I held you for a while, just looking at you and listening to you breathing. You are beautiful, incredible, and amazing. And you are mine.

Speaking of feeding, you have really gotten this nursing thing down. I was so worried a few weeks ago when all of a sudden you were only eating about 10 minutes per feeding, sometimes less. Being me, I automatically worried that you weren't getting enough, so I went back to my breastfeeding support group, where the lactation educator reassured me that you were just fine, only more efficient. A far cry from the 40-60 minute attempts at feeding during those early weeks.

You are so much more aware of everything around you now.  No longer will you take naps away from home at playgroups or outside.  You are just too distracted by people, sounds, and things. I have to be really careful at planning our days so we don't get caught out when you are tired. You are also very distracted sometimes when eating. Your Daddy talks and you stop and turn your head to look at him, if music is playing you keep looking around, or you will simply stop to stare at the ceiling fan or smile up at me and start talking.

You continue to love being outdoors. We make sure to go on walks every day and take frequent trips to the park and zoo so you can get plenty of outside time. We just (finally!) got a stroller this past weekend and went on our very first run with it and you did great!  A runner after your mother's heart.

This month you learned how to roll from your back to your tummy on your left side. You practiced for about a day before mastering it. And I'm pretty sure you are about to get the roll from the right side down too!

So many coos and smiles coming from you now, which has been so much fun! You have really become such a happy baby this month, which has made your mamma happy too. Probably the most exciting moment this month was when you looked up at me and laughed. This just happened about a week ago and I was so excited and elated to hear it. It's been hard to squeeze more laughs out of you since then, so hopefully month five will bring lots of laughs.

Oh Abby, we love you so much. Don't grow up too fast, little one.

Love,
Your Mamma

Pregnancy pics

Obviously this post is a little overdue.  Eric and I went over to Coronado Island to take pregnancy pictures and then I never got around to posting them because Abby decided to come 4 days later. We thought for sure we still had a couple weeks to go! So in the craziness of everything, these never actually got posted. 

Here is me at 39 weeks pregnant, June 3, 2012

Doctor visit and a pretty baby

Abby had her 4 month well-child visit last Friday.  Along with the shots (which she handled amazingly!), we got her updated stats:

Abby at four months (well, 3 3/4 months):

Length: 25 1/2 inches (90th %tile)

Weight: 12 lb 3.4 oz (25th %tile)

Head circumference: 15 1/4 inches (5th %tile)

We have a long, thin, tiny headed baby! Her doctor said she looks great - we think she does too! ;)

Abby the roller

Abby over the past few weeks has once or twice rolled from her tummy to her back or the other way around.  But it seemed more an accident than anything else.  But over the past two days, she has really gotten the back to tummy down pretty good!  She caught me by surprise since she hadn't done it in so long and all of a sudden she did it a few times in a row.  Now today she's done it pretty much every time I put her down.

It's fun how all of these tiny things are so exciting for us.  We sure love watching her grow and learn new things.

Beach Trip

Abigail slept through most of her first beach trip about a month ago, and we have been meaning to get her back again ever since then to see how she would take to the beach. We were going to actually put her in the water, but she ended up not being too happy for most of our time there (due to poor timing on our part mostly - it is definitely hard to get a little baby to sleep anywhere but home who is usually swaddled and rocked to sleep). So we will have to go again soon to try that again. We think she will probably like it since she is liking her baths more and more.

We did get some very adorable pictures though, which deserved a post all of their own!

I love this one. :)