4 weeks already?!

Exactly four weeks ago today, I cooked dinner for Chad, my Dad, and I.  We ate dinner, had a little dessert, watched tv, then went to bed.  Not too long after going to bed, our whole world changed.  Now here we are with a sweet, precious 4 week old that has changed our life so much. 

Everyone told me that time would pass by quickly, but wow it has flown by.  She will be a month old on Friday.  In just four weeks, Reagan has started to change so much.  There are so many little qualities we are noticing she gets from Chad and I.  Sometimes when we look at her, she looks like Chad and sometimes when we look at her she looks like me.  For example, here are two pictures, one taken on Monday and one today. 

Daddy's Eyes

Looking like Mommy



Last week, we made a very big step.  It was a hard one to make (for Mommy and Daddy), but we knew it would be best for our sweet girl.  She is no longer sleeping in her bassinet in our bedroom.  Reagan now sleeps in her crib in the nursery.  She takes her naps in there and she also sleeps in there at night.  My Aunt Joan bought a video monitor for us and that has been a life saver.  I think it made this transition so much easier for us.  When we hear her crying or making sounds we can look to see what she is doing.  If we got up everytime she made a grunt or sound, we would be up every 10 minutes.  We have a very loud sleeper.  While she sleeps she grunts (passing gas), stretches, and snores (yes, already).

Here she is in her big crib! She looks so tiny in there!

Another transition we made last week was putting Reagan on a schedule.  The first 3 weeks were more about us getting to know her, when she likes to eat, how long she eats, how she sleeps, etc.  Once we figured all of that out, we were able to make a schedule of feeding, playtime, and naptime.  Now, of course, the schedule doesn't ALWAYS work.  And I'm sure as the weeks go on we will need to adjust the feeding schedule as she will begin eating more, but less often.  We have her one month appointment on the 18th so we are looking forward to finding out about her progress with weight and how we might need to adjust her schedule.

Combining moving to the crib for naps and bedtime with making a schedule for her has been harder on me than it has her.  Before, we would have the bassinet in the living room so as I would walk around the house, I would go and look at her in the bassinet or I would hold her a lot more (instead of putting her down for naps in the bassinet).  I keep telling Chad that I miss her since she seems so far away now in the nursery.  I do have to admit, I sneak in a few cuddle times during the day because I know she's not always going to be this small and cuddly.  And once school starts back, I'm not going to have as many opportunities to do this.  Chad keeps reminding me that as she gets older, she will be awake longer and I will get to play with her more.

Chad and I both read "Baby Wise" (which I highly recommend) and we really like how the book suggested teaching your baby to self-sooth.  The schedule (feeding, waketime, naptime) is a big part of Baby Wise.  By not putting her down after feeding her, she teaches herself how to self-soothe.  Right now she is very drowsy when we put her down because we keep her so busy during waketimes.  We are hoping eventually when she is more awake when we put her down that she will be so comfortable with her crib that she will be able to fall asleep on her own.  We shall see...

Here are a few photos from the past 2 weeks:

Reagan's maternal great grandmother "GiGi", two of her "Grand Ants" Aunt Sheree and Daphne, and Uncle Steve came for a visit a few weekends ago.  It was such a special moment introducing her to some of her family. :)

with GiGi

KayKay, Aunt Sheree, Mommy, Gigi, and Reagan

Four Generations

Aunt Daphne and Reagan










Happy 4th!

  
 

Grandpa, MawMaw, and Reagan





Tummy Time

First Official Walk

Love to Swing!

I'm lifting my head all by myself!