Our expressive girl....

The weather is getting colder and Arden is getting bigger! We've ditched the infant insert for the carrier that we use to tote her around. Thankfully, we've been receiving bigger warmer clothes from Grandma and Grammie!

Attached is a facial expression "study" inspired by the three pics I posted earlier. Enjoy!

how long has it been?

Wow - it's already October 26th!

Arden is almost 4 months old - time for more vaccinations :s

Arden now can roll onto her belly, and is experimenting with rolling back onto her back (harder). She loves our animals now - see the video. Her world is really expanding - looking all around and not needing to see us every moment.

She even stands with support! Wow. And her eyes are still blue :)

I have hands!

Quick update for Arden.

On Friday, Arden discovered her hands! She held them up to her face and studied them, and then was able to coordinate her movements enough to grab a colorful ring that I held in front of her face!

She is becoming much more aware of her surroundings, holding her head up for longer, and able to roll from her side to belly!

3 Months on Thursday!

Arden is almost 3 months, and it's starting to show! We've had a busy couple of weeks, starting to get onto a schedule that has her eating less frequently, taking a trip to Fire Island for a weekend, Arden starting to hold her head up much more frequently, and just today we caught her new trick on film....giggling!

Arden is now 12 pounds and can now follow objects across the room - including mommy and daddy. Here comes the fall, and bigger clothes as she doesn't fit in her newborn clothes anymore!

The Swing Works

So I have to concede that the swing helps! I think the best strategy to pacifying Arden is having a wide range of methods to do so. (swing, crib, sling, ergo, me)

We are adjusting to the first week of Amber being at work full time. It's difficult! Amber misses Arden very much.

I forgot to mention that Arden weighed in at around 11.5 lbs at her two month visit. She's close to 12 lbs. by now!

She still hasn't lost her hair or her blue eyes :) She is also seeming to get into a recognizable sleeping pattern during the day; Two mini naps at 10 and 1, and one larger one around 3 or 4. These are times when I "rest" by practicing and cleaning up.

My iPhone has been very helpful as I can check my e-mail as I walk around with Arden to get her sleepy!

Arden at two months

Last Wednesday Arden turned 8 weeks! That's not quite two months. Two months will officially be this coming Tuesday.

To celebrate, we went to the pediatrician, Dr. Ward, and had her 1st set of vaccinations administered! It was fun, it was exciting, it was....no. Arden did great. She had to have three different needles in her thighs, and take one vaccination orally. She was really fussy for about an hour when we got home, but baby Tylenol is wonderful thing.

We discovered that Arden is struggling with indigestion. It hits her at random times after random feedings. We think it's brought on by what ever Amber has been eating. Amber has been cutting out dairy (the most common cause), but we are suspecting that the true culprit is tomato sauce. Either of those options are a blow to us since we love italian food.

To combat the indigestion, Dr. Ward prescribed Zantak for babies. It should calm her stomach. We're also trying Gripe Water (a natural alternative that helps with gas).

We also purchased a swing that is currently pacifying Arden as I write this entry. It takes up a large amount of space in our apartment....we'll see if it ends up being worth it!

Two weeks ago, Arden got to meet her Uncle Kevin who came into town for his vacation! Arden liked Kevin and I think they'll have many fun times together in the future.

Arden is almost 6 weeks old!

We've had a VERY full last couple of weeks. We've had Amber's Great Aunt Janet , Aunt Joanie and Uncle Alan Benjamin, Cousin Lindsey, and Uncle Alan's mother Flo visit.

Arden has been spending more time holding her head up, occasionally propping it against Amber's for balance.

Kyle has had his first experience with being peed on.....all down his shorts...while on the way to give Arden a bath. Guess who also took a shower!

We believe that Arden has started losing some short 1 inch hairs from her head. Thankfully, her long birth hair seems to be hanging in there still! Hopefully more hair will start growing in to fill in her doo.

Arden has started to focus on us and smile from time to time! (her smiling is no longer just a simple reflex). Her smiles make all the hard work worth it :)