So this week was the first FULL week back to work (won't talk about THAT) and Jessy's first full week at daycare.  She's been doing great!  Probably ALOT better than I am.  The best part of my day is when I'm on my way to pick her up and I get to kiss her sweet cheeks.  She also had her 2 month checkup!  She's a healthy girl and may even be working on a tooth coming in YIKES!

Since we will be going to sporting events and concerts with our little munchkin, (GO HAWKS!) we need to protect her hearing so she doesn't end up like her daddy!  We got these ear protectors from Baby Banz! Total cuteness!

Favorite things this week:  Country music, bouncing on a ball and having her toes kissed.

Jessy's 10 Day Old Pictures

Month 1 and 2 Favorite Things

Snugabunny Rock and Play - Jessy loves this little seat for during the day when I need to cook dinner or take a shower.  It will rock if she moves which makes it nice, so cozy and soft.

Aden and Anai Swaddles - These muslim swaddles are fantastic, lightweight so she doesn't overheat.  I use them for swaddles, nursing covers, burp clothes in emergencies or a lightweight blanket. 

Pumpin' Pal Shields - Uhm these are to die for.  They are so comfortable its like you're not even pumping, a must have if you need to pump!

Mustela Cleanser - I love this soap free cleanser, completely safe for preemies and has a nice smell. 

Burts Bees Baby Lotion - I literally give Jessy a massage with this every night.  She smiles the whole time!

Our sweet girl is now 2 months old!  She started daycare on Friday, came home, cuddled and slept all afternoon.  I can't believe so much time has gone by already.  We celebrated with her first swim lesson with daddy.  While she did enjoy the pool, she enjoyed the hot tub MUCH better!!

I think we have a little water baby on our hands!

I'm really having a hard time with the thought of going back to work and not seeing my girl all day long.  The ladies at the daycare would tell me that its okay to cry and you can call and check in with us to see how she is doing.  I thought "I'm confident, I don't cry, I will be fine."  HA!  Boy was I wrong.  No I'm crying ALOT.  I'm so sad I almost feel like I can't breathe at times.  I know it will pass and everything will be fine but I will sure miss that girl all day. 

Because I'm going back to work I'm thinking about pumping (which is a stress all to itself).  Figuring out how many bottles with what ounces is a little maddening.  I want to preserve my breastfeeding relationship so I will only be sending 1 ounce per hour I'm away so she'll get most of the milk from me.  Yes that may mean I will be up a lot during nights and do most of her feedings then...

I'm learning how hard breastfeeding is, how many things can go wrong (I've almost gone through every one of them), how painful, and how incredibly giving you must be to do it for a long period of time.  I always said my goal was one year. I've questioned that decision many times.  But I am so determined to make it work. 

I've decided that when it comes time to introduce her to foods (after 6 months of age), I'm going to go with Baby Led Feeding.  Which means if she wants something I'm eating, she gets a bite.  No mashes or purees just real healthy foods.  After all its really just for fun before the age of 1.  Learning tastes and textures, smells and colors. It will be fun to see her face! 

In the mean time I'm pretty sure she is being well fed!

On Saturday we took Jessy up to Chinook Pass and stopped to see some friends family along the way.  I love having encouraging women in my life!

We brought a picnic lunch to Lake Tippso and walked around the lake then onto another trail toward Naches.  Jessy was just a sweetheart.  We are always amazed at how good she is on these trips.  As long as she gets her milk every few hours she is up for anything!

Along the trail I believe we found the largest ant hill in the world, it was well over 4 feet tall and a huge bee hive.  Yes I was feeling the heebeejeebees all the way back! 

 

On Sunday we noticed that she had become fussy, clingy, not eating the same, wasn't sleeping well, (we were up every 45 minutes, which is NOT normal) so I looked up the Wonder Weeks just to check if we were hitting a milestone, sure enough we are. 

If you aren't familiar with the Wonder Weeks it's absolutely fascinating!  You know about growth spurts, they happen on scheduled weeks and months as the baby grows and you know to expect cluster feedings and fussiness, well there are also developmental weeks where the baby's developing a skillset.  They can pinpoint exactly what to expect from your baby down to gas, eating there hands and the way they cry.  The nice thing about knowing these things is that at the end you know she will have a new skill!  It makes it all worth it and you know she is not crying "for no reason".  Her brain is growing!

Last night was good!

We've had the fortunate experience of having a baby that will sleep great at night and go back to sleep immediately after feedings.  She will even put herself to sleep if you put her down awake.  But we always struggled to get her to sleep initially.  We couldn't get her to bed until 11pm a lot of nights after a lot of crying on both our parts, walking, bouncing, you name it.  So yesterday I got her ready for bed at 6pm (gasp!), she was asleep by 6:30 and SMILING when I put her down.  She got up this morning at 7am with 3 feedings in that 13 hour period.

She was SO happy!  Daddy and I laid on the bed this morning talking with and tickling her (I heard her first gut busting laugh!).  So what I learned is sleep begets sleep.  Napping during the day and getting your baby to sleep at the FIRST sign of sleepiness BEFORE they ever cry is SO important.  It makes life so much easier.  Babies need that much sleep!

The plus side for me is my hubby and I have our evenings together to have dinner and watch a movie.  Having that time to reconnect is so important and has definitely been missing.