My how time flies...

Yes, almost an entire month has gone by since our last update and there is so much to report! It's amazing how much Melody has changed in just a few short weeks...I can't wait to see what she's going to do next. Her mellow yet lively personality is starting to come out and we love trying to catch her gaze to make her smile. I never knew how incredible it would feel to have this tiny little baby gaze into my eyes and just light up from the sound of my voice. She is most alert and active right after our daytime nursing feeds...assuming she has had her fill! Melody is definitely a growin girl and starting to get nice little baby rolls to go along with her cute chubby cheeks. Her cheeks are her most popular feature and usually the first thing for people to comment on! Here are some highlights over the past few weeks:

1. Sleeping Beauty - thankfully Melody takes after her mommy when it comes to sleep. We started putting her down at night in her crib around 4 weeks and by 6 weeks old she started sleeping "through the night". I put that in quotes because I still don't exactly know what "through the night" constitutes...all I know is that she started sleeping for roughly 8 hr stretches when we put her to bed, wakes up to feed around 5-6am and then back to sleep for another 2-3 hrs. I swear this has been the best gift for me because I was not functioning like a normal person waking up every 3-4 hrs the first month and a half. We are still working on establishing a solid nap routine, but for now I am more than excited about her sleeping habits!

2. "My hands are yummy!" - Melody has always taken to the paci, but in the past two weeks she has really started to take a liking to her hands! She makes the loudest sucking noises when she tries to put the whole thing in her mouth...this new hobby can entertain all of us for quite some time.



3. Cooing and Laughing - these wonderful sound come out from time to time when Melody is in a really playful mood. The noises she makes just melt my heart! Melody is just all smiles :)

sitting in her favorite spot laughing with "great" grandmother

Melody was excited about her first Valentine's Day!!

4. Super strong - Melody loves to grasp things with her hands and not let go! She has also been gaining strength in holding her head up and gaining balance...she'll be rolling over in no time ;)

Overall Melody is such a good little baby (i know I'm totally biased) and we are having so much fun watching her grow. She's in 0-3 month clothing now and will be weighed again next week at her 2 month appt. I'm guessing she's probably up to 11 or 12 lbs by now.

As for myself, I am doing so much better now that I'm getting more sleep at night and am able to work out again! I try to take Melody and Bentley out for daily walks, especially with this gorgeous weather we're having and have even tried jogging a few times! It's amazing how out of shape I've become and really want to try to be healthier this year (which means I've really got to do something about this sweet tooth of mine). As much as I wish I could stay home with Melody all day, I've had to start looking for part-time work and am trying to find something by the end of March.

Ryan is a wonderful dad and gets to spend every Wednesday night taking care of Melody while I am out at small group. I love that they can have some one-on-one daddy/daughter time since I take care of her all day. I have a feeling she's gonna have him wrapped around her little finger in no time! Ryan also turned 30 this past week and we were able to drop Melody off with some good friends to enjoy our first date night since she was born. We had a great time grabbing drinks and food down on 6th street...something we haven't done in a very long time! I'm already looking forward to our next date night :)

definitely a Daddy's girl :)

Happy Birthday baby! (my first homemade carrot cake)

One Amazing Month

Look at me, I'm 1 Month Old!!!

Melody is now 1 month old! I feel like I'm going to be saying this a lot, but I can't believe how big she is getting already! She's still a small baby, but Melody is really starting to fill out. I take her in for her one month checkup in a few days and am excited to see how much weight she has gained. I'm guessing she'll be passing up her little friend Laney...who is two months older than Melody but was born premature. It's amazing how different the two of them look. Laney's mom, Heather, and I love to hang out and take their pictures since they are going to be best friends (they just don't know it yet!).

Laney & Mely

Melody has had such a great time this month being held by so many good friends! I took her by the Melting Pot yesterday to see my old co-workers, and she slept through being held and handed off to about 5 different people. She is a great sleeper so far and I hope that will continue to be the case as we start to establish more of a routine. Melody is already starting to have longer stretches of sleep at night, even though I'm still getting up at least twice to feed her. Usually she nurses around 9:30pm and then sleeps from about 10:30pm till 2:30 or 3am. I'm up around 6am to feed her again, and if I'm lucky will get another hour of two of sleep before we start the day. I have been strictly breastfeeding all month and have been pumping here and there to be able to introduce her to eating from a bottle. She takes to a bottle really well so we will try to incorporate this more often as the time gets closer for me to go back to work. I still have to figure out my job situation, but as of right now the plan is to do some part-time counseling work starting the first part of March. That gives me another 6 weeks or so with my baby. I don't even want to think about having to be away from her but know it will be necessary sooner or later. In the meantime I plan on enjoying our hang-out time during the day while Ryan is at work and the playdates we are getting to have with friends and their babies.

We took our first roadtrip to Houston this past weekend where Melody received so much love and attention from "Grammy and PawPaw". She met some of Ryan's extended family and a few of our friends who live in the area. I took her to see our good friends David and Jennifer, who have sons ages 2 1/2 years and 5 months old. We joked that little Sam could be Melody's boyfriend...they just looked too cute together!

Melody and Samuel

Looking back, Melody has accomplished quite a bit this first month of life. Especially over the past week we have really started to see some neat changes. Her grip has become much stronger and she is now able to hold her head up on her own for a few minutes at a time! She is a really good eater and seems to be very content after each feeding. Ryan and I joke that she loves being "milk drunk" since she's so relaxed and content on her boppy when she's done eating.

"milk drunk"!

Melody is also more aware and alert now during the day, staring up at the ceiling or light fixtures with an intense look. I think she's started to recognize me and Ryan because every now and then we can catch her gaze and she will give us a little smile. She's started to make cooing noises more frequently...I mean she'll be practically talking before we know it! I think this is the last week that we will be in newborn diapers and then it's time to move up to size 1. I tried putting her in 1's this past week but they were still a little too big which gave me a little relief that she could stay tiny just a little longer :) I'm not ready for her to get big, but am exicted to see what this next month holds...and am especially looking forward to more smiles and giggles!

all cozy in her favorite blankie

so happy on my playmat!

big yawn :)