Happy Birthday!

Today is little Froglette's 1 month birthday. She's celebrating by joining her mom and dad out at a coffee shop so they can use the internet!

4 weeks!

Today is four weeks since little Froglette was born. We were even up this morning at 2 am (although not celebrating her birth!). It's been an amazing four weeks and I'm overwhelmed by how much she has grown and changed in just four weeks.

She started out at just 6 pounds 12 ounces, but now is clearly over 8 pounds (she was 8 at her doctor's appointment 2 weeks ago). She not only weighs more, but her little body has filled out. She doesn't look as lean and skinny now. Mom bought some newborn sized clothes while we were in the hospital (she was just too small for the 0-3 month clothes) and now they are all very tight. Once we get settled into the new place today and tomorrow, we'll start transitioning her into the 0-3 clothes. She'll have many more options for clothes too, so that means less laundry! Hopefully I'll be able to start wearing some of my old clothes too - so less laundry for me too!

Her voice has changed as well - she's added some new sounds to her happy repertoire. She's not cooing yet (see here for a description of verbal stages in babies) but she is making little squeaks and chirps. Peter says that she almost sounds like a video game! Her cries have changed as well. They're a little less "small" sounding. I know, what does that mean? I had no idea that I would be able to hear the differences in cries - but apparently that comes with parenthood.

So, what have we been up to for the last month? Well, Froglette has figured out how to nurse (she's a pro) and we've spent roughly 9/10 of every waking hour breastfeeding. She's also an excellent pooper - none of this 5 poopy diapers a day that the breastfeeding book recommends. She's so good that we might go through 15 diapers a day - at least. Froglette is also an excellent burper and farter. Sometimes I think I'm living with a frat boy or truck driver - these noises are so loud you can hear her across the room! Froglette also seems to be getting some control over her eyes - they generally track in the same direction these days (they started out kinda wandering independently of each other). She's also expanded her facial expressions - she's smiling more (not in the poopy way - but also not a sincere happy face- I think she's just figuring out how to move her face in a smile). She's also able to make these wonderful little bird faces when she's hungry - you can almost hear her going "cheep, cheep feed me".

Froglette has spent the last four weeks mostly at home, but she's made a few trips out into the world. Of course, she has slept through most of the outside forays, which has been good for us! She got to take a few walks when we first got home and before the snow started falling. Unfortunately, the weather has turned pretty cold so no more walks in the stroller any time soon.

Today, for her four week "birthday", we will be moving into our new home. This will be the fifth place that Froglette has slept in since her birth. We just couldn't move back to the old place, and we found a great duplex to call our own. Pictures coming soon as we get settled in. It's been rough, moving a few weeks postpartum, but it'll be worth it in the end. The new place has more room and a yard - and Froglette will get her own room when we move her out of our room in a few months.

That's the news around here. I hear some little grunting noises, so I think I'm being summonded!

.

This is a Strange Place

Hello? can you hear me?

I'm going to keep this short, since my little hands don't work so well on this keyboard. In fact, i don't really know what a keyboard is. Or a computer. Or an internet. Or a blogspot.















I mean, I'm not even 4 weeks old yet.

Anyways, I just wanted to come out here and say, damn, I'm cute. I mean really. Look how cute I am.

































OK, that's all. I need to go eat. Then sleep for a while. Then eat, a little more sleeping, eat, cry, eat, and sleep. It's surprising the cat and I don't get along better. Oh well.















Til next time.

The weather outside is frightful

written Tuesday, Dec 8th

So, little Froglet and I are snowed in. I sent the Moms back to their B and B after lunch today so that I didn't have to worry about them driving in the snow. We're forecasted to get somewhere between 8 and 17 inches of snow tonight! It's been snowing now since the morning - but we're nice and toasty inside. All I'm missing is a cup of cocoa!

Well, and all of my own furnishings and comforts of home. Because, well, we're stuck in temporary housing. We haven't spent the night in our own house since the Friday after Thanksgiving and it looks like we'll never sleep there again.

Most of the way through our Thanksgiving dinner (which MomK and Sissy were here for), our carbon monoxide detector went off. We followed the procedures and called security and the fire department. They found high readings in the apartment and aired it out for a while. Then, on Friday they brought us a new stove (as they thought it was something with the stove) and a new carbon monoxide detector. Then, on Saturday, the carbon monoxide detector went off again! This time, I really freaked out. Froglet and I went out to the car to keep warm and away from the gas. Then PEter brought out the cat, and Sis went back on forth getting us blankets and the diaper bag. Eventually, we decided to take Froglet to the ER to get her checked out.

We were seen quickly at the ER - helps to live in a quiet town - but it was a traumatic experience. They needed to take her blood to test her CO levels, but they were unable to get a vein in her arm. Eventually they had to get the blood from her heel, one drop at a time. It was terrible watching them hold her down as she screamed. The ER doc decided to give her oxygen as a precaution since there's little research about safe CO levels for infants. Sis did a bunch of research from her cell phone in the room and also coordinated with Mom to get us a place to spend the night - since I was NOT going back to that house again. Peter and Sis managed to get Froglet and I safely ensconced in the B and B and then went back to the house for provisions and to drop Cole off at the Veterinary Hospital for his overnight stay.

so, now we're in temp housing. The university has been trying to figure out the cause of the CO levels, with little success. We aren't willing to move back without an identified cause of the problem - so that we could have some reassurance that it won't reoccur. And thus, we've been camping out for 10 days now. Hopefully we'll have a resolution soon.

Grandmama

Grandmama died last Saturday. With all of the events of Froglet's birth and our current living fiasco (more updates on that in a few days), we've barely had time to process her death.

My grandma was 93. She lived a full life and always talked about how lucky she was to have wonderful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We always told her it was her "fault" - she must have done something right to end up with a great family!

Grandma was the matriarch of the family and held us tightly together. I hope that we can remain close without her presence to tie us together.

Little Froglet will never get to meet her great grandma - but Grandmama got to meet her. The last time I visited in August, I held Grandmama's hand to my belly and watched her face light up as Froglet kicked her hard! So, we'll get to tell Froglet the story of how she kicked her great-grandma and how excited she was to hear about Froglet's impending arrival. Of course we'll have tons of other stories to tell about great-grandma - picking blueberries and huckleberries at her house, making hotcakes, and working in the garden, and how much fun stacking wood can be.