Dear Catherine,
I remember the first time we knew when you were on the way. I remember the first time we saw you on a sonogram, and then later on when a later sonogram revealed your cute face. I remember the first time you kicked me - and then never stopped. And I remember the first time I got to hold you in my arms.
After that, the cuddles, smiles, and every single newly-learned trick have made me happier and happier.
It's been a wonderful year as your mommy, Catherine. Thank you for being the smartest, cutest, funniest, and just absolute best baby in the world.
I love you.
Mommy
Showing posts with label Dear Catherine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dear Catherine. Show all posts
Dear Catherine, Weeks 5-9
in:
0 to Mom
,
Dear Catherine
Catch up by reading Dear Catherine, Weeks 1-4 and the Baby Bunny Birth Story.
Dear Catherine,
The second four weeks of your life (November 6 - December 3) included fun times with family and friends, and lots of firsts!
In early November, we finally began to settle into a new routine with you - you were sleeping in consistent 2.5-3 hour stretches and your Mommy and Daddy were figuring out how to keep up with household "stuff." Daddy went back to work after having taking about 3 weeks off, and so you and Mommy got a lot of alone time together. That gave me the opportunity to dress you up and take cute pictures that you slept through!
Catherine, you and I attended a very special event on November 15th. Early that morning, we bundled up and headed for the Dallas Zoo, where we took part in the Alzheimer's Walk in memory of Poppa - your grandfather and my father. Because you missed getting to meet him by only 2 months since he passed away in August 2008, it was extremely important for me to involve you in the walk with me. Because you were so bundled up and in your carrier, it was hard for me to get a good picture of you at the walk, so I posed you by one of the statues at the end. I look forward to telling you all about your Poppa as you grow older.
Even though it was hard to get a good picture at the Zoo, your Daddy and I posed you for about a million pictures that afternoon when we got home. I happen to think that this Pooh outfit is the cutest of your early outfits and I dressed you in it as often as I could for as long as it fit! Even Audrey, one of our kitty cats, thought that you were cuter than cute in this ensemble. In this picture, you're propped up in the Bumbo, where you love sitting, which is then propped into a little rocking chair that was mine and is now yours.
The day after we participated in the Alzheimer's Walk in memory of one of your grandfathers, your other grandfather and your step-grandmother arrived at our house to spend a couple weeks around Thanksgiving. Grandpa and Grandma Aller just fell in love with you from the first moment they set their eyes on you! Over the next few weeks, we enjoyed a fun time together, and spoiled the heck out of you. We spent a lot of time working in the yard and on projects in the house, and had many enjoyable evenings just hanging out together.
Don't think for a minute that your Grandma and Grandpa Aller being here meant that you spent any less time cuddling with your mom and dad! Your Daddy was able to take more time off during this time, and so, feeling more comfortable in our new routines, we carved out a lot of time to relax. During this month, one of your most fabulous firsts was smiling in response to being kissed or when your goofy mom or dad would do something silly. And believe me - we did everything we could to get that smile to come out!
While here, your Grandma Aller held you as much as she could - she wanted to do a lot of your bottle feedings (Mom was probably a bit too shy, so she spent a lot of time tucked away alone on the pump so you could eat by bottle) and your diaper changes. She mastered your cloth diapers like a champ! A lot of the time, she just enjoyed sitting with you on her lap. Your Grandma Aller has a lot of grandkids and even a few great-grandkids, but she definitely believed that you were the most special and most beautiful!
Right before Thanksgiving, you and your mom and dad and grandparents traveled about an hour east to a neat country restaurant/club to enjoy a good steak dinner, and you got to dance with your daddy for the first time. Personally, I thought that was the cutest thing ever! Then, you hung out with your Grandma and Grandpa while your mom and dad took a twirl around the dance floor.
Your first Thanksgiving was very neat, from your "I'm a little Turkey" bib, to a dinner full of family and friends, to your rivaling onesies with your cousin Zach during the Cowboys/Seahawks football game. You took advantage of having bunches of people here wanting to see you...by sleeping most of the day! Geez, you didn't even have tryptophan! We'll let the pictures tell the rest of the Thanksgiving story!
We really enjoyed getting to take you out for your first Sunday brunch right after Thanksgiving, and then spent the day driving around the area to show your Grandpa some of the little local airports, in case he decides to fly his own plane in next time. As usual, when you were saddled up in your car seat, you were happier than a clam!
During your second four weeks of life, one of your signature moves was the stretch. You stretched and stretched and stretched and stretched. We joked that you were stretching right into being a 2 year old! You had your one-month checkup and measured in the 90th percentile for height and weight - you developed fabulously despite a bit of a rough start. You also got your first shots, but handled that like a champ! You began wearing 3 month sized clothing at 6 weeks - we were astounded! Your little feetsies also grew fast - your couple pairs of newborn shoes lasted for about 3 weeks and then you were into size 1's. One of your big accomplishments in your second four weeks was to grasp toys. We could hand your your plastic rings or your Mooby rattle and you would hang on with a fierce grip and wave them around in front of your face.
Grandma and Grandpa babysat you for us twice while they were here - once so we could go out for dinner and a movie, and once so daddy could take mommy to get her wisdom teeth taken out. Both times, you were a perfect angel for them! It was really hard for them to leave at the end of your second four weeks of life, but even before they left, plans were made to get together again in 2009, up in Idaho, where your daddy grew up! In this last picture taken when you were 8 weeks old, you look pretty happy about getting to see them again soon!
We love you, Catherine!
Mommy and Daddy
Dear Catherine,
The second four weeks of your life (November 6 - December 3) included fun times with family and friends, and lots of firsts!
In early November, we finally began to settle into a new routine with you - you were sleeping in consistent 2.5-3 hour stretches and your Mommy and Daddy were figuring out how to keep up with household "stuff." Daddy went back to work after having taking about 3 weeks off, and so you and Mommy got a lot of alone time together. That gave me the opportunity to dress you up and take cute pictures that you slept through!
Catherine, you and I attended a very special event on November 15th. Early that morning, we bundled up and headed for the Dallas Zoo, where we took part in the Alzheimer's Walk in memory of Poppa - your grandfather and my father. Because you missed getting to meet him by only 2 months since he passed away in August 2008, it was extremely important for me to involve you in the walk with me. Because you were so bundled up and in your carrier, it was hard for me to get a good picture of you at the walk, so I posed you by one of the statues at the end. I look forward to telling you all about your Poppa as you grow older.
Even though it was hard to get a good picture at the Zoo, your Daddy and I posed you for about a million pictures that afternoon when we got home. I happen to think that this Pooh outfit is the cutest of your early outfits and I dressed you in it as often as I could for as long as it fit! Even Audrey, one of our kitty cats, thought that you were cuter than cute in this ensemble. In this picture, you're propped up in the Bumbo, where you love sitting, which is then propped into a little rocking chair that was mine and is now yours.
The day after we participated in the Alzheimer's Walk in memory of one of your grandfathers, your other grandfather and your step-grandmother arrived at our house to spend a couple weeks around Thanksgiving. Grandpa and Grandma Aller just fell in love with you from the first moment they set their eyes on you! Over the next few weeks, we enjoyed a fun time together, and spoiled the heck out of you. We spent a lot of time working in the yard and on projects in the house, and had many enjoyable evenings just hanging out together.
Don't think for a minute that your Grandma and Grandpa Aller being here meant that you spent any less time cuddling with your mom and dad! Your Daddy was able to take more time off during this time, and so, feeling more comfortable in our new routines, we carved out a lot of time to relax. During this month, one of your most fabulous firsts was smiling in response to being kissed or when your goofy mom or dad would do something silly. And believe me - we did everything we could to get that smile to come out!
While here, your Grandma Aller held you as much as she could - she wanted to do a lot of your bottle feedings (Mom was probably a bit too shy, so she spent a lot of time tucked away alone on the pump so you could eat by bottle) and your diaper changes. She mastered your cloth diapers like a champ! A lot of the time, she just enjoyed sitting with you on her lap. Your Grandma Aller has a lot of grandkids and even a few great-grandkids, but she definitely believed that you were the most special and most beautiful!
Right before Thanksgiving, you and your mom and dad and grandparents traveled about an hour east to a neat country restaurant/club to enjoy a good steak dinner, and you got to dance with your daddy for the first time. Personally, I thought that was the cutest thing ever! Then, you hung out with your Grandma and Grandpa while your mom and dad took a twirl around the dance floor.Your first Thanksgiving was very neat, from your "I'm a little Turkey" bib, to a dinner full of family and friends, to your rivaling onesies with your cousin Zach during the Cowboys/Seahawks football game. You took advantage of having bunches of people here wanting to see you...by sleeping most of the day! Geez, you didn't even have tryptophan! We'll let the pictures tell the rest of the Thanksgiving story!
We really enjoyed getting to take you out for your first Sunday brunch right after Thanksgiving, and then spent the day driving around the area to show your Grandpa some of the little local airports, in case he decides to fly his own plane in next time. As usual, when you were saddled up in your car seat, you were happier than a clam!
During your second four weeks of life, one of your signature moves was the stretch. You stretched and stretched and stretched and stretched. We joked that you were stretching right into being a 2 year old! You had your one-month checkup and measured in the 90th percentile for height and weight - you developed fabulously despite a bit of a rough start. You also got your first shots, but handled that like a champ! You began wearing 3 month sized clothing at 6 weeks - we were astounded! Your little feetsies also grew fast - your couple pairs of newborn shoes lasted for about 3 weeks and then you were into size 1's. One of your big accomplishments in your second four weeks was to grasp toys. We could hand your your plastic rings or your Mooby rattle and you would hang on with a fierce grip and wave them around in front of your face.
Grandma and Grandpa babysat you for us twice while they were here - once so we could go out for dinner and a movie, and once so daddy could take mommy to get her wisdom teeth taken out. Both times, you were a perfect angel for them! It was really hard for them to leave at the end of your second four weeks of life, but even before they left, plans were made to get together again in 2009, up in Idaho, where your daddy grew up! In this last picture taken when you were 8 weeks old, you look pretty happy about getting to see them again soon!We love you, Catherine!
Mommy and Daddy
Dear Catherine, Weeks 1-4
in:
0 to Mom
,
Dear Catherine
If you haven't already, go read the preludes to "Dear Catherine, Weeks 1 to 4" over at How to Have a Baby, where I share her birth story, as well as stories of the time leading up to her arrival.
Dear Catherine,
The first four weeks of your life (October 9-November 5) were happy, heartbreaking, and hectic, in that general order.
Your dad and I were more excited than anything to have you join our family. So much so that we absolutely couldn't wait to leave the hospital and come home to introduce you to your new home and our puppies and kitties. This first picture of you is from when we first brought your home on October 11th, and we plopped you in your bouncey and let you look around. When we got home from the hospital, your Uncle Jerry and Lori came to visit, as did your Aunt Patti and your Uncle Don and your cousin Jamie. They were very excited to meet you!
Your first few days at home were fairly uneventful. On your first full day at home - October 12th - you got to watch your first NASCAR race on TV. You actually seemed to be looking at the TV - very cute. On day three at home - October 14th - you got to enjoy your first bath before getting ready to go to your first doctor's appointment. We couldn't wait to brag to the doctor that you were already quite actively holding your head up on your own! We also couldn't wait to brag that you were also already sleeping more than 4 hours at a clip - what a treat!
Unfortunately, your doctor would have news for us that would quickly turn happiness into heartbreak. While we were in the doctor's office, we learned that you'd lost too much of your birth weight and that we would have to start force-feeding you (or in your case, force-nursing you) in order for you to thrive. But what we learned after we got home was far scarier. You see, your bilirubin levels had climbed through the roof since you left the hospital, and were within a hair of the level thought to cause brain damage. Your mom's heart damn near stopped when your daddy took that phone call. Luckily, the doctor wanted to try to get you better at home instead of tucking you back into the hospital. So the home health folks showed up with some nifty blue lights and turned you into our little glo worm.
You had to be under those lights at all times until your bilirubin levels came down to a safer level. In addition, you had to be force-nursed every 2 hours, on the dot. Twelve feedings a day, no excuses, no exceptions. And for added fun, we had to take you to the doctor's office every single day to be weighed and to have blood drawn. We kept up that routine for a full week. At least you got to try out pretty outfits, like this one, during our doctor visits. Your daddy changed every single one of your diapers during that time, just so he could hold you, and we all slept in the living room for that entire week, so there was enough space to set the lights up around the portable crib that we brought out from our bedroom. Thank God, you gained weight like a champ (including 5 ounces in one day, which caused the nurse to accuse mommy of supplementing you!) and your levels came down steadily to a much safer zone.
Even though we weren't supposed to take you out from under the blue lights unless you were being fed or going to the doctor, we couldn't resist posing for a few pictures. Unfortunately, posing with the self-timer on mommy's camera resulted in some goofy shots - but when we were snapping directly of you, the pictures were beautiful 100% of the time! You were the most peaceful looking baby whenever you slept - and you were just the best snuggler in the world, which made it hard for your mom and dad to have to put you back in your crib and under those lights.
During your first four weeks, we didn't have any visitors, other than the day you came home from the hospital. We did, however, send lots of pictures to your Grandma Karen in Idaho, your Grandma and Grandpa Aller in Arizona, and your Grandmother Lewis in Pennsylvania.
The most special pictures we took in October were when the Phillies won the World Series on October 29th. Here's why mommy thinks that's special: her birthday is October 8, 1980, which was the same month as the Phillies' very first World Series championship. Your birthday is October 9, 2008...and just after your birth, the Phillies won the World Series for only the 2nd time in franchise history. Go Phanatics!
When you were 2 weeks old, your mommy started to make friends with her pump, and so you were introduced to a bottle. Even though you were fed breastmilk exclusively, we wanted to get you used to drinking from a bottle well in advance of mommy going back to work. In addition, your dad couldn't wait to start feeding you. Having some milk stored away in the fridge made it easier to go out on trips to the mall and the grocery store, too. You also got to go out visiting several times, including going to mommy's office and going to your Aunt Patti's house to see your cousin Zachary on Hallowe'en. You had the cutest onesie and sockies to wear for Hallowe'en - and had a terrific day that day.
During your first month, you loved swinging in your swing, picking your head up on your own to look around, looking at your mommy and daddy very closely, and turning your head to see the TV. You grew rapidly - you went from having lost more than a pound of your birth weight to being in the 90th percentile - and loved loved loved being cuddled. One of your favorite activities was waiting until we had your cloth diapers off to pee all over us - we cleaned up a lot of puddles! We also learned that you could poop, pee, puke and sneeze simultaneously. And that takes talent! You refused to even consider a pacifier during your first four weeks, but didn't mind being soothed by a purring kitty.
We love you, Catherine!
Mommy and Daddy
Dear Catherine,
The first four weeks of your life (October 9-November 5) were happy, heartbreaking, and hectic, in that general order.
Your dad and I were more excited than anything to have you join our family. So much so that we absolutely couldn't wait to leave the hospital and come home to introduce you to your new home and our puppies and kitties. This first picture of you is from when we first brought your home on October 11th, and we plopped you in your bouncey and let you look around. When we got home from the hospital, your Uncle Jerry and Lori came to visit, as did your Aunt Patti and your Uncle Don and your cousin Jamie. They were very excited to meet you!
Your first few days at home were fairly uneventful. On your first full day at home - October 12th - you got to watch your first NASCAR race on TV. You actually seemed to be looking at the TV - very cute. On day three at home - October 14th - you got to enjoy your first bath before getting ready to go to your first doctor's appointment. We couldn't wait to brag to the doctor that you were already quite actively holding your head up on your own! We also couldn't wait to brag that you were also already sleeping more than 4 hours at a clip - what a treat!
Unfortunately, your doctor would have news for us that would quickly turn happiness into heartbreak. While we were in the doctor's office, we learned that you'd lost too much of your birth weight and that we would have to start force-feeding you (or in your case, force-nursing you) in order for you to thrive. But what we learned after we got home was far scarier. You see, your bilirubin levels had climbed through the roof since you left the hospital, and were within a hair of the level thought to cause brain damage. Your mom's heart damn near stopped when your daddy took that phone call. Luckily, the doctor wanted to try to get you better at home instead of tucking you back into the hospital. So the home health folks showed up with some nifty blue lights and turned you into our little glo worm.
You had to be under those lights at all times until your bilirubin levels came down to a safer level. In addition, you had to be force-nursed every 2 hours, on the dot. Twelve feedings a day, no excuses, no exceptions. And for added fun, we had to take you to the doctor's office every single day to be weighed and to have blood drawn. We kept up that routine for a full week. At least you got to try out pretty outfits, like this one, during our doctor visits. Your daddy changed every single one of your diapers during that time, just so he could hold you, and we all slept in the living room for that entire week, so there was enough space to set the lights up around the portable crib that we brought out from our bedroom. Thank God, you gained weight like a champ (including 5 ounces in one day, which caused the nurse to accuse mommy of supplementing you!) and your levels came down steadily to a much safer zone.
Even though we weren't supposed to take you out from under the blue lights unless you were being fed or going to the doctor, we couldn't resist posing for a few pictures. Unfortunately, posing with the self-timer on mommy's camera resulted in some goofy shots - but when we were snapping directly of you, the pictures were beautiful 100% of the time! You were the most peaceful looking baby whenever you slept - and you were just the best snuggler in the world, which made it hard for your mom and dad to have to put you back in your crib and under those lights.
During your first four weeks, we didn't have any visitors, other than the day you came home from the hospital. We did, however, send lots of pictures to your Grandma Karen in Idaho, your Grandma and Grandpa Aller in Arizona, and your Grandmother Lewis in Pennsylvania.The most special pictures we took in October were when the Phillies won the World Series on October 29th. Here's why mommy thinks that's special: her birthday is October 8, 1980, which was the same month as the Phillies' very first World Series championship. Your birthday is October 9, 2008...and just after your birth, the Phillies won the World Series for only the 2nd time in franchise history. Go Phanatics!
When you were 2 weeks old, your mommy started to make friends with her pump, and so you were introduced to a bottle. Even though you were fed breastmilk exclusively, we wanted to get you used to drinking from a bottle well in advance of mommy going back to work. In addition, your dad couldn't wait to start feeding you. Having some milk stored away in the fridge made it easier to go out on trips to the mall and the grocery store, too. You also got to go out visiting several times, including going to mommy's office and going to your Aunt Patti's house to see your cousin Zachary on Hallowe'en. You had the cutest onesie and sockies to wear for Hallowe'en - and had a terrific day that day.
During your first month, you loved swinging in your swing, picking your head up on your own to look around, looking at your mommy and daddy very closely, and turning your head to see the TV. You grew rapidly - you went from having lost more than a pound of your birth weight to being in the 90th percentile - and loved loved loved being cuddled. One of your favorite activities was waiting until we had your cloth diapers off to pee all over us - we cleaned up a lot of puddles! We also learned that you could poop, pee, puke and sneeze simultaneously. And that takes talent! You refused to even consider a pacifier during your first four weeks, but didn't mind being soothed by a purring kitty.We love you, Catherine!
Mommy and Daddy
