Early morning video

Good golly Miss Molly you slept through the night! You fell asleep at 10pm and didn't wake up until 5:45am, much to our surprise. I woke up several times, sat up in bed to glance at you in the bassinet, confirmed you were still breathing, and gladly went right back to sleep.

All of that sleep was a welcome gift. You had a rough, rough day yesterday and barely slept at all. It was one of those days where you acted like you were just pissed about being born, like you wanted "back in." :)

After you finally woke up this morning, had a quick breakfast and a diaper change, you did what you almost always do in the mornings...quietly look around with your wide eyes and make funny faces.

Close-ups

Hello, sweetums.

 You kinda look like you're smiling!

"Can I eat your camera, Mom?"

3-day weekend

It was a relaxing one.

Hmm

 "Hmm..."

"I think I'm 3 weeks old today!"

Snuggles with Gpa

Grandma and Grandpa P came to visit for a quick 24 hours this weekend. Hours and hours of snuggle time ensued.

Somehow you escaped without a single photo of you and Grandma. Here are a couple with you and Gramps:

Casey

You met "uncle" Casey today, Miss Addy! He ohh'd and ahh'd over you for a long time.

Casey is a good friend, babygirl, and had a large hand in arranging the details of Mama and Daddy's engagement night. And you know that polka dot piggy bank that sits in your nursery? The one that Daddy dumps his change into every evening? You have uncle C to thank for that.

He loved your teeny tiny-ness, especially your feet. :)

Lil monkey

Sometimes, punkin, when you're all stretched out, you look every bit of your 21 inches long.

But once in a while you just look like the tiniest, cutest, most precious little monkey on the face of the planet.

2 weeks down, on to 3

You're 2+ weeks old, little A, and on your way to 3. I know it probably seems silly to be saying this at just 3 weeks (what will I say at 3 years? 13 years?), but I'm not sure where the time went. It seems like I was just waddling around at 41 weeks pregnant a couple days ago.

On the other hand, haven't you always been a part of our lives?

Here is what you've been up to the past few days...

Snoozing on the ottoman with a burp cloth pillow while Mommy and Daddy watched a movie,

contemplating the morning in bed with Mommy and her book.

and playing with your tongue. That's your new thing the past couple days. You stick it in and out and lounge around with it hanging on your lips. You seem pretty happy with your new discovery.

Gramps

Hanging with Grandpa S today. I slept all afternoon! It was rough. :)

Bed head

2 week old + abnormally long hair = SERIOUS bed head issues.

Yikes.

Sunday morning

Wide awake with fluffy hair after my bath. Happy Sunday morning. :)

Firsts

A few Firsts from the past week...

Thursday the 10th you took your first trip to Target. Auntie Jill was so proud.

Friday the 11th you had your first photo shoot! Newborn photos at 4 days old, the photographer had the patience of a saint. How she works with and "styles" newborns all day long, I have no idea. You did great up for almost an hour and a half until you pooped on your final set of the day. Whoops.

Sunday the 13th you took your first trip to Barnes & Noble. YES.

Sunday the 13th was also Mama's first Mother's Day! I was all prepared to give Daddy an out, considering we had only been home from the hospital for a few days and all, but he pulled out all the stops. He helped you create a homemade card with the outline of your hand (You even wrote on the inside, Addy girl! You're so talented.), took us to the Plaza to cruise through B&N, bought us a new scarf (a girl can never have too many), and with the assistance of sous chef Auntie Jill, cooked us a fancy dinner. Pretty great day.

Wednesday the 16th you received your first pieces of mail. Seeing something in the mail box with "Addy Sorensen" on it was kind of odd, but fun. :) I think that first day you received a request from the hospital foundation for your donation and your new SS card. Score! Let me know if you'd like to donate, ok?

Wednesday was also the first day that you decided you were ok with the option of eating directly from Mommy. Took you long enough, girlfriend. You must have finally gotten tired of the repeated attempts I put you through and gave up fighting. A friend of mine equated all the work I was doing to that of a Mom of twins or triplets. Spending time trying to get you to feed, spending time pumping, and spending time actually feeding you via bottle. I'm eager for you to get even better at eating with me and to knock one or two of those responsibilities off my (and Daddy's) list.

Other firsts you crossed off your list in the past week...your first "gas smiles" (Grandma P is CONVINCED that you have a dimple. We're working on the photographic proof.), your first diaper blow-out (you have since had at least one every day, oh the laundry!), and your first nap in your crib.

You have been sleeping (Ha! Hahahaa. Haha!) at night in the bassinet in our room and napping mostly downstairs in the swing or bouncy chair. The first time we put you down in your crib in the nursery, we laughed. You make the thing look enormous, child.

More firsts to come, little A. Can't wait.

2 week check-up & our little glowworm

Hey hey Addy girl, you're growing! We had your (almost) two week check-up this morning and you still measure 21 inches long, but are now up to 7 lbs 6 ounces, only 1 ounce less than your birthweight. Considering last week's jaundice and feeding issues, this is a success.

You were born 7.7 on Monday, discharged from the hospital on Wednesday at 7.1, and by Thursday morning had dropped to 6.12. Yikes! Once we started pumping the formula into you, Friday morning you were 6.15 and Saturday morning back to 7.1. Mama finally started to be able to provide for you by Friday evening, so thankfully we only had to supplement with formula for those two days. Along with your little glowworm blanket we had to keep you on for 48 hours, it knocked your jaundice out of the park. Phew. You got reeeally skinny there for a while, little lady. Let's not do that again.

It still shocks me to think that you are SMALLER than you were when I was carrying you around in my belly. You have been in this world for 12 days now and you're still tinier than you were then! That's crazy. How did you fit in there? How did you get OUT of there? Wait, don't answer that.

A few pics from last Thursday and Friday (a week+ ago) and your glowworm-ness:

The "bili board" thingy had to be in direct contact with your back at all times, so it was a naked two days for you. We'd place it on your back with the cord coming down through your feet, stick the battery pack in our pockets, wrap you and everything else in a blanket, and carry you around.

The doctor joked that jaundice was like valium for babies in that it knocks them out. Nice for new parents, but not so great considering that the only way to get rid of your jaundice was for you to pee and poop it out. The only way to pee and poop was to eat. Did you have any interest in eating when you were passed out 24/7? Not in the least. A vicious circle. We practically had to torture you to get you to wake up and eat. Take off your blankets, place cold wash cloths on your feet or chest, blow in your face, jiggle you around. It was a test in patience, as we could wake you to take a couple sucks from the bottle but then you'd be out again. With strict orders from the doctor to get you to take down at least 1 ounce of formula every two to three hours, and you taking at least an hour of the slowest eating in the world to get down the 1 ounce, it was a looong couple days.

You were our skinny, glowing, meditating, monkey baby.

Once your jaundice started to clear a bit, around Friday afternoon, the difference in your alertness was shocking. And reassuring. And much to our excitement and relief, you started chugging those 1 ounce bottles in five minutes flat and asking for more. Thank heavens.

It seems like your glowworm couple days were at least a month ago, as we have experienced so much in the past week. Were they really just a little over a week ago? Sheesh.

More updates on the past week+ to come. Then I hope to be able to update with more 'real time' tidbits. :)

Addy Lane!

Welcome to Miss Addy's new blog. :) We hope to use this site to chronicle the events - silly, serious, and everywhere in between - in Addy's life, and share them with close friends and family.

Today, May 18th, Addy is 11 days old. Big events in her day included a trip to Hy-Vee, a swing through Starbucks, and a visit from my friend Vanessa. This was the first day that I was home 100% by myself with the little lady, and with the exception of having horrible (or wonderful, I suppose) timing with taking off her diaper to change it the moment she decides to pee/poop next, it was a great day. I miss all of the visitors, but a quiet house was nice. Time to settle in, get into a routine, and start figuring out how to incorporate work amongst my new role of Mommy.

The past day or two her eye contact has really changed. Whereas a week ago her eyes darted every which way, they now focus intently on objects, especially faces. I didn't realize how kind of 'hazy' they looked until they seem so clear and alert now. She's started staring into the eyes of whomever is feeding her, which Mama loves. :)

Dr's appt tomorrow morning, her first since a week ago.