11 weeks!

Amazing!  Little Wren is simply amazing.  This last week Wren was a super sleeper.  The week started out with about 5 hours, then 7, and then 4 consecutive nights of 8+ hours of sleep... in a row!!!  Her super sleeping was counterbalanced by me neurotically checking on her to make sure all was A-ok, but it was still amazing!  Christmas night broke the streak with Wren waking up more than once, but now that we are back home and getting back to our semi-routine perhaps the streak will resume.
Grandma T. came to visit for two days from Eastern Oregon and helped Wren work on drinking from a bottle.  In preparation for daycare we have ramped up bottle offerings (and our variety of bottle brands) and Wren has done a pretty great job of accepting.  The trick seems to be catching her at the right time - if she's not interested in a bottle she gets a little upset.
On Saturday we drove to Portland for holiday festivities with family.  Wren had her first shopping mall experience - a quick stop during which she calmly observed the throngs of shoppers from her car seat perch.  Throughout the weekend Wren was in popular demand and handled the attention like a champ!  Family and friends have been so generous with Wren and she received quite the bounty for her very first Christmas.  She is a very loved little girl!
After a whirlwind weekend it is nice to be home (and catch up on all of our cloth diaper laundry).  This is the last full week of Wren and I being home together before embarking on the new adventure of daycare.  We will be sure to live it up and have lots of snuggle time.

Ready for the Christmas Eve party! 

Shep couldn't resist digging into his stocking!

Excited about her new stuffed puppy

Special time with Great Grandma 

Still smiling after a long day of partying 

Hanging out with "Uncle" Mike

10 weeks!

Oh, 10 weeks!  It feels like 10 days was just yesterday.
Last Thursday was the official 2 month visit to the pediatrician.  She was weighed and measured with the following stats:  Length - 24.5" (that's 5 inches of growth since birth...surely we can't keep on this track!  She'll be taller than me before her third birthday!)  Weight - 13 lbs., 5 oz.   She hasn't quite doubled her birth weight but she's growing at a wonderful rate and is very healthy.  Following the check up she had her first round of vaccinations - one oral and three injections.  She was such a champ!  Jay held her little arms across her chest while the nurse held her legs and did a great job of quickly administering the shots.  She cried a little but after nursing was calm and sleepy.  She had a slight fever that evening and slept her normal amounts.  The next two days Wren slept quite a bit during the day, even sleeping through most of our first play date!  She missed out on a 1-month old, a 2-month old, and two 5-month olds, but she'll bring her A-game to the next gathering.
Wren has been sucking/"chewing" on her right hand and likes to get her thumb and forefinger in her mouth.  She watches her hands and has been clasping them together. She is really working toward the ability to blow raspberries and happily creates spit bubbles and ejects them onto her lips.  We get big smiles from her and can't wait for little giggles to come out! Wren is still enjoying looking at patterns and loves to look at the colorful light fixtures in the kitchen and dining area.  She has some pretty strong legs and likes to stand up on our laps - fully supported, of course!
This next week will find us having a two-night stay away from home for the holiday - the cloth diaper laundry will keep us busy upon our return!

Here's some holiday cheer from Wren!

Christmas came early for Shep.  Santa brought a cozy new bed!

9 weeks!

In the last week Wren had her second trip to story time.  This trip she was awake for the whole thing and really enjoyed looking at the other parents and children.  Wren has started to spend a little time looking at her hands - the right hand in particular.  I've caught her making grabbing motions in the air and watching her hand but this elusive act hasn't yet been captured on film.  She is also putting her hands in her mouth more often.  Wren seems to be working up the strength for a roll over to one side.  She has been turning her head to the right and twisting her upper body so both of her arms are aligned with her turned head, but the lower half isn't quite cooperating.  Mobility is coming!  As Wren continues to grow I have to come the realization that it's time to retire a few of her outfits.  And yes, pajamas are outfits!  It's so easy to keep her comfy in her pjs (unless we're going to story time and then, as Jay pointed out, I have an unexplainable need to dress her up) and that's why she has on the same 3 or 4 pieces of clothing in pretty much every photo we take of her.  But the time has come for the giraffe/ducky/elephant pjs to go by the wayside - I have grown quite attached!  On to the next set!
We are now officially ready for Christmas!  On Sunday we took a family trip out to Sunrise Tree Farm, north of Wren, Oregon (it's really a town! We knew it existed previously, have never been there, and the town has nothing to do with her name, but we did give a shout out as we drove past!).  Sunrise Tree Farm is one of only 5 sustainable tree farms in Oregon - our tree even came home with a tag boasting this!  We roamed around the grounds searching for the perfect tree for us - we didn't want anything very tall or too bushy.  This is our first real tree (we have a small ceramic tree from my childhood that has done the job for us previously) and we wanted to keep it simple.  We are very happy with the one we chose and Jay did an excellent job of chopping the beast down.  After Jay ran around town to 4 different stores for supplies we were able to set up the tree and get'er decorated.
That night we went out for my birthday dinner and took a chance on Wren napping the whole time.  Once our meal arrived Wren decided we should have kept the party at home, so we asked for everything to be boxed up.  The extremely nice manager not only switched us to "to go" but threw in dessert and comped the whole meal - what a nice birthday surprise!  Maybe Jay's birthday meal will be more of a lunch time affair...we really do learn something new each week!

Ready for story time!

Hopefully Santa brings something to put under the tree!

Wren's ornament from us - perfect for our little birdie!

8 weeks!

It is so hard to believe that Wren is already 8 weeks old!  In no time she'll be scooting all over the place!  In the last week Wren had her first trip to story time at the library on Wednesday.  It was great to see so many little ones in one place!  We even ran into a Mom and baby from our Childbirth class.  There were short stories and songs to sing along to.  We will make story time a weekly occurrence until I return to work - the plan is to work Tuesday - Friday.  Maybe they'll move story time to Mondays just for me!  Wishful thinking...
Wren is becoming more smiley every day and enjoys looking at brightly colored items and patterns.  There are some clothes hanging in her closet over her changing table and she loves to look up at two outfits with hearts and plaid (on separate outfits, don't worry!).  She is starting to hold on to things that we place in her hands and she happily flails her arms and legs about during her alert times.  Wren seems to really like my hair - when I lean over and run my hair over her face she closes her eyes and smiles.  Last week I tried to get her to grab my hair with no luck then couldn't get her to let go after carrying her to her room for a diaper change....live and learn!
Sleep... meh....Just as I've been told, there is no routine. 4 hours here, 2 hours there.  But the good news is Wren goes through a winding down period in the evening and does well to fall back asleep after her middle-of-the-night wakings.  She continues to enjoy bath time, lounging in the sling of her pink tub.
We have a few things out for Christmas and Wren has two ornaments on her little ornament tree (thanks, Aunt Liz!).  We have plans to pick out/cut down a small tree to decorate this coming weekend.

Jay is almost done with fall term of his Master's program and looks forward to winter break.  Two more (busy) terms to go before he will be a teacher!  I will be heading back to work in the new year - it's amazing how you can forget you ever had a job in the first place!  I'm not sure how it will go to get Wren to her babysitter and get to work while managing to look presentable and not still be in my pajamas, but I guess we'll just have to give it a try and see what happens.

Modeling her handmade bunting from Jay's co-worker.  Thanks, Abbe!

Little Wren Riding noHood and the Big Bad Shepwolf