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

7 weeks!

Today Wren tuned 7 weeks old!  Another busy week in the life of Wren.  We continue to work on bottle feeding with mixed results but we will persevere! The pacifier is being enjoyed much more than the week before and we make sure to keep one handy at all times.  I had a little scare when I thought I lost one (we only have 2) over the weekend.  We were all set to pick up another pack when I found the "lost" one tucked away in the car seat.  Phew!  Sunday night was time for another weigh-in - 11.7 pounds!  That means no more newborn insert for the car seat - our little one is a newborn no longer!  Wren is focusing more on various objects and enjoys looking at colorful pictures but can also be mesmerized by the plain brown arm of her baby swing.   She is becoming a little more chatty and lets you know when she wants your attention.
Thursday morning we drove to Newberg for Wren's first Thanksgiving and first night away from home.  We pretty much brought along everything that Wren uses in a given week, just to be sure we wouldn't be without.  It took us an extra hour to get out of the house after Jay nearly had an Office Space moment while breaking down the Co-sleeper for travel.
On Friday, rather than join the masses at the mall, Wren met her Great Grandmother for the first time in Portland.
That night Wren went to her first Corvallis Christmas parade.  This was the first time Jay and I have been in about 5 years and it was great to go again.  Even Shep came along!  Wren slept almost the whole time but the tradition begins!
Saturday we watched the Civil War football game with three little boys around the age of 1 and their families.  It was a great preview of what we have in store for us in ~12 months.
Regarding sleep: Friday night Wren slept in two stretches of 4.5 hours.  A miracle, I thought!  And then.....she slept 6 hours on Saturday night!  But THEN....Sunday night brought 7 straight hours of Wren sleep.  Yowsa!  We will see what tonight brings - I'm trying not to get too excited about this!

Cheeks!  And check out that hair growth!

6 weeks!

Today Wren is 6 weeks old!  In the past week Wren has had some nights with 2 hours of sleep at a time and some nights with 4 hours - we take what we get!
Wren can raise her left eyebrow and has started grasping things - shirt collars, hair, her face.  She kicks her legs and flails her arms and this morning she made a bridge by putting her feet down and lifting her bottom.  Pilates much?
She had her first outing to a restaurant (slept the whole time!) and made a trip to Costco (didn't sleep the whole time....)
Smiles are more frequent and Wren tracks us when we move around her.  When she hears a fun sound she opens her eyes wide and seems to be thinking about what she is hearing.  She has been practicing using the bottle and takes the pacifier only on occasion - she turns her head and spits it out most of the time.  She is really getting used to bath time!
On Saturday we weighed Wren and read 10.98 pounds on the scale - almost time to take out the newborn insert in the car seat!
Today Wren went to my workplace to meet residents and had about 30 admirers who each were at least 80 years older than her (and a few more than 97 years older than her!!).

Sporting her new pink boots courtesy of Jay's co-workers. 

She was much happier after the Beavers' victory (and the Ducks' loss!)

5 weeks!

Today Wren turned 5 weeks old and the past week has had some big milestones!  We have taken some walks to the grocery store in the stroller and Wren and I made one trek over there with the Mommy/daughter I mentioned in the last post.  Wren had a visit from her Grandma T over the weekend and enjoyed another trip to the Farmer's Market.  We have seen a few super adorable smiles and can't wait until they are a regular part of each day.  Wren is starting to pay a little more attention to objects around her and enjoys watching the animals dance on the the mobile over her changing table.  

Wren had her first real bath (up until now she has had sponge baths) in a pink plastic tub.  She was a little upset at first but once she relaxed in the nice, warm water she really enjoyed herself.  Hopefully we are setting the tone for fun bath times!  

Naps and nighttime sleeping amounts have a wide variation and we have had a few rough days and nights - growth spurt perhaps?

Based on the information we have read about introducing a bottle (in preparation for my return to work in early January) we made this our "go live" week and will try once a day.  Wren isn't super excited about it but we will keep working with her to get used to it.  We also introduced a pacifier on Sunday.  We had mixed feelings about using one and have heard and read various stances on the topic.  Wren is happy to spend a solid hour sucking on one of our pinky fingers and we decided it was time to stop being human pacifiers.  She used the pacifier to fall asleep last night and tonight and we will see where this takes us!  

I decided to see if Wren might be open to sleeping in her big crib.  She has been sleeping in a portable crib (co-sleeper) that we move to the living room each morning from our room and we plan for that to continue a bit longer, but we want her to be comfortable in her crib now so the transition isn't too difficult later.  I laid her down in her big crib yesterday but she wasn't up for the change.  Today, however, with the help of a dark nursery and a sound machine, she took a 45 minute nap in there!  I am so proud!  I was very tempted to snap some pictures of the occasion but didn't for fear the camera shudder would wake her - never wake a sleeping Wren!

4 weeks!

We can't believe Little Wren is already 4 weeks old - time is flying!
In Wren news....
We have tried out the Moby wrap with success!  With the weather getting colder it is a great way to be mobile and snuggly at the same time.

Wren started making little shrieking noises and even said her first word: Gremlac.

Today before bath time we rigged up a system to weigh Wren and the scale read 10 pounds - wowie!  We won't have an official weight until her 2 month visit but this seems fairly accurate.  
After bath time Wren's hair seems a bit thinner on top....that combined with her chunky chin give her an air of Danny DeVito from Twins.
Last week Wren had a little throwing up incident while we were out and about.  Luckily we have an extra outfit in the diaper bag!  Unluckily it was an outfit that she had already outgrown....We were able to get her most of the way buttoned up and back in her car seat without a meltdown but it was a great reason to take stock of what Wren is growing out of and what's in the diaper bag!
We started using homemade cloth wipes!  We have a solution in a spray bottle that we use to wet the wipes before use.  The system seems to be going well so far and we are happy with our reduced waste output.
We learned that a couple we met in the hospital live in our neighborhood - their daughter is one day older than Wren - and I had a nice visit with the Mom last week.  Maybe the little girl and Wren will be best friends!

Jay and Wren modeling the Moby wrap

 

 

Wren gave the team all the luck she could but we still lost :(

 

Modeling an outfit received as a gift from Japan!