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For 3 of the last 4 weeks, Natalie has been sick.  This last week has been the worse.  I took her to the doc’s on Tues, and she has bronchiolitis, which basically means a cold with wheezing: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/bronchiolitis.html.

She HATED her first breathing treatment at the hospital, but since then, we’ve made it into a fun game.  She sits in her swing, and we tell her over and over how much FUN this is – and smile a lot.  So, she likes it now too. 

What a fun game! Who would have thought trying to catch vapor with my tongue would be so hard?

Although it may be hard to see, beneath the mask, she is giving us one of her big open-mouth smiles.  Another possible caption for this picture is: “Hmmm… I wonder why this fun game makes me sneeze and cough so much.  Is this a trick?”

Unf, she is WIRED after these treatments, so she hasn’t been sleeping as well.  I remember feeling jittery after having breathing treatments when I was younger too.  At least I didn’t start them until age 4!  (This is one way that I didn’t want Natalie to take after me!)  Luckily, it is for certain that she’ll have asthma, though she does have a higher propensity to get it.

In short, please keep Natalie in your prayers!  And, if you have some spare room, Jordan and me too.  We both got sick, though since I’m home with Natalie more and Jordan is traveling next week, I’m kinda baring the brunt of it.  I guess this – having a sick kid who you feel so sorry for and getting sick myself – is one of the less fun parts of being a Mom.  Its definitely worth it though – she’s such a good kid…. after all, she smiles during breathing treatments!

Natalie used to sleep on our chests for many of her naps.  She just seemed to sleep better and longer… so we were more than happy to oblige.  What’s not to love about a cute, cuddly baby sleeping on you?!?  Well, since I went back to work, I need to get work done during the day and evenings, so we had to transition Natalie to more sleeping in the crib.  (Which, at 3.5 months, is probably better for her!)  Anyways, she’s doing very well – in large thanks to so many friends who offered advice, as well as Tracy Hogg’s “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer” book (Thanks Karen for loaning it to us!)  Here’s a pic from a few weeks back – isn’t she precious?!?

Confession: Natalie has a cold and after a trip to Wal-Mart for photos (which caused her to miss a nap!), I let her sleep on me for 2 hours yesterday.

Last Saturday, Erin was out of the house getting things done for most of the day, so Natalie and I got some great quality time together.  It was great!  Mornings are definitely her time to shine, as she is nothing but smiles and wiggles and cute noises.  She can be a little tougher in the afternoon or evening, but Saturday was not too bad.  She is getting better at going down for her naps, and has finally taken to a pacifier (aka binky, nook, etc) which is nice.

I love Mommy, but man, this Daddy guy is crazy fun!!!

I also gave her a bath, and she didn’t cry or make a squeal once.  She also didn’t pee all over the place when I put her in or took her out, so that was much appreciated.

Umm, a little privacy please? This picture better be waist up.

Why would you ever NOT have a hood on your towel?

This post is a little late, but on March 19, Natalie had her 3 month birthday.  She’s getting so old!  And so big.  Unfortunately, I don’t have height and weight stats since we haven’t been to the doctor for awhile, but here’s my best guesses and some other details

I am four trimesters old!!!

Weight / Height: 18 lbs, 1 oz / 26 inches.  She is still wearing some 6-9 month onesies, but they are snugger than they were last month.  Generally, the 9 mos clothing fits great except for the fact that we have to roll up the sleeves and pants!

Who does she look like? Definitely has my eye shape, but they have turned to Erin’s color which is sort of greenish-blue.  She also has really beautiful skin, like Erin.

Personality: “Spirited.”  This is what one of our baby books calls infants who are really sweet but definitely let you know when they are not happy.  She still really likes to be held and promptly lets you know if putting her down is not an acceptable option at that moment.

Favorite Toys/Games: Natalie has made huge strides in the last 2 weeks with standing.  If you hold her under the armpits, she can “stand” on her own for about 10 seconds and seems to enjoy it.  She is not very interested in sitting up.  She is a champ of tummy time.  She’ll lift her head and feet both two inches off the ground and hold it like a yoga instructor…usually followed by spitting up.

As far as toys, she still loves her books and is read to often.  Rattles and noises seem to be getting more interesting, too, though she still can’t purposely grab anything.  We bought her a rubber giraffe named Sophie, and sometimes she inadvertently gets it in her mouth but it’s like, “Hey, who put this giraffe in my mouth?!”

How do I look on this leopard print throw?

Big Accomplishments: She has also recently become much more aware of noises.  If you shake a rattle somewhere outside her line of vision, she will often look over in that direction which is new.  And then if you move it around, she’ll track it in every direction with her eyes.  She has the concentration of a jedi.

And sleeping continues to improve.  She goes to bed around 6:30pm and usually wakes up once in the night around 3 or 4am, but we’ve had a few 12 hour nights which is crazy!  I think Erin is a little disoriented when she wakes up on her own accord!

Funniest Moment: I think my favorite was when we tried out a “bumbo seat,” which is a little molded foam seat for babies to sit in when they can’t stand up.  However, the leg holes were not big enough to accommodate Natalie’s chunky little thighs, so she felt claustrophobic and freaked out.  When we lifted her up, the whole seat came long with her!  Enjoy this picture while you can – Erin may make me delete it.  🙂

Get me outta this thing!!!

Move to Evanston Auntie Rachel!

Fun music, lots of colors and yummy smells! Why haven't we been here yet, Mom?

P.S. Notice my cute ballerina socks!?!  Thank you, Busers!  These are the first socks not to fall off my feet!  I wish Lily and Eva were coming to visit this weekend, as now I’m healthy enough to play!

Now that I’m back at work (every other day in the office, with add’l time from home), Jordan and Natalie get to hang out for her first shift of awake time in the morning.  Its tough to go to work when these two get to stay at home and play for an hour*!   I had a tough time trying to snatch a Natalie smile for this photo – she was so busy turning her head from left to right in rapid succession, that I was fortunate to catch a glance mid-turn. 

Dad, I'm too busy to read this book right now - there's so many other things to look at!

*Although its tough to leave, its going well so far!  No tears from Natalie or me yet!  I’m really thankful that: 1) I only need to be in the office 3 days a week and can work from home the rest of the time, 2) work is only 10 minutes away, 3) Jordan’s work is 1.5 blocks away and he doesn’t work the crazy hours of many of our business school friends, and 4) we have wonderful people to watch Natalie (usually, a stay-at-home mom who has a super cute almost 1-year-old and whose husband goes to Kellogg and every other week, my cousin Tim’s girlfriend, Kelly!) 

Natalie also “turned” 3 months last weekend, but since our household has gotten a lot busier with me at work, the 3-month update will have to come later.  I vote Jordan writes it this time! 🙂

Finally, we feel really blessed b/c so many people have offered sleeping hints via FB.  Everyone, THANK YOU!  We feel lucky to be so supported.

Grandma and Grandpa visited this weekend – yeah!  That meant we were able to go out for our friend Aubrey’s 30th bday party.  Gotta love those trick candles – at least the rest of us did!

Happy birthday Aubrey! Not sure how much longer we can have a candle for each year...

Natalie also enjoyed reading with Grandma!  Please note the bib – Kiss Me; I’m Irish*.  As if we needed an excuse?

Wow, Grandma. How did the cow jump over the moon?

*At least 7.8% Irish.  Natalie’s great great grandpa (my dad’s grandpa) was all Irish, so she gets 1/16th there… and from Jordan’s side, she’s at least 1/64th (Mammaw’s maiden name is from O’Meara – Mammaw is Jordan’s grandmother, on his mom’s side).

And, we had our first visitors from Indy!  Natalie really enjoyed girls time with Jenny and Christie – Jordan’s friend’s from high school and our former roomies (Jenny lived with Jordan at Sutherland, the house Jordan rehabbed – and she lived there mid-rehab. God bless her.  Christie and I lived together our first year out of college.)

Daddy tells me that I'm not allowed to date Air Force guys...can you talk to him for me?

The view from up here is great! About 1/4 inch lower than when my Daddy holds me.

Thanks to everyone for coming to visit! Good times!

Whereas Natalie sported cute sunglasses and a sun hat for Florida walks, our Evanston walks look a bit different….

Yippee! Fresh Air and a stop to see Daddy! Daddy forgot his lunch at home, so Mommy and I delivered it to him at lunch!

We are just happy to get outside!  This weekend, Grandma and Grandpa are visiting, so we’re excited to show them the park outside our condo!

We had a great play date with Megan & Molly!  This is the first time Natalie went to someone else’s house for a play date – Molly was so nice to share all her toys!

Wow - Molly, your head control is amazing. And you have such fun toys. I wanna be like you when I grow up!

Natalie and I also went to Ash Wed mass – which just happened to be presided over by the Cardinal.  Natalie got blessed by the Cardinal.  We only made it through the ash distribution and then headed out.  My arms and wrists can only take carrying around a 14 lbs. baby for so long… I was hoping to get a cute little pic of her with her ashes on her forehead, but it was super light, so you couldn’t see anything.

For Lent, Natalie has decided to give up sleeping on the go (which is why we had to leave after ash distribution).  She is going to take up washing her gums.  I read an article that said I should already be washing her gums, so that when teeth come in, she is used to having her mouth cleaned.  This is reminisent of my college Lenten resolution… in London, I persuaded most of my flat and many other Londomers to take up flossing.  We had a chart posted in our kitchen.  Nothing like a bit of peer pressure.  Who wants to be the dirty kid?

Nana bought Natalie an adorable sun hat and sunglasses.  Given that they live 2 blocks from the beach, we thought Natalie would get a lot of use out of these. 

First attempt.  Stroller ride.  Lasted 1 block before crying.  (To Natalie’s credit, we encountered a lot of wind and sun.  You’d think she’d be used to the wind, but we haven’t left the condo much this winter – and this FL wind carried sand with it.  As for the sun, well, we live in Chicago – that was new to her!  We also ran into her great-grandparents on the walk, so six adults were staring at her – that’s enough to make anyone nervous!)

Let's hit the beach... wait, what's a beach?

Second attempt.  We took her to the pool.  That lasted 30 seconds – just long enough to take this photo.  Once again, the wind thwarted our attempt.  And the water was pretty cold.

I love my bloomers! (Thanks, Aunt Ann.) But, whoa - these chubby white thighs have never seen the light of day. I need to work on my tan!

I knew it - my dad's a dork. I'm probably in for many more years of this type of dorkiness, huh?

So, although we didn’t get quite as much use out of the cute hat as one would have thought, Natalie is sure to wear it a lot this summer in Evanston!  As for not making it to the ocean, I suspect that our next visit will be very different… she will love playing in the sand next time and one day, collecting seashells.  Boy, these kids get big FAST. (At least, that’s what everyone tells us, and we’ve already seen so many changes in our little Natalie!)