Three Months

Today, Natalie is three months old.  On Friday she weighed in at 13 pounds 8 ounces.  She continues to try to roll over, and is getting better and better at holding her head up, although still hates tummy time.  Natalie remains a chatter box, and has started making a high-pitched shrieking sound, which cracks her up.  I had planned to brag about how great she is sleeping at night.  She is in bed at 9:00 each night, and generally sleeps until about 7:30.  However, at present she is not in bed (but is asleep).  We have attempted bed three times tonight.  She has not been feeling great all day, and continues to not feel too well right now.

Ok, so no more talk...here are the pictures:

(As always, the recap first.)

And, just to show off her adorableness....

How Many Kranzes Does it Take to Change a Light bulb?

Ah, the age-old question that has been the punchline jokes about lawyers, painters, doctors...

Yesterday, we put this very question to the test in our own household.  It all started when we decided on house plans that included a Great Room.  Our great room happens to have a second story ceiling.  It's beautiful, spacious, and airy.  It also includes 2 wonderful ceiling fans with lights.  Fantastic.  For several months we have been debating how on earth we would ever change the light bulbs when they finally went out.  The debate started because I noticed how dusty the ceiling fan blades had become, and then noticed a large accumulation of bugs in one of the globes for fan one.

After 2 years, we finally learned.  The bulbs both went out on fan two about a week ago.  I'm not sure exactly how high the ceiling is, but too high to reach with the 20 foot ladder we have access to.

Several options were considered to reach the lights and change the bulbs:

1. Rig some kind of platform from the second floor overlooking the great room to lean a ladder against to climb up.

2. Have my brother, a firefighter, and some of his firefighter buddies hold a ladder straight up and let one of them climb up it (a skill they must be able to perform in order to be on the fire department).

3. Acquire and set up scaffolding and place a ladder on top of one level of scaffolding.

4. Don't change the bulbs at all, just wait for the fan one to burn out and purchase lighting for end tables.

I was a fan of option 2 simply to witness this amazing skill, and option 4 because it seemed the most practical of all our choices.

Instead, we went with option 3, modified.  We set up 2 levels of scaffolding, climbed up, washed the globes, changed the bulbs, and dusted the fan blades.

So, how many?

2 Kranzes and 1 Powell.

And now you know.

This is Happy

Babies do not care how early in the morning it is....if they feel happy (or mad or hungry, you get the point), they let you know it.  Observe.  Natalie at 5:30am:

Despite her sleeping through the night, I have still been really tired lately.  So last night, I made it a point to get into bed a little earlier than normal, and planned to sleep until Natalie woke up this morning, which is usually around 7:30.  She had other plans.  At 5:15am she was wide awake.  And so was I.....so much for catching up.  

Handmade Hats

As the seasons transition from winter to spring, and the sun is stronger and more present, we have desperately been searching for a sun hat for Miss Natalie.  I know some people, particularly in this part of the country, it seems, are averse to dressing for winter, but not us!  Natalie has been sufficiently bundled all winter, including winter hat, on all of our outings.  And so we will continue the trend through the spring and summer by having her sport a pretty sun hat to keep the rays off that pretty porcelain skin of hers.

I think we finally hit pay dirt on the hat search front as I ordered a hat from an online retailer last evening, made of fabric that is the equivalent of SPF 50 (gimmick?  maybe.).  It is adorable, and has a nice, wide brim on it.  Should do the trick.

In the meantime, here are some photos of Natalie in one of her winter hats, hand-knitted by Grandma P. for her.

Playtime with daddy

 

So happy to see him after a long work week

Spring!

While it may not officially be spring, the weather this week has been beautiful!  Our heat is off, and we have had the windows open to air out all the stuffiness of winter.  Natalie and I have taken advantage of the warmer weather by getting out for a good long walk.  We are lucky that Aunt Beth was on spring break this week and could join our hikes!  Thanks for snapping this photo, Beth!

The Rain, Rain, Rain....

...came down, down, down....

It has done nothing but rain here for about a week.  The Ohio River is 4 feet above flood stage, which does not really affect us, but proves that we have had a lot of rain!  The good news is that by this weekend the temperatures are expected to be in the upper 60s and the sun (what is that??) is supposed to be back!

In the meantime, adorable pictures of the best baby I know...

She is becoming a serious drooler!

So happy

Play Date

Not a real play date, just a Natalie and Mom play date....check it out:

She still is not a big fan of tummy time, but I like to consider it a work in progress!  

Big Girl Bed

Last night Natalie successfully made the transition from pack n play in our bedroom to crib all the way upstairs in her bedroom.  She slept from 9:15p until I went to check on her at 7:00a.  She was awake at 7, but was happily looking around her room (and sucking furiously on the shoulder of her sleep sack....so, maybe she got mom's smarts?!).

I will say that I think we all had a pretty easy time of the new arrangements.  I refrained from going to check on her at all.  I thank having her take her daily naps upstairs for my peace of mind in her sleeping on a separate floor.  And, of course, she appeared unaffected by the whole thing.  The noise through the monitor will be a challenge.  It really amplifies every noise she makes at night!  I suppose I'll get used to this, or maybe I'm actually ok with my new light sleeping....

Bernie also did great.  We were concerned that he would be trying to get upstairs to her (as he does when we have company in the guest bedroom).  Instead he was passed out on our bed all night.  I think his lack of attention lately has made him so grateful to have us all to himself that he was willing to let Natalie out of his sight last night.  We'll see if that good fortune continues.

Pack n play is officially packed up for use as needed, but not for nightly sleeping.  Am I jinxing us after just one night???

All Smiles

Thought I'd share a picture of Nat being the happiest baby around.  We had a lazy day today (or Natalie did, anyway).  In honor of Sunday, she stayed in her jammies all day--napped, ate, played (a lot), read a story, and just spent good quality time together.  

Chatty Nattie

Natalie is becoming quite the talker....we have our best conversations during diaper changes and baths.  (I'm not sure what happens to the color in the video, but hang with it...so darling.)