11 Weeks, 5 days old

We're getting bigger all the time! Naomi is over 13 pounds now, today she weighed in at 13 pounds 2 ounces! And she is definetely getting bigger - she's outgrowing a whole bunch of her outfits and fitting into the ones that used to be too big. There have also been a few people that have agreed that she's lost the "newborn look" and has moved along to looking like a cute happy baby.

The new things now are figuring out her hands more. She's decided that sucking her hands and fingers is much more interesting than her soother, but she still likes her soother as well at times. But sucking her hands is one of her favorit things to do. She is also figuring out what other things her hands do, she's slowly starting to figure out that she can grab things. She's grabbing and moving toys, still not intentionally but is doing it, and will happily grab people's hair if it dangles in front of her.

We're continuing to have a relatively regular pattern for sleep and active times as well, mom and dad are getting about 8 hours of sleep a night, often solid sleep but sometimes after 5 or 6 hours she wants a snack then goes back to sleep.

Anyhow, an update for now, more to come later. Anna signing off with Adam getting dinner together, Naomi napping in her swing and Nanook sniffing all of Naomi's toys...

10 Weeks old

Happy Thanksgiving! Naomi has made it to her first holiday family gathering. We've been visiting Adam's parents, along with the rest of his immediate family, and all of us have been together for a couple of days. The family has really enjoyed being able to share some time together and get to know Naomi a bit more. She's been passed around from one happy relative to the next! Mom's been enjoying not having to change quite as many diapers!

Naomi's continued to be quite vocal, lots of cooing and cute noises. And she's really been on a more consistent schedule with sleep, naps and such. We've taken a few really cute pictures - I've updated facebook to include more pictures - if you don't have facebook you can check out the photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55363&l=b9613&id=722860770

So that is all for now, mainly wanted to update with photos, so feel free to check out the link above!

Anna signing off from Sooke, with all the other Kouwenbergs either heading off to sleep or for a dip in the hot-tub...and Naomi enjoying a cuddle with her Grandpa

2 Months, 5 days old

A happy baby, yet again. :) Currently we have yet another bout of hiccups, this is a multiple times a day experience that we're getting quite used to. Sometimes they almost seem to entertain her!

The biggest new thing - a full night's sleep! For the last few days she's slept at least 6 hours, but one night as much as 9, in a row. Mom and Dad have really liked this and are hoping it's the way it will always be and not just a short treat, we'll have to see how that goes! But for now Mommy will take the catch-up on sleep!

We have been on our first overnight trip to somewhere away from home. Last weekend we went away from Thursday night until Sunday night to visit Adam's sister and brother-in-law in Peachland. It was a great trip and Naomi did really well. We weren't sure how it was going to go but it was great.

Anyhow, that's all that's new for now - we'll see later in the day how her weight gain is going - an update on that next time.

Anna signing off with a happily kicking baby beside her and Nanook wandering around the house...

8 Weeks, 3 Days Old

The smiles continue! She has been such a happy baby, it's been really nice. Content to spend much time lying in her playpen kicking away - which has let mom get some stuff done around the house, and shower without screams in the background... The public health nurse even commented on how tolerant she was as she happily laid in the hard, cool scale while mom signed in for the mom and tot group. And can you believe it, the weight on the scale read almost 12 pounds - 11 pounds, 14 ounces! Wow! That was a gain of 9 ounces from just one week before, so she's gaining more than an ounce a day!

The mom and tot class has been nice. There's a group at a local community centre that meets every Wednesday afternoon. Moms with babies under 8 months of age get together and share resources, experiences, tips, and other useful information. And there's public health nurses there to answer questions too. It's been really helpful already. For Naomi we got to have questions about her Vitamin D that she has to take, we think it may be giving her gas which makes her quite cranky for a little while after taking it. So we'll see if that stays true, and if so we may have to switch types...

Sleeping at night has been a bit more of an effort for mom and dad. It's not uncommon for her to decide to be awake after one feeding at night and keep either mom or dad up with her until the next feeding when she falls asleep. Unfortunately that seems to happen more nights than not the last few days. At least her first good sleep at night seems to be nice and long, she'll go 5 hours, a couple times even 6, from the start of the feeding to when she needs to eat again - so mom usually gets a good 4 hours of sleep.

Anyhow, that's all for now. So growing rapidly and awake lots...

Anna signing off, with Naomi cuddling (and starting to get fussy...) with Aunty Suzy and Adam and Nanook relaxing on the couch.