Week #10: The Easter Bunny

Hazel got to visit the Easter Bunny for the first time! Our friends had a wonderful Easter Celebration on Saturday.  Little Hazel couldn't decorate cookies or do the Easter egg hunt this year but loved every minute of the party!  Seriously, she loved watching all the little kids run around and didn't want to miss a thing. 

                      
Favorite things this week:

•  Definitely NOT the bottle. We have been trying to give Hazel a bottle every night when Mike gets home from work (5-6pm) but she was just not having it. We have tried different bottles, me leaving the house, nursing her and then slowly slipping in the bottle but she is not easily fooled.  She wants the boob and NO I repeat NO imitations will be accepted at this point. However, we may have caught a break. This past weekend Mike gave Hazel the bottle earlier in the day (before 4pm), right after she woke up and it worked on both Saturday and Sunday!  We are keeping our fingers crossed this will continue and our bottle battles will be over.
• Enjoying the awesome weather; being pushed in her stroller or carrier in her BabyBjorn.

• Hitting the pool (aka Bath time- she just loves when we  get our suits on and do bath time in the big tub) 

• Tummy Time

• Watching Cayman
• Friday (3.26.10) Hazel touched her toes for the first time on the changing table - I had a feeling she was going to do it any day because during the week she was had her feet up in the air and her hand on her knee just inching toward her toes :) 
• Caught a glimpse of her hand

Additional pics from this week:     

Helping mommy bake cookies to celebrate spring...









Helping Daddy design a flying machine for this flugtag thing he is all excited for...

Friends visiting from Madtown - Teya is going to be a wonderful big sis to her new little sister coming soon....

 Mike having a serious talk with  Jackson (aka his future son-in-law)...                                                                    

                  

  

Future Mother-in-Laws (Everyone always says arranged marriages work!)...

 

That's all for this week folks....

 

                                               Bye Bye

Week #9 - Offical 2 Month Birthday & Sleeping through the night!

Hazel's official 2 month birthday was on St. Patty's Day so of course we had to celebrate with the family! Nana made an AWESOME dinner and the boyz (Finny & Cayman even got dressed up for the occasion)!

To kick off the weekend Mike and I had our first "hot" date since the arrival of Hazel and of all the places to go we headed to the Car Show. I was a bit nervous because we had been having a difficult time giving Hazel a bottle and didn't want Nana and Papa (our all- pro babysitters) to struggle giving the bottle.  I don't even know why I worried as Hazel took the bottle down with no problems from her Papa.

On Sunday, we went down to Rochester to visit Hazel's Great Grandma Ringen. Grandma sure loves little Hazel and really wanted to keep her.

Favorite things this week:

• Hazel began sleeping through the night starting on March 16th.   She slept from 9:30pm - 6:30am (an AWESOME 9 hours) and has been pretty much sleeping through the night ever since! Mike and I hope this continues as Hazel has always been a great sleeper usually only getting up once or twice but this entire night thing is the best.

Like Mother Like Daughter

People have always said " Like Mother like Daughter"........................  

 Hazel & I (2010)

 

Mom & I (1978)

Me at 2 Months (12.28.78)

 

Hazel at 2 months (3.14.10)

Week #8 - Shots & Visits

Favorite things this Week:  The smiles Hazel gives when she is looking right at you and all the cooing & kicking she does when you change her diapers! She is starting to hold things in her hands.  I just love it when she grabs my shirt when I am feeding her.  Getting into the "zone" this week Hazel just wanted to be swaddled, bounced, and her nuk held in her mouth - amen as our arm muscles were bulking up from swinging that darn car seat.

This week Mike and I brought Hazel to the doctor for her two month visit.  I brought Mike for support and to comfort Hazel when she got her shots. As soon as the nurse came in to give the shots I left in tears and stood outside the door plugging my ears while crying.  The nurses were kind and held me like a baby, patting my back telling me it was going to be alright until I pried my fingers from my ears. Seriously the shots were over in like 5 second  and Hazel was almost asleep in Mike's arm when I returned. Why are these shots so hard on mom's?  Besides the shots the visit went well and she is doing great.

Hazel's 2 Month Stats: 
Weight: 11lbs 14oz (75%)
Height: 23 inches log (75%)
Head: 39 cm (50%)

This week we also ventured to my work to show little Hazel off! I figured it was about time to prove I did indeed actually have a baby and my belly that had grown for nine months was just not because I changed my eating habits.

Week #7-Birthday, Reunion, and the "Zone"

Favorite things this week: All the giggles, coos, & smiles

***Since it was above 40 degrees outside this week we had a wonderful playdate with a friend & her little one.  Hazel also got her first outdoor walk under her belt. It was really nice to get some fresh air and I am now really excited for the spring weather to arrive permanently!!!!

This week we celebrated my cousin's 21st birthday.  We went to dinner and Hazel wore her little shirt for Danny.   Hazel definately wanted to get involved with the celebration and started vocalizing her excitement before dinner so this was the first time I had to nurse in the car.  It was an interesting experience but never the less it worked.  After nursing, to try to get Hazel back in the "zone" we took a drive around the block.  Hazel loves car rides and this usually puts her right to sleep.  However, as soon as we got back in the restaurant Hazel was fulling alert and ready to party.  Luckily, Nana was able to hold Hazel as she feel aleep allowing Mike and I to eat.

Little did we know but this was the start of a week trying to find Hazel's "zone"! It never fails as soon as Mike gets home and we eat dinner and little Hazy tests our parenting skills and plays "Guess what is going to get me back in my zone today."  We have already dicovered that Hazel gets bored easy and has started demanding more of us. No longer is just bouncing Hazel on the ball acceptable but now swinging her in her car seat followed closely by boucing the car seat on the ball (only after our arms were about ready to fall off with the car seat swinging) is the current tactic being applied.  However, tomorrow's game of "Guess what is going to get me back in my zone" might be something completely different.



Gettin' in the ZONE:

• The "zone" I am referring to is the calm state right before going to sleep.  We have been learning Hazel does not want to miss a thing and flights sleep like a great Roman warrior.

 Birthclass Reunion:
We also got together with the couples from our birth class.  It was great to see all the babies and hear the different birthing stories and parenting experiences thus far.