Active and Smiling...

At my 2 month check-up last Friday, I came in at 21 3/4 inches in length and weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces. That puts me at the 25th percentile all around. Not bad for a premie!

I can't believe that I'm still smaller than my friend Emma Woods was when she was born. (Emma is the daughter of Becky Woods, Mom's college roommate and maid of honor. Emma was born just a week after me!) I sure am growing fast, though. Check out my chubby cheeks - Mom and Dad just love to kiss them!!

I've been smiling a lot more lately, and cooing now, too! Now that I've been more active, Mom and Dad bought me this awesome rainforest jungle gym to play with. I LOVE IT! I sit under it, swat at the hanging animals, coo, and kick my legs a million miles an hour. All that playing sure is exhausting!

I've also been enjoying my swing. I'm pretty sure that those bears are plotting something against me, though, so I keep my eyes on them.

After 2 months of diligently avoiding it, Mom and Dad finally gave in and bought me a pacifier. That's right - I now have a "binky", a "paci", a "nummies", a "Nuk". Hoorah for non-nutritive sucking!!!

We got a new [used] car this week and I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that it's an SUV. Mom would like to apologize for all of those rude comments she's made in the past about people who go out and buy an SUV after having 1 kid. But, it turns out that infant carseats are huge and don't fit well in regular cars. Who knew?!? (We've had to scoot the passenger's seat up so far that no one can sit there!) Anyway, Mom and Dad were trying to figure out how in the world we were going to get the three of us plus Zoli (the cat) to Kentucky for Christmas and realized that it was going to be impossible with the vehicles that we had. And since the thought of leaving me with a pet-sitter over the holidays simply broke Dad's heart, we got a bigger car.

For the past two nights, I've been sleeping in my room all by myself!! Before then, Mom was sleeping in my room on the Futon to be close at hand to feed me or change me whenever I needed her to. But, I've been sleeping longer during the night lately (sometimes going 5 hours between feedings) and so she's now sleeping across the hall with Dad.

8 week update

I'm official! I finally got my birth certificate in the mail as well as my social security card, which is great because that's what was holding me up on getting my first job. But wouldn't you know it - they spelled my middle name wrong on my social security card. They got "Kairos" right. They got "Rawert" right. But somehow they had trouble spelling the most normal looking part of my name - "Elizabeth Johnson". Apparently it causes problems when your middle name is 17 characters long because they dropped the final "n" altogether, much like Skidmore did when they gave Mom her e-mail account (rjohnso1). So anyway, now Mom and Dad have to gather together a bunch of official documents and stand in long lines at the social security office to re-prove my existence and citizenship. I guess that whole job search thing will have to be put on hold. That's ok. I really had my eye on Lehman Brothers anyway so now I'm back to the drawing board.


My appetite sure has picked up quite a bit after I got out of the hospital for my UTI visit. The same week that I was dischared, I gained 15 ounces in 5 days (going from 7 pounds even to 7 pounds, 15 ounces). I even ate 4 ounces in one sitting a couple of times! Yep - my plan is to skip pounds 8 and 9 and go straight to 10 pounds by my 2 month check-up next week.

You may recall that Mom was going to cut back on dairy products to ease my digestive issues. Well, it turns out that she's had to give it all up completely because I'm allergic to cow's milk. Mom and Dad discovered this when I started having my acid reflux issues. They read that many times dairy products cause the problem. Of course, there are other things that can often help alleviate acid reflux, too, like propping up the cradle on an angle, using a bottle nipple with a slower flow rate, and holding the baby upright for 30 minutes after feeding. Well, Mom and Dad changed all of those things at once and VOILA, the acid reflux and loud painful screaming went away. Now, Mom's research methods students would be quick to point out that changing all of the variables at once is bad science. But when your baby is displaying colicky symptoms, all you really care about is stopping the crying, not finding the cause. But since then, Mom and Dad decided to better test their hypothesis that the reflux was caused by the dairy by completing the ABAB experimental design. Afterall, Mom wanted to know if their freezer full of Stewarts ice cream really was off limits. So one day last week, Mom started off the day by eating all of the dairy products she could get her hands on: cottage cheese, ice cream, milk, butter, cheddar cheese, yogurt, oh my! And by the time my evening feedings rolled around, I was NOT a happy camper. The next day, Mom went back to her dairy-free diet and I went back to being a happy baby. TADA! Now I'm wondering what to do with the 50 ounces of "milky" breastmilk that Mom had previously pumped and has stored in the freezer. Is it legal to sell such a thing on ebay or is that sort of like selling a kidney?


When Grammie and Grandpa were here last week, Grammie kept getting me to smile by holding me and saying, "Smile for Grammie!" I'd do it but then stop before Mom and Dad had a chance to see it. HAHA!! I'm such a tease. Once the grandparents went back to Kentucky, Mom kept trying to get a real smile out of me and was finally able to, but only by saying in a highly inflected tone, "Smile for Grammie! Smile for Grammie!" Sorry, Mom, but Grammie is the only one worth smiling for. Either that or perhaps just the thought of Grammie gives me extreme gas.


Here's me cuddling with Grammie:

And here's me helping her decide what her bid should be during a game of 500:The second time that I smiled in front of Mom and Dad was late Tuesday night when my mom told me that Obama was going to be the next President of the United States. Seriously. Now that may surprise some of you, especially given the fact that I sleep with a stuffed elephant in my crib. But, Obama does claim to be the "Change we need" and with my frequent pooing and peeing, I need to be changed a lot.

"I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee"

For Halloween, I dressed up in this bumblebee costume that my Aunt Jennifer sent me. I'm pretty sure it will fit me next year, too!!

You'll notice in this picture that I'm trying to make my costume a little more scary by giving the camera the middle finger. Maybe that's my stinger?

These photos need captions...

Any ideas?

PHOTO 1:

PHOTO 2:

How do you like me now?

I looked in the mirror for the first time the other day and noticed that I am pretty much bald. You'd think that my true friends would have told me this before it turned into the embarrassing situation that it has now become, but alas, I was left to discover this on my own. Thankfully, though, I found out about hair replacement surgery and decided to have the procedure done. What do you think?

Did I fake my own fever?

Could it be that I staged the whole thing? Could it be that there really was no fever? Maybe when Mom wasn't looking, I pulled the thermometer out of my bottom and put it on my nightlight to heat it up to the fever zone. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask. Well, here are just a few possibilities. I'll let you decide which one is likely the truth:

1. I had organized a 4-week reunion for all of the babies who got to leave the hospital on September 17th. Something must have gone horribly wrong with the Evite, though, because it turned out that I was the only one that showed up.

2. We just recently used up our supply of diapers and shampoo that we got for free from the hospital when we were there last month. I thought it'd be good to go back so we could replenish our supply at home.

3. I hate apple picking. Mom has mentioned the idea of going apple picking 2 times this fall. The first was the morning of September 3rd. Later that day, Mom was hospitalized for high blood pressure. She mentioned it again early last week, and so of course I had to take drastic measures to prevent this event from occuring. I hate apple picking.

4. For the past few weeks since we've been home from the hospital, Mom's been starting to go stir-crazy and has been dying to get out of the house. So, I thought I would treat her to a 5 day, 4 night all-expense paid vacation. You're welcome, Mom!

Wednesday Morning Fever

Last Wednesday morning, Mommy kissed me on my forehead and I felt hot hot hot! She then checked my temperature and found out that I indeed had a fever (101.5), and so we headed straight to the doctor's office. After a long day of testing involving a catheter urine test, an intravenous blood draw, and an ultrasound, we found out that I have a Urinary Tract Infection and so I was admitted to the hospital for antibiotic treatment and monitoring.

Now for those of you who know Mom pretty well, you'll know that she HATES IVs. Until last week, she didn't think that there was anything worse than getting an IV. It turns out, however, that there are a few things that are even worse:

1. Holding your 1 month old while the nurses try to give your baby an IV in her left hand.

2. Finding out that the nurses were unable to get the IV into the left hand and then holding your 1 month old while they try to give her an IV into her right hand.

3. Finding out that the nurses were unable to get the IV into the right hand and then holding your 1 month old while they try to give her an IV into her right arm.

4. Having the successfully inserted IV in the right arm come out in the middle of the night and then holding your 1 month old while the nurses try to give her an IV into her left arm.

Yeah - it turns out that the veins in a 1 month old (who was born 4 weeks early) are pretty small. Weird, huh?

Anyway, here are some pictures from my adventures in the hospital:

First they got me in my right arm:

And then they got me in my left arm:

Here's a picture of me in my "cage". This crib had a warning on the side that said it could only support 300 pounds. Now THAT'S a big baby!

Mom stayed right in the room with me at night and Dad, Grammie, and Grandpa kept me entertained during the day. My parents bought me this pink elephant to keep my spirits up, too. I named her Elli. I didn't quite know what to think of her at first, especially since the nurses in the hospital kept calling me "Peanut" and supposedly elephants eat peanuts. I growled at her a few times, though, to show her how scary I can be, and now we're good friends.

Daddy took good care of me while I was in the hospital. This morning when I was discharged, I even weighed 7 pounds!!

This was the view outside my hospital room window. Nice, huh?

Mom and Dad said that I was so brave the whole time I was in the hospital. I was a true Warrior Princess!!!!

Anyway, after 5 days in the hospital, I'm now finally recovering with oral medication at home. I'm going to have some more tests done in the next few weeks to see if I have Urinary Reflux; that's a condition where some of my urine goes backward toward my kidneys when I pee. Man - that would mean that I have both Gastroesophageal Reflux AND Urinary Reflux. Everything seems to be going in the wrong direction! Maybe I'm really an opossum and need to be hanging upside down for things to work right!

Needless to say, after everything my parents and I have been through this past week, my 2 month immunization shots are going to be a walk in the park.

I'm 1 month old!!!

On Saturday, I turned 1 month old!! Here's what's new in my [beautifully fall-colored] neck-of-the-woods.

At my 1 month check-up, I weighed in at 6 pounds, 13.5 ounces. It's such a good feeling to know you're alive. It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside!

On my birthday, Mom and Dad and I got out to enjoy the fall colors by going leaf-peeping. I could have sworn that they said we were going "leaf-sleeping", though, and so I ended up napping through most of it. Here's a picture of Dad and me heading off into the woods with my stroller. I promise I'm in there!!

And here's one of me with my cherished find:

Mom and Dad put my name on my door so that I know which room is mine when I get up in the middle of the night to fix myself a bottle. Yep - the bad news is that I have a horrible sense of direction. The good news is that I can read.

Check out my new onesie! Mom got me this awesome onesie with my name on it. It's a "little bit" big for me right now, but I'm looking forward to growing into it and wearing it a lot next spring.
I found a great new hiding spot! You like it? Yep, Mom likes it, too, except when she forgets where she put me.
Hey Mom - Here I am!!

And finally, some more photos of me doing what I do best - SLEEP!

See, Mommy's been taking the advice from others: "Sleep when baby sleeps." :)

Not so cute afterall?

Apparently, there's been some doubt as to whether I am really Mom and Dad's baby. Some are claiming that I'm just too adorable to possibly be their child! First of all, Mom wants me to set the record straight - Despite what the onesie above says, I'm not all that cute. It's true that I've been posting a lot of pictures of myself lately where I'm all snuggly in my cradle or wearing some adorable outift which may make you think I'm only pure sweetness. I apologize - I've only been showing you half of my true self. Mom's right in pointing out the fact that I have my ugly moments. Here are some of them:

First of all, I look like a fat old wrinkly lady when I'm being burped:

Second, I'm a VERY sloppy eater:

Third, I've been having pretty bad acid reflux lately, which causes me to scream at the top of my lungs. Yep - sometimes I scream so loudly that I have to cover my own ears:

And finally, I won't even show you what the inside of my diapers looks like. Yikes!

But if you still need proof that they took the right baby home from the hospital, here it is. Need I say more?

The Biggest Winner

Well, I did it...I passed the 6 pound mark! At my doctor's appointment on Friday, I weighed in at 6 lbs, 4 oz and had gained 6 ounces in just 1 week. That now puts me at the 20th percentile for weight.

It was a good thing that we had a doctor's appointment scheduled, though, because since Thursday evening, my poor little belly hasn't been feeling very good. Overall I'm feeling ok, but I have some painful gas and diarrhea. To try to remedy the problem, Mom's going to take it easy on the dairy, so I can take it easy on my daire aire.

Yesterday, I went to church for the first time! I must admit, however, that I slept through most of the service. After church, Mom, Dad, and I went home and did what you're supposed to do on Sunday afternoons - we took a nice long nap! (We learned that from Grandpa Johnson.)