I Talk With The Animals!

Here I am conversing with Elegant Elephant (NOTE: No harm was done to animals in the making of this video. The elephant voice-over sounds a lot like Bompa, but they tell me it was a real elephant).

Great Grandma D's Birthday

After my photo shoot in the Family christening dress (that's me waving to the camera), I took Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and Bompa on a walk by the river.
Bompa made a snow castle for me out in the yard because he loves me so. My initials are in the front. See?There was still time for Grammy and Bompa to make a fuss over me. Whew! Being a baby is a 24-hour job!

Happy Anniversary, Grammy and Bompa!

Here I am, wishing Grammy and Bompa a Happy Anniversary.
Grammy is painting the butterflies at the ends of the curtain rods
in my room right now. I'm taking a little nap to let Bompa "upload",
whatever that means. Grammy and Bompa have been married 38 years.
I don't know what that means, either, but it sounds impressive.

Xmas Day, 2008

"OOOOO! Presents! For Me?"
Baby's first hangover

Grammy and Bompa Arrive

JOY TO THE WORLD!
Here's Reese today, Xmas Eve, singing "Joy to the World:

And a Video of Reese after feeding this noon:



Great presents are wrapped and all under the tree,
But none here are as precious as R-E-E-S-E!
Mom and Daddy are proud; you see in their eyes,
The love and the joy that seems to arise
When you see a small cherub, like that first Christmas Day
Then you know that All's well, and this Love's here to stay.
Cherish that Peace, even when your Yule's noisy,
And know the Child's wondrous (like the one here in Boise)!Merry Christmas to All--
RJR, Bompa and Grammy

Weeks 6 & 7

Reese is growing like a weed. She weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces yesterday.

Reese gets some belly time on the beach ball and gives mom a big smile.
"Do you like my hat?",
"No I do not like your hat",
"Goodbye",
"Goodbye".
-Go Dog Go!!! by P.D Eastman

Reese isn't quite sure what to think of her new sun hat, so she strikes a pose. :) Little does she know that it is sunny in Boise 300 days a year so she will be wearing this hat every day.
She's graduated to baths in the tub and seems to really like it.
Grammy and Bompa are coming to visit in 3 days. Three cheers!!!

What Have I Been Up To?

My parents insist that we take walks every day, but I'm not too happy about all the clothes that I have to wear to go out into the cold.....
....until I'm in the comfort of my child seat. Check out my huge hat complete with ear flaps. Take that Project Runway!!! (Is it poor style to have 5 different patterns of pink on one outfit?)
When I'm not being forced out into the cold, I also like to test my attention span by checking out this cool mobile above my crib. I think that I must be going through another growth spurt because I'm now getting too big for some of my newborn clothes already.
I'm now taking big girl baths, which I think I actually enjoy. Afterwards, I wear this goofy towel over my head.
I helped my dad decorate the Christmas tree, but that was only entertaining for about 18 seconds.

Topping the 9 pound mark

Well, Reese topped the 9 pound mark today. Here are some photos from the past couple of days:

Reese getting some exercise on the floor.


A smile for mom:
Reese takes a nap on dad's chest.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! The three of us celebrated a 'quiet' turkey day at home. We took a break from watching football and decided to get out of the house for our daily walk around the block. It was a beautiful sunny day in the upper 40's, so we bundled up.



For some reason, Reese's favorite (most calm) thing to do is to hang out on her changing table. She seems to be training her legs for biking by kicking.

Reese is really getting big. Last Thursday, she went in for an appointment and weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces. On Wednesday, she weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces - 10 ounces in 6 days!!! They say that they should gain an ounce a day, so she's certainly packing on the pounds quickly.
Reese sleeps great at night. She typically eats at 10-11pm and then doesn't wake again until 3am, then goes down until 7am. So, she is going about 3-4 hours per feeding at night, however, she doesn't really sleep much during the day. We're thankful that we get reasonable stretches of
uninterrupted sleep at night. Last night she slept for 5 hours straight!

What we've learned in our first 4 weeks as parents:
1) Breastfeeding is REALLY difficult - the cover of this breastfeeding book shows a lady in bed on her side, smiling, and baby is feeding on its own. We've come to realize that the cover of this book is completely made up and that the 'baby' must be a doll and the mom is obviously a model who has never breastfed before (otherwise she wouldn't be smiling).

2) The authors of the parenting books that say babies sleep 16-20 hours per day, obviously have never had children. I think that this is a typo and should read, "16-20 minutes per day".

3) "Sleep when the baby sleeps". Great advice, but when does this 'sleep' actually happen?

4) Congestion - Babies sound like Darth Vader, and apparently this is completely normal.

5) Back Pain- Nobody told us that we should have done back exercises prior to having a child.

Sunday Smile

Reese gives a smile to mom.
Reese is growing so quick! She's already approaching the 8 pound mark after dipping down to 6 pounds 8 ounces a few days after birth. Reese doesn't seem to like to sleep lately. Aren't babies supposed to sleep 16+ hours per day?

Grandma Loretta and Grandpa Roy to the Rescue!

After a week of sleepless nights, we made the "911" call for reinforcements in the form of Grandma Loretta and Grandpa Roy. They were kind enough to make the long drive over from Montana and arrived just 36 hours after our distress call. It was really great having the help, and we are very thankful for their help watching Reese and getting Mom and Dad back to eating three square meals again.
Reese was a little unsure what to think about Mom and Dad's experiment to settle her down....

Proud Dad

Hiccups

Reese has hiccups a lot.

First Days

Reese Cristina is Born - 10/31/08

Reese Cristina was born on 10/31/08 at 5:37pm . She was 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 20" in length. Mom and baby are both recovering well.