PORTER: July 2015

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Squeaky Clean

I love these pictures of Joanna after her bath!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

BONUS 2 Month Pictures!

As a bonus, here are some of the other pictures Matt snapped while taking Joanna's 2 month pictures!

2 Months Old

Joanna Frances Porter

2 Months

Weight: 12 lbs, 6 oz

Length: 24 in

She is still a great sleeper. Her first stretch of the night is 6-8 hours long, then she’ll usually sleep another 3-4 after eating. She is still sleeping in her sleeper/bassinet, but we’ve moved her out of our bedroom and into her nursery.

She still loves to cuddle!

We started using cloth diapers on her during the day. They are huge on her, and they look ridiculous, but we’re going to give it a shot!

She’s made one “big” trip to Waco, just for the day. We are going to try our second big trip, and our first overnight trip, near the end of August when we go visit Nana & Grangoat in Gainesville.

She loves listening to music. We have “music time” every day where we dance and sing and listen. She is usually very alert and happy during this time.

She loves to be bounced. We spend a lot of time bouncing on the exercise ball if she is fussy!
She talks to us a lot now. Lots of “ooo’s” and “ahhh’s.”

She loves to be outside. We go outside and sit in the rocking chair and she will just look around and sit quietly for a long time. It is just so darn hot right now, so we don't get to stay out as long as we'd like. We are looking forward to cooler weather.

She is an efficient eater! She only nurses for 10-15 minutes. She has gotten a little rough with it when she is almost finished, which I don’t appreciate very much.

She loves being in the Moby Wrap. It calms her down almost immediately, and it is great for allowing me to get a few things done! We got in trouble for wearing the wrap to church, though, because the church ladies told me it keeps them from being able to snatch her up (I guess they don’t realize that is part of my plan!).

If we put her in the car, she sleeps. It is great to have a peaceful baby when we travel, but sometimes we have to really be mindful of how close we are to her bedtime (and if we really WANT her to be sleeping then!). She doesn’t like it when the car stops, though, so we yell at red lights a lot.

We still swaddle her at night, but not during the day anymore. She naps with her arms and legs out in all directions.

She likes her baths! It is hilarious to watch her relax under the warm water and watch herself in the mirror (we put the bath up on the bathroom counter).

She is much more alert and aware of things going on around her. She likes to lock her eyes on one of us and just follow us around the room.

She does a good job of holding her head up most of the time!
She doesn’t like tummy time. We still do it as often as we can, but she’s not crazy about it. We’ve started trying some new techniques (laying her over the exercise ball, propping her on our shins while we lay on the floor, etc.) and those seem to be working pretty well so far.

She makes so many funny faces. She keeps us entertained!
She loves being on her changing table. For some reason that is where she likes to play the most. She will kick her legs, smile, and make all sorts of silly noises.

Those smiles! She is intentionally smiling now, and it just melts our hearts every time. Sometimes she just smiles at the clock on the wall, or the light coming in through the windows, but we can also get a smile out of her with some silly dances or funny noises.
She is getting big. Matt and I have noticed a big difference in her length lately. She’s a growing girl! She fits into a lot of 3-month stuff now (and some of it she is even too big for!).

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Matt and I both have Chaco sandals and love them! We also got Penny a Chaco collar. We thought Joanna should join the club, but unfortunately they don't make baby products. They just started making bracelets, though, and after checking them out on their website, I had an idea! So I ordered a bracelet, and after some cutting and minor sewing, we have a Chaco pacifier strap!

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Lots of Updates!

If you're logging on to the blog today, don't think you've fallen way behind because of all of the new posts! I just posted several things in the past couple of hours. I had several pictures I've been wanting to share but I just hadn't gotten around to posting them yet. Make sure you catch Joanna's 6-week picture (the first one I posted today). She is really changing! Matt showed me her 6-week picture next to her 1-month picture and she just looks so much more grown up!

She has started smiling at us more and more and it melts our hearts every. time.

She is still being a great sleeper. We have developed a bit of a schedule now, so things are starting to settle down and not feel quite so crazy. Around 8pm we start to wind down with her. Matt swaddles her and I feed her, then we read some stories, sing some songs, rock her, and love on her. She goes to sleep sometime between 8-10pm. We usually go to bed when she does, even if it is 8pm! Her first stretch of the night she usually sleeps for 4-5 hours. After that, she'll wake up every 2-3 hours to eat, but usually goes right back to sleep after eating. She wakes up between 6-7am.

Matt is leaving for Colorado in the morning for a week long trip with the youth group. I know it'll be a great trip, but we are all a little (or a lot) sad about being away from each other for so long. Nana is coming down to stay and help out while Matt is gone.

We've learned that Joanna doesn't respond well when I have milk or dairy products. She gets VERY fussy and gassy. So even though some of my favorite things are milk, cheese, and ice cream, I've cut them from my diet and we've seen a huge improvement. Apparently that is pretty common in babies, and most outgrow it eventually.

That's about it for now! Things are going well - we're getting plenty of sleep and we have a super sweet (and not to mention cute!) baby, so we're doing alright!

Happy Mornings

Joanna wakes up happy every morning! It is our favorite time with her. When she wakes up, she gets breakfast, then hangs out in bed with us. We talk and sing and dance and she will give us lots of big smiles. Matt snapped a few pictures of her this morning during our hang out time. The last one makes me laugh and cry at the same time - what a happy, silly face!

Picture Updates

Below are several pictures from the past couple of weeks.

We've started putting Joanna in her crib for naps during the day. She isn't always crazy about it, but we're working on it. We can usually get at least one short crib nap in each day. At night, though, she still sleeps in her portable sleeper in the bedroom with us.

If a baby falls asleep in the carrier while you're out, you do NOT wake the sleeping baby once she gets home! You just make room for the carrier on the couch next to you!

She wasn't happy with me here, but she's even cute when she cries!

Matt is such a good dad and such a great helper for me! One morning when he got up with Joanna so I could sleep a little later, he took this picture and sent it to me so I'd see it when I woke up.

Another crib nap:

"Mom! Stop taking my picture!"

These smiles are showing up more and more often and Matt and I LOVE them. She especially likes to smile for Matt, when she sees herself in the camera on my iPad, or when she's hanging out on her changing table.

I had the crib nap pictures together, but I guess Blogger thought they should be spread out... but here's another one!

We also put Joanna on her play mat for a few minutes each day. She doesn't really "get it" just yet, but sometimes she'll watch the toys on it for a few minutes. Penny likes to lay next to her and keep an eye on things.