Estes Park, CO - 2009 Visit

Estes Park, CO is my favorite place in the whole wide world. :) My grandmother owns a house there that they bought just before I was born, so we've been visiting for a long time. This year we got to go for extra long as Robbie just started his paternity leave (aka bonding leave), so we were there for almost 2 weeks!

Robbie's parents were able to join us for the first four days or so. It was great to show them this awesome place. We took them to our traditional hangs - the Baldpate Inn for dinner, a drive up Trail Ridge Road, walking around Lake Estes, shopping in downtown Estes, and lunch at the Stanley hotel.

Making it even more special is that both grandfathers were there with their brand new granddaughter and one of their grandsons for Father's Day. On Sunday we celebrated not only all three dads for Father's Day, but also hit Bob's birthday (just before), Mom's birthday (next day), and Owen's birthday (July 9th). So there was much present opening.

We spent the rest of the time having tons of fun - although no bighorn sheep sighting for me. Mom and Dad got to see some though. Robbie and I got in 2 dates - which was wonderful. Got in a few hikes and walks. Managed a picnic. Took Owen to a play land place with mini-golf and go-cars. Had a visit from Grandmother and introduced her to her new great-granddaughter. Also had a lunch with the whole CO family - it was great to see every one! Unfortunately, Grandmother fell and broke her ankle in three places. She is now at a rehab hospital and recovering. Prayers for a quick and easy recovery would be very appreciated!

While in CO Abby started sleeping longer through the night - not needing help to stay asleep until around 4:30 or 5am and sleeping until 7 or 8am. Awesome, awesome, awesome! Owen continues to be his adorable self and loved seeing all the animals, hiking with Dad, and playing with my cousins Kyle and Cullin.

We had a wonderful time! Especially since it was in the 70's while Sacramento was 105! Can't wait to go back next year!!!

Abby is 2 Months Old!

This first two months has flown by! Abby is doing great. At her well-baby check up Abby is 11 lbs 5 oz (50%), 24 3/4 in. tall (95%), and head size of 15 1/4 in. (25%). So far she is very tall, skinny, with a small head. As an interesting comparison Owen at his 2month check up was 11 lbs 14 oz (50%), 23 3/4 in. tall (75%) and head size of 16" (50%).

At 7 weeks she started smiling more. She especially loves to smile at Gramp (my dad), at her star (which Owen loved at that age too), and at the fan. Although in general she seems like a fairly serious baby. She is generally a very easy going baby. Cries only when she's really hungry or overtired. Both are very easy to fix - feed her or rock her.

Her cries can be very, very loud - boy does she have lungs. But she very rarely breaks out the full-on cry like I said. She talks a LOT - but her talking is very soft and sweet. She especially talks with her star. You can tell that she's trying to learn to creat actual sounds. Really playing with forming her mouth to make the sounds. Mostly she sounds like a little cat.

She's holding up her head pretty well. And she's rolled from her tummy to her back a few times. Usually she's been on a slant of some sort to give her a little help. But you can tell she's trying to roll. And she prefers to be held sitting up and looking out at the world. Very intersted in seeing what's going on.

We think she's going to be a thumb or finger sucker. She really tries to get those hands in the mouth - just needs to figure out how to open up her hands which still stay in fists quite a bit.

We think she looks more and more like Owen as a baby. She's starting to get his lashes (which is awesome - he has beautiful lashes). Her face is starting to shape more like his (previously she had much, much bigger cheeks than he'd had at that age).

Per previous posts, she's sleeping through the night. We had a milestone just last night (7/8). She didn't need help staying asleep until about 5:30am, and never needed to be pulled into bed with us in her snuggle nest. 1st time she's stayed in her bassinett all night long!!! From around 10pm to around 7am. She needs a little pacifier help to stay down starting around 5am, but only for about 30-60 minutes and then she's out again.

Owen is doing better and better with her. He's loved her from the beginning and still loves to hold her and give her kisses. He tells her he loves her every night unprompted. He loves to show her things and tell her what they are. But now he's also doing better about sharing her with Abby. In CO we had a breakthrew. He and Robbie were holding Abby and Owen got up and walked away to play, leaving Robbie to hold Abby alone! We're so proud of him! Now he won't completely freak out when he sees Robbie holding her. Depending on the mood he's in he'll either immediately ask Robbie to hold him instead (but usually patiently and not screaming) or he'll just keep playing. Great steps!!

She is a little sweetheart and we love her more every day! Can't wait to see what's next!

Abby Weeks 3 thru 6 / Mimi and Gramps Visit

We were very blessed to have my dad come stay with us for 3 weeks and my Mom for 1.5 weeks during these weeks. Dad is the baby whisperer and so it was great to have his help with Abby. Mom is also awesome with babies as well as very helpful around the house. It really does take 4 adults to handle one newborn. :)




Abby is doing great. At 6 weeks she started sleeping through the night. She goes down between 9-11pm and then starting around 2am, needs some help staying asleep until about 6am when she gets up to feed. Never waking up hungry. This is a good 6 weeks earlier than Owen who was eating every three hours through the night until about 3 months. It's awesome! She prefers to be held through all naps. It's almost impossible to get her down in the crib for a nap, though we try. We figure the night sleep is a blessing, we'll take the holding her through naps thing for now. :)




While my parents were here we did a few day trips with them. We visited Amador which is sometimes called the "Little Napa." It's a small wine growing area with tasting room only about 30 minutes away from our house. It's still all free for the tasting rooms though, unlike Napa. Dad had an awesome time buying wine.



We also took Mom to San Francisco. We spent some time in the Exploratorium (I keep wanting to call it the Imaginarium). Owen loved it - tons of stuff for kids to explore and touch and play with. We also showed him the seal lions at Fisherman's Warf and had lunch there. Another really fun time!



Can't believe how fast this time is going. :)

Lamaze Mommie's Baby Shower

3 more of the 6 Lamaze Mommies are pregnant. I just had Abby of course. Jaime is having a girl in July (she has a boy - Dominic - so one of each for them too!). Garian is having a boy (she already has one boy - Bryson - so best buddy brothers!). And Karen is due in December - we don't know the gender yet. We had a baby shower for Garian and Jaime. We had lunch at a tea place (which was lovely - I love tea). Several of the girls brought the kiddos. Owen was in day care and he doesn't go back in the middle of the day well, so I attended with just Abby. It was so great to catch up and to get to hear about Garian and Jaime's pregnancies and babies. They're sharing names, but I'll wait to post until the babies are born. Good luck with the delivery girls and can't wait to meet the new additions!!!

P.S. Ariel and Susan - you're next! :)