Friday, July 30, 2010

New skills



Crystal is still growing strong and learning lots! She also just started sucking on her lower lip. Makes me laugh every time. She likes to screech at the top of her lungs whenever she wants attention. She also wants to stand most of the time. She is even getting better at grabbing and picking up nearby toys. And best of all, when she's sleeping, now I can put her anywhere (ex. on the floor) and she will wake up momentarily and go back to sleep! She even slept on the floor at church! (I guess that the trick is to keep trying it even when you expect it not to work.)

Also, at her 4-months appointment, Crystal measured at 14 lbs, 11 oz, 25 1/2 inches long, and 16 inches around her head.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Beach House 2010

Last week was our annual Kelley family beach house trip to Buxton, NC. This year was different though because we brought our new little addition. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't have much of a "vacation" while taking care of her but it turned out to be better and happier than I was fearing.

I planned on going to bed early with her every night instead of staying up playing board games with the adults. I ended up staying up to play Nertz for two nights because that's my favorite game ever. On the other nights, someone mentioned Scrabble and I promptly went to bed since that is the most boring game ever. I like to play Risk with them only if I start in a good position since it can be depressing if I'm the one with only a handful of countries in Asia. I wasn't in the mood to play it this year.

My ultimate favorite thing to do at the beach each year is to go swimming in the ocean. I only got a few chances to swim this time. Wah. Sad Wendy.

This year, we left on Friday and stayed at a motel in NC so that we could arrive at the beach house earlier on Saturday. The swimming pool at really warm water so Crystal was pretty happy in it. She was totally trying to swim around and I was fighting to keep her head above the water. The last time that she went swimming, Dale and Tammy's pool was a little too cold for her and she was crying because of it until I gave up trying to get her used to the water temperature and took her out.

At the beach house, Crystal's not a fan of the cold water as we dipped her feet a little bit in the ocean. The baby pool got filled with some water and once that warmed up, she really enjoyed sitting, laying, and splashing in that. Even more, she enjoyed being in the hot tub. The very short time that we allowed her in, she spent splashing, kicking, and trying to dive.

Don't worry: we kept the baby in enough sunblock even though the bottle says to ask a doctor if she's under 6 months old. Doctor Mom says yes: we don't want the baby sunburned.

Crystal loved all of the family members constantly goggling at her. She started smiling and laughing almost every time anyone looked at and talked to her. Such a happy baby! I must be an excellent mother! ha.

I had recently bought a swimming suit that would fit my larger nursing breasts but it's a string bikini. I wanted to be able to match a different size top and bottom. If I got a swimsuit where the bottom fit, then my breasts would be falling out. If I got one where the top fit, then I would be flashing people the other way. The adjustable ties are good because even though my breasts are large, I can make it tight around my slender back. I would've gotten a tank-ini if I saw any that would work. Oh the dilemma! Even though Steve doesn't approve of it, I wore the skimpy swimsuit anyways. At least I tried to stay covered while I wasn't in the water. I didn't want to look saggy, so I wore it so tight that it was actually quite uncomfortable as the string dug into my neck.

Every year it seems that Steve gets sick and has a miserable time. It was no different this year except that everyone else got sick at the same time. I merely had a slight sore throat, runny nose, and a little cough. Crystal also got a cough and a slight runny nose. Steve, on the other hand, got those things but much worse plus a 102 degree fever. He seems to always suffer worse from getting sick than I do. He tends to get a sinus infection along with it. Maybe it's a genetic thing? Ear infections tend to run in his family though he, himself, doesn't seem to get those specifically. I really hope that Crystal won't be prone to ear infections.

Beach Photos

Find the Baby #2

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Crib Baby

Steve's coworkers gave us a $160 gift certificate to Babies-R-Us, so we got Crystal some new toys yesterday. We got her a teething ring, too, since I think that she has started teething. We'll save the rest of the gift cert for when she's older or when we need something.


Crystal has been sleeping in bed with us basically since birth because she wouldn't go to sleep or stay asleep in her bassinet. Now, as she's 3 1/2 months old, she's no longer considered a newborn. So it is safe to let her cry it out a little bit without losing her trust.

I set the crib up today and she took her first crib nap after only a few minutes of her yelling and me periodically replacing the pacifier and blanky. The bed in our beach house room will not fit the three of us, so Crystal may be using a pack-n-play to sleep in. So, we will need to practice having her sleep in the crib before the upcoming beach trip.


Crystal's aunt, Karen, will be in town soon and we are so excited for them to meet the new baby!

We put an offer on a house in Mt. Ranier but we were out-bid. We're going to continue the house hunt in August.