The crib

Next baby I have, I have decided that the second we get home from the hospital the baby will take all naps(except in the car seat if we are out) and sleep at night in that darn crib from day 1. Blah blah blah you should have a co sleeper, blah blah blah keep the baby in your room...no, no no no...because now, baby girl is used to sleeping in the swing and in the bed with me.(maybe say spoiled) I want to start sleeping in my bed again, with my husband, it's been 10 weeks! (we have a queen sized bed in the babies room)

 I have been trying to get her in the crib for her naps for the last few weeks, cause you gotta start somehow right? I put her down as she is groggily hanging out in my arms and her eyes pop wide open the second she hits the mattress! She spits her pacifier out and starts yelling at me. "Mom how can you put me in this prison?! and out of the warmth of your arms and and and.....wahhhhhhhh..oh wait what did you just turn on? oooh those things up there are moving in circles,...wow...." 10 minutes go by and I peek in and still wide awake. So let me ask, is a mobile supposed to keep the baby awake or help her fall asleep??  I don't know, yeah she is still a little young to sleep train but it can't hurt trying to get her in her crib right? Well anyhow, last night we had a good night of sleep, and this morning we woke up she ate and then played. I put her on her play mat and she sat there and kicked and swung her arms at the toys. I happened to be watching Good Morning America and eating my breakfast while she entertained herself and I think she was looking at the bright colors on the TV too. Anyhow, she had her poop and then she started getting sleepy and I said ok we're gonna put you in your crib gosh darnit!  Eyes popped open no crying though, put pacifier in her mouth turned on mobile...let her hang out for a few minutes then she spit the pacifier out and screamed to let me know, so I came in turned the mobile off and put her pacifier back in her mouth and well people, she's now been asleep for about 40 minutes! YAY!

Of course that blanket she is so comfortably laying on is what she sleeps on in the bed with me and that's my sweater I wore all night. I wrapped it near her to she thinks I'm close. Darn she sure is cute!

She's a Smiler!

and a nudist....she loves to lay on her changing table sans diaper..it's so cute, just like when she smiles! Jonas captures and edited some from this afternoon that I just have to share!

Skype

We finally set it up so we could talk to my husband's parents in Sweden with Elsa. So they chatted this weekend and I snapped this adorable picture!

at this point Elsa is 9 weeks old, and we are getting ready for some schedules and sleep training. I know it's a bit early but found this from noob mommy, she started schedules at 4 weeks! So we started bathing her every night to get her into the routine. We fed her last night at 12 midnight and she is still asleep it's 5:20am, and I could be asleep in my bed with my husband BUT at 3am like clockwork every night she gets a spell of bad gas!? I don't know how to alleviate this. All that helps is to literally hold the pacifier in her mouth to give her a slight distraction, luckily once it passes she goes right back to sleep. ...but I'm awake...grrrrrr....I also want her to start sleeping in her crib so I don't feel nervous leaving her in the swing when I am in my bed in the other room. Hopefully it will just take a few weeks of every nap and every night putting her in her crib if even for a few minutes so she starts to get used to it. I'll keep you posted!

Pics from Last Wknd

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Last Minute Trip

So last weekend we had nothing planned, and decided at the very last minute, like 1pm on Saturday to book a room and go to Carmel for the night. We wanted to see how it was to travel with the baby. Grant it, Carmel is only 2 hours away...but we wanted to see if we forgot anything, didn't bring enough diapers, or clothes or you know just figure it out because that is the best way to learn.  Every thing was going great, we got to the hotel, fed and changed our little Elsa, took a bunch of funny pictures, that hopefully sometime soon Jonas will fix and email to me so I can post, and then bundled her up for a walk to the beach. Our plan was walk, then find a cute place for dinner and have a drink!

We went to the beach mobbed by tourists waiting for the sunset, I thought I was on Waikiki beach the way everybody was standing and waiting and taking pictures. We snapped a few ourselves and then started the hike back up the hill. That's when it hit....Elsa started crying and crying and crying and nothing would soothe her NOTHING. Finally she settled down and we got seated at a restaurant immediately across from our hotel. Jonas said well, worst case scenario we can get the food to go and go back to the room. Well, as soon as we sat down and got our menus, she started up again, so I took her the first half an hour while Jonas sat and drank his martini alone while I zoomed around the block a half dozen times trying to calm her down to no avail. I couldn't believe it, she would NOT STOP CRYING, I didn't get it she hasn't done this before, usually she always calms down with pacifier swaddling or car rides. Hmmmm...I got very very frustrated and told Jonas it was time to switch, so he dealt with her while I drank alone. Finally she settled again, long enough for us to shove our food in our mouths and get back to the room. I passed out for a few hours and Jonas kept soothing her and got her to eventually fall asleep thank GOD! I was so upset, what a loss of a weekend I thought and the money we spent ughhh. Well, then I remembered that the goal was to just get away and see what happened. The next morning we got up, she slept pretty good actually, packed up and started the drive home, no real problems so we stopped for breakfast. After that she started fussing again in the car, well long story short we got home and I went to change her and BAM! She had a major blowout in her pants I mean HUGE. So I am wondering if that is what got her all upset the night before, or was it because we were in a new place and during a wonder week they really don't like changes of scenery, or was it simply "purple crying." I guess we will never know.

She's been great since then, sleeping many many hours only with little grunts and groans at 3am and 5 am due to gas but she doesn't full on wake up. So I am feeling a bit more rested these days and able to stay out all day with her like I did yesterday hanging out with friends. My older friend Renee snapped this picture of us. I believe it to be the first one where I don't look beat up, and Elsa looks like a chubby little baby and not so much a newborn anymore!

Lots of Pictures!

Here are some pictures out of my iPhone from the week. Many are from our daily walks so she is in her car seat and stroller. I just want to again thank the Tegneruds for helping us purchase our bumbleride stroller, it is AWESOME! I can't even begin to recommend it to anybody else, it handles trails beautifully, and the street!

My new summer hat from H&M

a rare moment in the vibrating chair, and wearing Calvin's old onsie!

Sleep Sack from Amanda I absolutely love it!

Amy and Elsa

could I be any cuter??

Out for a walk with Mommy

on the trail with Samba!

growing....

Elsa is 7 weeks and one day old. She is growing like a weed, and I think she might even be closer to 12lbs now! We have been going through interesting transitions daily. Sunday afternoon Jonas had her for all of 6 hours, from 11-5pm while I was in the city visiting with my friend Amy and Ulrika, and he was just worn out when I got home! It was funny because he said she just had to be held the whole time, was she screaming too? I don't think she was, but Monday, from 8am to 8pm she was screaming, I would love for Jonas to have to deal with that for 12 hours! I think she was just having an off day or  was super tired because she was up most of that time minus a 3 hour nap. Yesterday she slept almost all day, and today she is a little more alert. I heard they sleep more when they go through a growth spurt. We are in a wonder week time when she is cognitively developing, so she is staring at things longer, and making more baby noises, and yes she does smile more, sometimes at us and sometimes at the wall. When she does smile, she looks exactly like Jonas in one of his baby pictures!

I have been trying to keep very busy with her and surprisingly I have been very busy. I have so many new and old Mommy friends and I get together with them almost daily, and I love sharing the experiences of being a new parent with them. I also attend a Mommy and Me class most Thursdays where I made 2 new friends, one of which we are going to push our babies around the Stanford dish tomorrow! I need to get this tire of fat around my midsection to dissappear somehow. I can fit into my old pants but I have a nice muffin top, yuck!

I can't believe it's March, and that we spring forward this weekend I believe? Time sure does fly! One of my best friends son is turning 1 year old next week! We will go to his birthday party although I think I forgot to RSVP...oh well his Mom should know we are coming! I will have to find a cute party outfit for Elsa, I mean Calvin could be her future husband! hahaha....