Gwyneth goes to work!

Today I took Gwyneth to Williams & Olds to meet my co-workers.  Unfortunately not everyone was in the office but Gwyneth enjoyed meeting those that were there.

Gwyneth and Stacey.

Gwyneth with Pamela and Jamie.

She got a little fussy soon after we got there since it was time for her to eat.  Luckily, being the good mommy that I am, I had a bottle ready.  Stacey and Lisa both enjoyed feeding her. :)

I have missed seeing everyone so it was good to catch up and let them meet Dunebuggy.  For those that visited Gwyneth soon after she was born, they were amazed at how much she has grown!

Gwyneth chilling in my office.

Pamela and Gwyneth.

I look forward to working with everyone again, but I am not looking forward to leaving Gwyneth.  August 1st will be here way too soon!

They grow up fast...

Gwyneth is getting big so fast!  I can see a change in her almost everyday.  She is still packing on the weight and is filling out.  My guess is that she weighs around 11 pounds now, but we won't have an accurate weight reading until our next appointment on July 1st.  I knew she was getting bigger but it wasn't that obvious until I took her to see my friend Sarah's newborn.

Sarah and Baby Lukas, one week old.

Sarah gave birth to Lukas John Holmes exactly one month after Gwyneth was born.  Gwyneth and I had the opportunity to visit with Sarah and Lukas when he was just one week old.  Seeing Lukas as small as he is next to a 5 1/2 week old Gwyneth really brought to my attention how much she has changed.  Her arms and legs were much thicker than his and her head was much larger too.  Everyone tells you babies grow up fast and of course I believed them, but it didn't really hit me until I saw it with my own eyes.

This week has been a week of firsts for Gwyneth.  Monday she started making sounds and coos that we hadn't heard before.  Prior to Monday her sounds were limited to crying but now she is making all kinds of noises!  Most of her vocabulary consists of vowel sounds like "oh" and "ah."  When she "talks" we repeat back to her the sound she made, as if we are having a conversation with her.

Another first for Gwyneth this week was the use of a pacifier.  We have attempted to get her to take a pacifier for the past two-weeks with no luck.  She was just not interested in it and when she did take the paci it was only a matter of seconds before she spit it out.  Yesterday, she had a breakthrough and took to the paci with no problem at all!  It may be a problem down the road when it's time for her to give up her paci, but I am willing to deal with that battle then for a happy baby now.

Last night Gwyneth had another first, she slept in her bassinet without having to be in her bouncer!  For the past few weeks, the only way we could get her to sleep at night was to swaddle her, lay her in her bouncer, turn it on vibrate, and bounce her to sleep.  The bouncing would sometime only take five-minutes, but there were times I had to bounce her for 30 minutes or more!  Gwyneth loves laying on her changing pad when she has her diaper changed so Mrs. Stepp had the idea that we put the changing pad in the bassinet to see what would happen.  We tried it last night and Gwyneth slept like a...well, like a baby.  It worked so well that I went to the store and bought another changing pad just for her bassinet.  Hopefully this is the start of many peaceful nights to come!

One Month

The weekly blog updates are very different now.  Instead of sharing pictures of my baby bump I now get to share pictures of our sweet Gwyneth as she grows!  I can't believe she has been with us for a month already.  I apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but as you can imagine I have had my hands full lately.  Now that I am starting to get the hang of things around here I will have more time to keep everyone updated.  I may not get as many blogs out as I would like, but I promise a genuine effort for at least one per week.

Gwyneth is one month old!

Everything has gone as well as can be expected since we got Gwyneth home, she fits right in here in the Stepp household. :)  Joe has yet to pay any attention to her and Baylee has done surprisingly well.  Brandon and I constantly joked about how Baylee was going to hate Gwyneth and how she was going to snack on baby toes.  I was very worried when we first introduced them but Baylee handled herself well and has yet to show any signs of aggressiveness towards Gwyneth. She has not been aggressive but she most definitely is jealous of all the attention our new little girl is getting.  We are trying to balance Dunebuggy and Baylee time so that she doesn't feel too left out.  It's funny, it feels like we have two children!

Baylee lounging in Gwyneth's bouncer.

Baylee participating in bath time (ignore the messy counter :) ).

Gwyneth has had two doctor's appointments since she was born.  The pediatrician said she  looks great and at her last appointment she was up to 8 lb. 15 oz.  She is packing on the weight and turning into a chunky little baby!  Soon we will have our own little Michelin man. :)  Her next appointment is July 1st and Brandon and I are not looking forward to it.  She will be getting her first round of vaccinations and we are dreading having to watch her get shots and cry.  Everyone says it happens so fast and that she won't cry for long...I hope they are right!

Gwyneth looking just like her daddy!

When she was born, her skin had a dark complexion that can only be described as purple, and she kept the darker complexion for several days.  Brandon began wondering if Gwyneth, which is Welch and means pale or fair, was an appropriate name.  As the days have gone on, she has certainly lightened up and is now living up to her namesake.  We've taken to calling her the Pale Princess of Poo Poo.

Gwyneth getting her first bath...she liked it.

It's been amazing to see how much Gwyneth has changed in just a month!  She was once unable to focus on much of anything in front of her and now you can see her staring at things.  You can hold something in front of her and she will follow it with her eyes as your move it around.  I love just sitting with her and watching her stare back at me.  It's like she is studying my face and trying to figure out who I am.  I can't wait to see how much she changes over the next month!

Of course the sleepless nights and the blowouts in her diaper weren't unexpected. We knew they were coming, yet still they have somehow been shocking in their magnitude and their frequency.  We've been told by multiple parents that the negative parts of these days will fade with time.  It is tempting to look ahead to that day when the extreme tiredness is but a memory, but at the same time that means that she won't be a nine pound precious little baby anymore.  We know various people with babies that are four, six and ten months old, and they all seem like baby behemoths compared to Dunebuggy.  I hear great things about babies when they can hold their heads up and they actually recognize you, but it is still hard to give up our tiny princess.