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.