21 weeks old!

Dear Jorie,

So not long after I wrote the last letter, you got your very first fever. It's apparently a common side effect from one of the shots you were given. It topped out at 101.3, which isn't that high, but me and your father were a wreck until your temperature came down. You were a little grumpy but mostly just sleepy. Me and your father woke up and took your temperature ever couple of hours all night, and the fever started coming down around 6am, much to our relief.

There really isn't much to report other than that, life is chugging along as normal. Which is to say, busy, but nothing that notable. Me and your father have been trying to work on getting you used to the crib a bit, so we can transition you soon. I'm still not looking forward to that.

You don't really know it yet, but yesterday was a very important election, especially for you little girl! There was a presidential election where one of the candidates was backing certain political factions that were pushing things like the "personhood amendments" which would effectively end the legal use of birth control, and repealing the Lilly Ledbetter act, which guaranteed equal pay for women. It was scary for us women out here for a bit there, but luckily enough of the country kept it's collective head and that candidate was not elected. In fact, during the same election a few more states ratified marriage equality laws.

Sometimes I wonder what you will think when you look back at the time I grew up in. My hope is that you will look back on the laws I lived under for most of my life with a kind of wonder and horror that we ever restricted a women's right to choose what to do with her body or a person's right to choose who to marry. Oh baby girl, I hope so strongly that you will grow up in a world much more fair and free than you were born into. I hope with all my heart and soul that when you grow up and get a job, your lady parts wont matter one bit to someone hiring you, and will be no one's business but your own (and whomever you share your life with.)

Last night I caught a glimmer of hope that that might be a true future. I love you baby girl. Grow up strong and proud.

4 month doctor visit

Dear Jorie,

We went to your 4 month doctor visit today ( a little late I know.) You charmed the nurses again with your big smiles and the doctor was impressed with your strength and alertness.

You measured 24.5" long and weighed in at 10 lbs 14 oz. The doctor showed me on the growth curves how you are ahead of the curve on length, but way below the curve on weight. She told me to keep an eye on it, and to think about starting you on solid foods early.

You also got some shots today. I know they hurt, and I'm really sorry about that. When the nurse did the first shot you turned bright red and then started bawling. You calmed down a little when I held and rocked you, but you started crying again while I was getting you dressed and into your car seat.

You were a little fussy all the way home, and even a little fussy while I nursed you, but as soon as you were finished nursing and cuddled up against me you drifted off to sleep. Right now you are sleeping soundly in the Mama.Roo, all bundled up and cozy under the blanket I knit you.

I'm going to try to put off starting you on solid foods until at least your 5 month birthday, because some studies have shown an increase in allergies when foods are introduced early. You're only about a week away from 5 months old anyways, so I think we can hold out for that.

I love you Jorie bear.

20 Weeks Old!

Dear Jorie,

This week was an exciting one. There were hurricanes and Halloween costumes. There was a relatively laid back weekend and a busy-as-normal week.

This Monday and Tuesday were dominated by Hurricane Sandy bearing down on NYC. You don't know them yet, but we have a lot of friends that live down there. Me and your Father lived there for four years. So we know and are very fond of many places in the city that took a lot of damage. A couple of our favorite people up here (Lisa, Alex and Ezra) are from NYC as well, so they shared our shock at seeing some of our old haunts underwater. Luckily, all of our friends came out the other side ok, with no major loss of property so far.

Wednesday you got to go to your Grandma and Grandpa O's early because of my work schedule, and you got to stay there all day, instead of only for a few hours. They said you had a great time playing with sir prance-a-lot, a stuffed horse toy that they rigged to hang over you while you're in the bouncy chair there.

After I picked you up, we went home and got you dressed up in your Ladybug costume and took you out to show you off. We visited your Great Grandparent DeGraffs, Your Grandma and Grandpa O's, Your Grandpa R's, and then we went to see your Grandma R and Alex and Lisa over at the community space. You had a great time in your costume, you seemed to really enjoy it, I think it was because it was nice and warm! This picture was taken at our last stop by your Grandma R. You were starting to get a bit sleepy by that point, but you still gave big smiles to everyone (even if they were hard to catch on camera!)

I love you so much baby girl!

19 Weeks old!

Dear Jorie,

Oh man baby girl, this was a busy week! Between your Great-Grandma Ross, your Great Aunt Jean, your Great Uncle Howard, and Your Uncle Chris all coming into town this weekend, and my company having a fall picnic, we were VERY busy.

Your father was sick on Friday, so we really didn't do anything on Friday, But Saturday we made up for it!

Saturday morning we headed out to Long Acre Farms for the TLF Graphics company picnic.  You got to see a lot of the people I work with again, and you gave everyone big smiles. You got to pet a goat, but didn't seem very interested in it. So I pet the goat and held you up so you could look at it. I don't think you were very impressed, since the goat was smaller than our dog.  The owners of the company gave everyone a voucher for a free pumpkin, so after lunch we headed down to pick one out and get some pictures of you with the pumpkins. You were not very amused by the pumpkins, but you sat very nicely long enough for your father and I to snap a couple pictures before we picked a pumpkin and headed home.

Your father and I spent Saturday afternoon, after we got back cleaning up the house so it was in tip top shape for when your Great-Grandma Ross and company showed up to see it. Your Uncle Michael and Aunt Becky showed up too. They all ended up sticking around and having dinner at our house, which your Great-Uncle Howard cooked. I think he used ever dish we own (we really don't have enough dishes for a dinner party!) I don't think everyone left until close to midnight. You were, as always the life of the party. Everyone loves you so much! Your Great-Grandma Ross brought you a couple of new toys, one of which was a rattle with a teether on one end. You were very happy to chew on that for a while.

Sunday we went to brunch with the Ross side of the family at Mario's. It was an amazing buffet, and when you were hungry, they were nice enough to let me nurse you in an office, since they didn't have anywhere else private for me to feed you.

After brunch we headed over to my parents house and you got to meet your Uncle Chris for the first time. He was really excited to meet you, and was a little too boisterous when he first held you. He yelled at one point and you just burst out crying. It's the first time any of us had seen you react like that! Luckily you calmed down really quick and he was careful to be calmer the next time he held you.

Your Uncle Chris lives in Chicago, and is the source of all the Chicago sports stuff you have now. He brought you a giant Bully the bull (the Chicago Bull's mascot), and a Cubs piggy bank. We made sure you were wearing the Bull's outfit he bought for you way back before you were born. The picture of you sitting with the giant puffball of a stuffed animal your Uncle got you is one of my favorite recent pictures of you. 

We also picked up the little crib shoes you're wearing in a few of the pictures this weekend while we were running around getting gifts for people. They were $3 and they're awesome. They stay on your feet (and hold your socks on), and they're made out of a cool oriental silk fabric.

You are sitting up very well lately. Although you still can't get yourself into a sitting position by yourself, you can sit propped up for a long time. You are still enthralled with your feet, and spend a lot of time pulling them up to your face to look at. Enjoy the flexibility while you have it baby girl!

You're rolling around very well now, although you don't actually roll over too often, unless we put you down on your tummy. You're tolerating tummy time a lot better now, but you still get to a point where you just don't want to be on your tummy anymore, and you either roll over or start crying.

When you are on your tummy, you can arch your back up really high so your head is way off the ground and you can look around. You almost got your knees under you while you were doing that the other day, which makes me think you're going to skip all the rolling junk and just move straight to the crawling. I can tell you're anxious to be able to get around on your own, but you have to be patient baby girl, you'll get there soon enough!

Another thing you've been working on is vocalizing. Recently you've started making a loud "Aaaaa!" sound. It's almost an angry sound, but you smile after you make it. You've got quite a range of volumes going on now, and can get very expressive with the sound of your voice. You can most definitely let us know when you are unhappy with us, but my favorite sound is your squeaking laugh. Sometimes you even let off a bit of a snort!

You're working on doing raspberries, although you can't quite figure out how yet. You stick out your tongue, and then open and close your mouth. It's really cute to see you trying, and I know you'll get it soon!

Oh baby girl, don't be in such a hurry to grow up. I know you're impatient with yourself, I can see it in your frustration when you want to do something you can't do yet, but your father and I would be happy if you would slow down and stop getting so big so fast!

It really seems like I blinked and you got bigger. I went to work and came home and you were older. Some days I feel like I'm missing so much of your life, so I try to enjoy all the time I do get with you. I know the days of being able to carry you around and snuggle you while you nap will be over way before I'm ready.

I love you so much Jorie-bear.

4 Months Old!

Dear Jorie,

I can't believe you're four months old already. It seems both like you were just born and like you've always been a part of our lives. You're growing so fast we're having a hard time keeping up with clothes that fit you.

At four months you are rolling over consistently, although you only roll from your front onto your back. When we put you on your tummy, you arch your back waaaaay up so you can look around. You love to grab things and try to put them in your mouth. You grab things almost as much using your feet as with your hands. You can sit up in your little seat for short periods of time, in fact you prefer to be sitting propped up or being held standing up most of the time.

You give big smiles to everyone you see, and love nothing more than getting some face time. One of your favorite places is the changing table, because when you're lying on the changing table, you have our undivided attention, and get tummy raspberries!

You had a bit of a rough time sleeping for a while there, but for the past couple of nights you've let us get full nights of sleep. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays this way!

You've also been eating up a storm, so much that I can't keep up with you. I'm trying my best kiddo, but we've had to supplement more than once. You're just so hungry! Your father thinks you're going through a growth spurt.

You're getting so big already, you don't really look like a baby anymore, but more like a very tiny toddler. You've outgrown so many of the clothes we bought you, and even some that were given to us as gifts. It's weird, I know, but I get a little sad each time I try an outfit on you and it no longer fits. I feel like you're growing up so fast and I can't make the time last nearly long enough. Especially with me working full time. I feel sometimes like I'm missing most of your life.

I love you so much baby girl. My big, fourth month old baby girl.

17 weeks old!

Dear Jorie,

As usual, you've continued to grow and change this week. You can sit up while supported very well now, and you are purposefully grabbing toys you want to play with. You found your feet last week, and have spent the time since then playing with them and pulling off your socks. It's getting hard to change you most of the time because as soon as you're on your back, you pull your feet up to your face. Enjoy that flexibility while you can!

Unfortunately you've also decided lately that this time it is sleeping that is for wimps. Recently you've started waking up around 2, 4 and 6 am. We thought it was because you were falling asleep early (usually around 7 pm) so we started keeping you up until 9:30, but last night you still woke up at 2, 4 6 and then were up for good around 8am. And this on the day that I get to sleep in a bit! Give your momma a break please!

You've gotten used to only sleeping while either one of us is holding you, or there is a hand resting on you. It's a habit we need to try to break, baby girl. Your father and I think that part of the problem is that you are teething, but my mother had a good suggestion. We need to establish a bedtime routine for you. Because of the way that our schedule works, you don't go to bed at the same time (or in the same place) every night. My mother suggested creating a bedtime routine that we could do wherever we are to get you to sleep at the same time every night. Something like, feed you, rock you while we read to you, then put you to sleep in the pack'n'play if we're out, or in the bassinet or your crib if we're home.

Last week was a whirlwind week, like most of them are these days. Your father finally got a chance to put your crib together, although neither me nor your father really want to start using it. We've gotten used to you being right beside the bed at night. I think we'll wait a little longer to transition you to your own room, but it's coming soon!

You've been eating up a storm this week as well. You've used up all the stored milk, and you're eating it faster than I can pump it. Your great Aunt had to use formula once to supplement. I'm really unhappy about this, but what can I do? I can only pump so often at work, and I only get so much when I pump. I'm going to try to up my pumping sessions at work for a bit to recover some of the lost ground, hopefully if I pump this weekend too we'll be ready for the next week.

I love you Jorie bear.

16 Weeks old!

Dear Jorie,

Well, this past week has been a doosy. Between me and your father trying to adjust to not having any time to do anything, and you suddenly deciding pooping was for wimps, I'll be happy to leave it behind (even if it does mean you're another week older!)

Around Thursday last week, your father asked me when the last time you pooped was. We realized the last time any of us remembered you pooping was the previous Saturday. Now the books say that babies can go a week without pooping sometimes, so we tried not to panic, but by Monday I was worried, so I called your pediatrician. She gave us a list of things to try, including giving you an oz of apple juice cut with an oz of water. We could up it slowly to 4 oz of each over the week, and if you still hadn't pooped by the weekend you would have had to go see the doctor. You really enjoyed the apple juice, it was your first official food that was not breast milk! And luckily this morning you pooped! I've never been happier to see poop!

This week you also found your feet. You are very amused with them. Your favorite trick is to put them in your mouth. It amazes me that you can even do that! Every week you get more interactive, and assert your personality a little bit more. It's amazing watching you become a little person. My favorite thing in the world is still your laugh. When you get that big smile and just let out one happy squeak of a laugh, I can't help but smile.

You are still acting like your nursing, and we can still feel what we think are teeth in your upper gums, but nothings breaking through yet. You've gotten less fussy, so we think that the teeth just stalled and aren't moving.

Me and your father still haven't gotten the hang of the new schedule. I still feel like the week is a sprint and then we cram everything we can into the weekends. I hope we'll get used to it soon. But in the meantime, we're still trying to find the time to put your crib together!

This Sunday was your Grandpa Ross' 60th birthday, and your Grandma Ross threw a party for him. You were once again the hit of the party, everyone was so happy to see you, and see how big you've gotten. You did get really fussy at one point, but it turned out you were just hungry! After I found a quiet place to feed you, you went right back to being your usual happy self.

On Saturday we were at your Grandma and Grandpa O's and we (the adults) watched the Avengers, while you slept in my lap. Until the Hulk showed up. Every time the Hulk would roar, you would flinch and whimper. It was so cute, mainly because loud noises don't usually bother you.

I love you baby girl. Stop growing up so fast!