3 Months

Wow, it's only been 10 whole days since I updated the blog, & there's a lot to share! Reese is 3 months old today. I know I say this every month, but seriously, how do we have a 3 month old??? Time is flying. She was nice & smiley for our photo shoot today. I have started a new hobby of making flowers & headbands, so she is sporting one of my latest creations. She's not looking at the camera in too many of the pictures because she was laughing at her daddy making silly faces beside me. As usual, I took way too many pictures, so while I'm sharing 8 of them, just know that I really was selective. :)










We have started a new project: Operation Round Out Reese's Head. Ever since Reese was born, she has not wanted to turn her head to the left side. We noticed it almost as soon as she was born, & we tried to encourage her to turn to the left by enticing her with toys. We would also try to turn her head after she fell asleep. Nothing really worked. On the rare occasion we were able to turn her head or entice her to turn the left, she would move it right back. After worrying about it for a couple of weeks, we kind of gave up & quit worrying so much about it, figuring we were just being overly paranoid new parents. Well, we're now realizing that we weren't being overly paranoid, and we should have kept being persistent. Reese has developed a pretty decent flat spot on the right side of her head. :(

I took her to the pediatrician to have it checked out on Friday. The pediatrician said that Reese has torticollis, which basically means twisted neck. He said that it is fairly common, & can be caused by the way the baby was positioned in utero, or can be caused by some trauma during birth. He said it's really common to see it on the right side because the left shoulder is typically delivered first, and the right side usually endures some stretching in the process. It affects the sternocleidomastoid muscle, for all of you fellow head & neck anatomy/dental hygiene nerds. :)

He confirmed that the flatness of the right side of her head has become "moderate". He said that this has become really common ever since the "Back to Sleep" campaign started. Kids spend SO much time on their backs now (naps + 12 hours of sleep at night + playtime), that it's causing a lot of cranial problems. But SIDS has been reduced by 40% since the start of the campaign, so it's still a really good thing. Anyways, Reese's head has gotten a bit flat, & it's time to start working extra hard to get it corrected. He showed me how to massage her neck & do some stretches to help to relax that muscle & make it easier for her to use the right side of her neck. He said that we really need to keep her from laying on the right side of her head as much as possible. We have started holding her in our right arm (which is really awkward, but we're getting used to it). The doctor suggested that we roll up a washcloth & just barely prop up her right side so that her head falls to the left more easily when she is sleeping (and she has successfully slept with her head turned to the left 2 nights in a row now). We were already doing quite a bit of tummy time, but we're doing even more now, & we borrowed a Bumbo chair so that she has another activity that keeps her off her back. She loves the Bumbo chair, & she looks like such a big girl in it!




The pediatrician is going to re-evaluate her head at her 4 month appointment mid November. If there hasn't been much improvement, he is going to refer us for physical therapy to work on her neck muscles. If that doesn't help, he is going to refer us to a cranial specialist for further evaluation. But, the good news is that he feels that we still have plenty of time to get this corrected, & he thinks that it will improve quickly if we start working really hard at all of these things. I am counting on it getting better quickly, & that none of those other things will be necessary. :)

On a happier note, we took Reese on her first weekend getaway last weekend. We went up to Galena with Matt's family. We stayed in a house at Eagle Ridge with his parents, brother, aunt & uncle, & 2 cousins. Reese did great for the 2.5 hour drive both ways, she was an angel while we walked around town & went out to dinner. She slept great at night even though it was the first time she had slept away from home. The fall colors were gorgeous in Galena, & we had a great time. It was so fun to hang out & play games with everyone after Reese went to bed. Before we went into town on Sunday morning, Matt's mom gave Reese a cardigan & hat that she "whipped up" last week. They looked too cute on her!









Here's a picture of the whole crew. Yes, we had our baby in a bar. We're those kind of classy parents. A nice couple even gave up their seats so that Reese could belly up to the bar.



I know it's hard to believe that this blog post STILL isn't over. This is my final thing to share, I promise. Last week, we took Reese out to a pumpkin patch to get her first pumpkin. Unfortunately, we went around sunset & the sun was practically blinding her. She was also a little cranky, so it was kind of a bad combination. We (of course) had a quick photo shoot, & then gave the little monkey a break. She's going to be thrilled next weekend when we carve her pumpkin & attempt to put her inside for another photo shoot. :)

I Survived!

I survived my 1st day back to work. My mom definitely lightened the mood when she got here. I answered the door, and my mom was dressed like Mary Poppins, head to toe. I'm dead serious. She smiled & said, "Grandma Poppins, reporting for duty!" I laughed, grabbed the camera to take a picture, & then told her to hurry up & get inside before anyone saw her. She looked hilarious. It definitely made me laugh, & it eased my tension a little bit.



I was sad when I left because I didn't get to say goodbye to Reese (although it was probably easier that way). She had gone down for her morning nap at 7:45, & she was still snoozing away when I left at 10:30. I had thought that I would get to feed her & say goodbye before I left, so I was really disappointed. I cried on the way to work a couple times, but I pulled it together before I pulled in the parking lot. I was pretty sure I was good to go, but when I walked in the door, I started crying again. Once I got it out that time, I was fine for the rest of the day.

The day went really smoothly, & I'll even admit that I enjoyed talking to grown ups during the day. I missed Reese like crazy, but I only called my mom twice to check in (and once on the way home to get every detail of how the day went). My last patient was stuck in traffic & was going to be really late. I was bummed, because getting home any later meant that I would miss bath time & possibly bedtime, but I wasn't about to refuse to see a patient on my first day back. My boss was really great though, & told the receptionist to call him & cancel his appointment because I "have a family to go home to." I thought that was very nice of him. Maybe he just didn't want to see me cry again if I had to stay late. Haha.

It was nice to have the day off today. Reese & I had a lot of fun. We spent almost every single second together...because she REFUSED to sleep. I don't just mean that she refused to sleep in her crib. She refused to sleep in my arms as well. The girl was WIDE AWAKE. Luckily, she was wide awake & happy. I've read that sometimes when babies are learning a new skill, it will disrupt their sleep habits. So, I'm wondering if that's the case because she has learned a new skill in the last couple of days--she is holding her head up really high & looking around during tummy time!!! Until this week, anytime we would lay her on her belly for tummy time, she would just lay there, & sometimes she would even fall asleep. A couple days ago, she lifted her head up & started looking all over the place. Surprisingly, she didn't stop doing it when I grabbed the camera. I was so excited! I never thought I could be so proud of a baby holding her head up, but it was a pretty big deal. She showed off again for Matt when he got home, & he was pretty excited too.



So, since she has this new skill to show off, & since I had the day off, & since she wouldn't sleep, I decided we should play dress up today. I may have gone a little overboard by taking 75 pictures in one day, so I'll just share my favorites. :)

Mail From The White House

Well, as it turns out, President Obama & Michelle are pretty excited to hear that Reese has arrived. They must have seen a picture of her on Facebook & thought that she was just the most adorable little girl ever, & decided to send her a letter. Or maybe I requested it. Either way, Reese got some mail from The White House this week. The envelope was actually hand addressed. I studied it carefully, & it's definitely pen, not printed ink.





Today is my last day of maternity leave. Boo. Boohoo. I am so grateful that my mom will be watching Reese & that we do not have to take her to daycare for now. It helps so much to know that she will be so well cared for, & by someone who loves her ALMOST as much as we do. I know that we are SO lucky for that. But it's still really, REALLY hard. It's not so much that it's hard to leave her for 8 hours (although that's tough too), but it's harder just knowing that Reese will be spending more time away from us than she spends with us. It terrifies me that Reese will confuse someone else for "mama". I don't want to miss anything, and I know I'm going to. It sucks. I promised myself that I would not spend this entire day crying, so that's all I'm going to say about that. And, although this is a sad transition for me, I know someone else is really excited about it. :)



We have really been working on tracking Reese's schedule & trying to find a rhythm in her routine. I had to recognize that my go-go-go routine was just not working for her anymore. She's getting too old to get good naps in her carseat, & it's time to respect her need for good rest & start letting her stay at home & nap at home in her crib when she needs to. So, no more gym, no more errands until Matt is home at night as much as we can avoid it. The good news is, it's made a big difference. She has really gotten good about taking naps in her crib, & I can finally see a pattern starting to develop in her routine. I don't necessarily want to try to create a "schedule" for her to be on at this young of an age, but it's nice to have some predictibility. I'm also hoping that if we keep most of her days normal, the days that we do have to run errands or be out of the house won't be so hard on her since they will be an exception rather than the norm (and we will also be able to plan our errands for times that we know are good for her).

Ok, I know that you guys don't follow the blog to hear me ramble on, you follow the blog for pics of this cutie. Enjoy!