Happy 5 Month Birthday Margo!

Things are a lot different from last time I wrote. I have gone back to work (on April 20) and Margo has started daycare. Things are going well so far. I think Margo has already adjusted to her new school and seems to really enjoy it! She doesn't even cry when I drop her off. She plays with other babies, really likes her teacher, and even drinks from a bottle! We tried for months to get her to take a bottle and she held out right down to the wire -- she finally drank a whole ounce from Pete about 3 weeks before she was going to start daycare. Hooray for Pete's persistence, and thanks to those of you who helped us in our quest!

On my end, it's a hard transition but I am lucky: my boss has encouraged me to ease in gradually (instead of just tossing me back into the fray, which happens a lot I hear). She's also very supportive and is allowing me to have a flexible schedule at first so I can spend time with Margo in the afternoon and then do some work in the evenings after Margo goes to bed. I am so grateful for this!

Margo is grabbing more things. She can roll from her tummy to her back. She frequently turns from her back onto her side, and it seems that any minute she's going to just keep rolling and end up on her stomach -- we'll see! We've had a breakthrough with tummy time lately; she's more into it and one day at school she did it for 30 minutes without fussing!

We've also had improvements in the land of sleep. Margo will now go down for her nap without bouncing on the yoga ball forever first. She has graduated from sucking on both hands at once to usually just one thumb. She's learning so much and is such a sweetheart! She likes to chatter to us.

Margo had a good 4-month check-up. As of April 8 she was 12 1/2 pounds. She can now wear some 6-month clothes, but also can still fit into some of her 3-month items.

Spring has arrived in Seattle and we're excited for Margo to start exploring more and more.

Latest photos are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/CarolynPeteMargo/Margo8

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Margo!

Margo is 4 months old today! Her recent milestones include grabbing more and more toys, including her soft blocks, and sometimes grabbing things with both hands. Currently her favorite toy is a chain of rings, which she likes to put in her mouth. And lately, Margo has been joining us for dinner at the table in her new high chair.

Margo is experimenting with falling asleep on her own; she has been sleeping in her crib for about a month and now our goal is to get her to sleep without us bouncing her first. So far we're having mixed results but any win is a big win and keeps us going. We're also working on moving up Margo's bedtime so that eventually she'll be going to bed at 8. Right now we're at about 8:30.

We've been having more luck with the bottle lately -- knock on wood -- so we're feeling better about that. I'll be going back to work on April 20 so wish us all luck with that!

We're on a short break between visits from grandparents -- Thompsons were here last week and Millers are coming this week. We are so lucky to get lots of quality grandparent time!

Here are our latest photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/CarolynPeteMargo/Margo7

3 Months!

Margo turned 3 months old on Sunday! We celebrated at Red Robin with David and Ashley. Margo was alert and sweet during lunch!

Other milestones for Margo: she has found her hands and enjoys sucking on them. She is also grabbing the rings on her baby gym and pulling on them.

Margo will soon be moving out of our room and into her crib. Right now she sleeps in a co-sleeper bassinet next to our bed. Now that she is bigger we are going to try moving her into her own room. We had a milestone today -- she had 3 naps in her crib. In the past her naps have been in our arms, in the car seat or in the swing. We are very excited!!

Margo just gets more and more fun. She smiles a lot and coos -- we have many good conversations. We were so lucky to have our good friend Katie come visit for a whole weekend. We had a ton of fun. Margo really loves fun Katie!!

We have uploaded new photos to Picasa. Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/CarolynPeteMargo/Margo6

Some Smiles

The Evolution of the "I Love Mommy" Onesie

Dec. 10, 2008

Feb. 7, 2009

Still a bit big on her but no longer can we wrap it around her twice...

Two month update

We have had a big week. Margo had her 2-month check-up on Tuesday and she now weighs 9 pounds, 13 ounces. She's 21 inches long. The doc says she's healthy and doing fine. We were pretty sure she's doing great but it's always nice to have the doctor confirm.

Margo and I went to the movies yesterday! There's a theater in Bellevue that has a showing for moms & babies every Thursday at 10 am. There are 3 movies to pick from. We picked "Inkheart" and I ended up not being into it at all, but we still had a lot of fun. The other choices were "New in Town" and "Defiance". I think a romantic comedy would have been the perfect sort of movie to watch with Margo, but I didn't think I could deal with Renee Zellweger. I really would've liked to see Defiance, but it's 2 1/2 hours long and it's probably not the sort of movie I'd want to miss any parts of, if Margo was crying or needed her diaper changed. I am going to go back next week so I'll let you know what we see. We'll meet our friends Katie and Heather there, with their babies. Anyway, Margo was great the whole time. She ate, had some alert time, and napped. She only cried a bit but no one cared. It was fun and relaxing.

I got a new carrier for Margo that has opened up my world (see photo above). We have a sling and a Moby wrap, and Pete has had good luck with those, but I have not. When I try Margo in those, she cries like a nut. But I tried our friend Katie's Mai Tai (sp?) on Sunday and Margo sacked out in it immediately! So we bought one on the way home from her house. It's a miracle! We have used it every day. It's great because she falls asleep in it against my chest so we get lots of snuggle time. And then if she wakes up, all I have to do is stand and bounce a bit. It's also great for walking -- we use it to take Sally for walks. Much less cumbersome and problematic than the stroller; it's very difficult to maneuver the stroller and handle Sally, who's not the best behaved on her leash. I am also going to try the Ergo carrier - I'm borrowing one from my friend Amanda to see if I like it.

So hooray for a great week! And, TGIF - we get to hang out with Pete all weekend!

Two months

Margo turned 2 months old today! We have been trying to capture her smile in a photo - this is the closest we've come. It's very close but doesn't quite reflect her full-on smile.

New photos are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/CarolynPeteMargo/Margo5