6 Weeks

Now that Rylee is 6 weeks old she is really starting to interact with us. She definitely knows who her mommy and daddy are. She is smiling and talking (cooing and other noises) at us a lot more now. She is also a nosy little girl. Rylee has had a pretty strong neck now for awhile but now she just loves to lift that head up and look around. She is awake and alert longer during the days now and is still sleeping great at night. We are going on over 2 weeks in a row that she has slept for around 6 hours when we first put her down to sleep at 9. Our bathtime/feeding routine at night seems to be working pretty well. We are so proud of her for being such a good sleeper (it makes it so much easier on us).

Some of Rylee's favorite things (besides eating and sleeping):

- Our living room ceiling fan: on or off she loves to stare at it (it keeps her so content)

- Sitting in her bouncy chair if the vibration is on

- The star that lights up and plays music on her Baby Einstein Activity mat: she kicks, flaps her arms, smiles, and talks at that star

- Dad coming home at lunch time: Brad tries to come home everyday for lunch and Rylee is so excited to see him and gives him so many smiles

- Going for walks with mom, Mindi, and Gracie: we go for a walk almost everyday with our neighbors and Rylee loves being outside. She usually is awake for awhile at the beginning but then the movement eventually puts her to sleep (and Gracie)

- Lifting her head up and looking around at everything

Zebra Outfit Pictures

Here's some pictures of Rylee from the other day, in her zebra outfit that my mom got for her. She looked so cute in that outfit! I was telling my mom how adorable she looks in that outfit and she wanted me to post these pics. Thanks for the outfit mom and I'll be sure to print off some of these pics for you.

Sleeping in the Crib

We finally made the big step to the crib! Rylee has slept in her crib in her own room the past 2 nights. Up until then she had slept every night in her bassinet in our room. It was nice and convenient to have her in our room cause you didn't have to go far if she needed her pacifier or was fussing a little. But now that she is sleeping better (and is 5 weeks old) we decided it was time to move her to her own room. Plus she's kind of a noisy sleeper...she likes to make grunting noises and move in her sleep. So Brad and I will sleep better with her in her own room.

Rylee has been sleeping great! This whole past week she has went 6 hours between her first and second feedings at night! She usually eats around 9 PM and then doesn't get up to eat again until around 3 AM. It is so nice to have more than just 3 hours between feedings. I was so excited that she was sleeping so long that I thought I would take advantage of it too and sleep that whole time. Well, little did I know that I should have still been waking up around 3 or 4 hours to pump. Saturday morning, after 4 nights in a row of this good sleep, I woke up with mastitis. My right boob was killing, I had a fever, and my body was achy. I pretty much knew what it was right away. My Dr. gave me antibiotics and I felt better by Sunday morning. I was glad that I felt better so fast. Now I am making sure I pump right before I go to bed to make sure I can sleep a little longer. We are so proud of Rylee though for sleeping so good. Let's just hope this isn't a 1 week fluke and that she keeps this up.

The Bottle!

We started Rylee on a bottle this week. Brad has given her a bottle once a day everyday this week and it is going great. Thankfully there is no nipple confusion! She took the bottle right away. I kind of figured she would because she loves her pacifier and the bottle has a very similar nipple as the pacifier. Brad says she can get a little sloppy when feeding from a bottle but she'll get better. It has worked out so nice having Brad take one of the feedings. He usually takes the early morning feeding (around 6 AM) and then he just gets ready for work after he feeds Rylee and gets her back down to bed. That way I get some extra sleep in the morning =)

Brad and Rylee bonding during their first bottle feeding

1 Month Old!

On Monday Rylee turned 1 Month old! Wow...we can't believe how fast those 4 weeks went by. Of course there were some nights that seemed to last forever but overall those first 4 weeks were great and flew by. My maternity leave is already half over...boo...I don't like that at all.

Rylee had her 1 month Dr.'s appointment on Monday and she was so good. The Dr. was poking and prodding at her and she was wide awake and didn't even cry. Her Dr. said she looks great and was happy to see that her bump was completely gone (it was gone at 2.5 weeks). She was very impressed at how strong her neck is, how alert she is, and that she smiles already. Dr. Slaven was talking to Rylee and she smiled at her, it was pretty cute. She is also ahead of the game in her measurements.

Height: 22 1/8 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 10 lbs. 2 oz.'s (75th percentile)

Head: 37.8 cm. (75th percentile)

We can't believe how much she has grown! I knew she had big cheeks and is a good eater I just didn't expect her to be 10 lbs. already. And she's still tall for her age too. I wonder how long that will continue.

I took a little photo shoot on Monday so here are her 1 month pictures.

Pictures from Weeks 3 and 4

These are some random pictures from Weeks 3 and 4 that I thought I would share. You can see in some of these pictures she is starting to smile now (and not just because of gas). In a few of these pictures she is wearing an outfit from Auntie Ness and the shirt says "Mom thinks she's in charge". It's a cute shirt and even though there are times where I would like to think that I am in charge, I know at this age SHE is pretty much the one in charge.

Watching Football with Mom and Dad

We had a pretty quiet weekend around here so we didn't do too much besides watch a lot of football. Saturday we watched NMU play on our computer. All their home games are live on the internet so we get to watch them instead of just listening on the radio - it's great. NMU played a great game but unfortunately they had another heartbraker and lost to Hillsdale by 1: 42-41.

Watching the game with Mom

Watching the game with Dad

Sunday we also all watched the Packer game together. She slept for most of it but she was up to see them win at the end. She was all happy and then we realized why. She had her first blowout - right up the back end of her diaper and all over her Packer outfit.

Sleeping during the game

All smiles after the game (and her blowout)

Fun in the Tub!

Rylee continues to love her baths. She likes them even more now that she takes real baths in her tub rather than just a sponge bath. She gets so content and loves to have the warm water poured on her. Her baths relax her so it is a good thing to have as part of her bed time routine.

Labor Day Weekend and 1st Football Game

We had a full house this Labor Day weekend...it was great! My mom and Grandma Barb got here Thursday night; the Spindler's, my Auntie Diane, Uncle Lance, Uncle Lowell, and Robin got here Friday; and my dad, Brad, Ben, and Vanessa got in to town Friday night. Northern played University of Indy on Saturday so that is why everyone was in town (and to see Rylee of course). We don't get to have a lot of family down here very often so it sure was nice to have everyone here. It was the Spindler's, my aunts and uncles, my Grandma Barb's, and Ben's first time meeting Rylee. She sure did get spoiled with kisses and being held all weekend!

Rylee went to her first football game on Saturday and got to watch her Uncle Brad play. Unfortunately, Northern lost by 2 (we missed an extra point and then had to go for 2 after the next touchdown and we missed it...bummer) 24-22. My dad was pretty upset after the game but he did smile when he held Rylee...that's what granddaughter's are for. Rylee looked so cute in all of her NMU gear and we got lots of pictures. She was really good at the game too. She slept thought all of pre-game, then was up for the first half and slept the rest of the time. She even slept through all of mine and my mom's yelling (if you've ever sat by us at a game you know that we are both extremely loud at games), whistling, the band, and the music - it didn't phase her. That's good because we all know she is going to be at a lot of football games in her future. I think she'll be a big football fan just like the rest of her family!

Grandpa telling Rylee stories at the hotel Friday night

Rylee with Grandma and Grandpa Spindler for the first time - they were very happy to finally meet her.

Uncle Ben and Rylee - Ben did a great job holding her...look at her look at her Uncle Ben.

My mom made Rylee a NMU hat with Uncle Brad's #4 on it - she wore it proud!

Our NMU family picture

All set for the game

She was wide awake for the 1st half


Rylee cheering at the game!

Zonked out after the game.