Some Thoughts On Bath Time

Lynlee loves bath time! She also loves to talk. All day long she babbles on to me, telling me the most interesting things I'm sure I've ever heard - the only problem is I have no idea what she is saying! But it is probably my most favorite part of the day, having conversations with her that is.
While taking a bath tonight she talked. and she talked and she talked and she screamed and she talked. It was oh so cute and I was able to record some of this (a feat that is usually nigh uncatchable seeing as the big, blank, staring eyes usually come out whenever she sees the phone or camera - perhaps I should just hold them in front of her face constantly so that she becomes accustomed to them ;)
At any rate, enjoy!
Perhaps you can decipher what she's telling Mom :)

Freeze Or I'll Shoot!

She didn't freeze...and they did shoot.
Lynlee had her 4 month checkup today along with two shots and an oral vaccine that she didn't necessarily hate. Time is really flying by (kind of like the fly in our house that my dear, dear Zack is trying so desperately to catch). We ran into two of our friends at the doctor's who were bringing their baby in for an appointment as well and one of them asked if this was Lynlee's 2 month checkup. It was so weird to say nope, she's older than 2 months now (by double, might I add). AH!
I'm so glad to say that our little one is no longer in the 1st percentile for her weight - she's jumped up to the 3rd! In less than a month's time I think that's pretty good; she's slowly but surely starting to pack on those pounds. As of today she weighs 10 lb 7 oz and is 24 inches long.
She loved the crinkly paper that they always have on doctor tables; it was really cute to watch her on her tummy with her little head held high (she's finally starting to be ok with tummy time) and run her hand back and forth on the paper before savagely grabbing it and forcing it into her wide open, extremely drooly, mouth. She was so curious about the man who kept poking and prodding her to make sure everything is ok with her tiny body. She was mesmerized by the giant giraffe painted onto the wall in our room and even stared at the "other baby" in the mirror for a few seconds before remembering that it was nap time and she was tired NOW. And then came the pokes.
Fellow mommies, today is the day we discovered the secret to an easy (easier) time for everyone with shots. Lynlee's appointment was right smack-dab in the middle of nappy time so when we took her in for her appointment she was just on the verge of cranky and in a good enough mood for the doc to do his thing before beginning to cry that sad, tired cry. She was at the very edge of that moment between awake and a good, deep sleep when the shots came so while she did cry out of pain (saddest. cry. EVER.) after a matter of seconds after picking her up to comfort her it was only a little whimper (an even sadder sound than the cry, in my opinion) and by the time we got to the car about 3 minutes later she was out like a light and didn't move an inch when I put her into her crib at home. It was definitely the easiest experience with shot time I've ever had/heard about.

We got Dora and army print band-aids today.

Slow down! Too fast!

Lynlee will be 4 months old this Sunday. How did this happen?! It seems like overnight (and it practically was) that our tiny baby girl went from being in the 1st percentile for weight (she got off to a rough weight gain start what with the acid reflux and all) to chunking up a bit and maturing so fast! I picked her up one morning and she looked almost twice as big as when I had put her down for bed the night before.
I absolutely love being able to be a stay at home Mommy and spend my days hanging out with her! She smiles and laughs so often now (mostly at silly things I do but also at normal things, like sneezing), holds her head up very well considering our constant struggle with tummy time and her extreme dislike of it, sleeps through the night (she just decided to fall asleep at 8pm one night and has done it every night ever since), is always looking out at her surroundings, and brings everything up to her mouth for a slobber-based inspection (although she hasn't completely mastered keeping a consistent grip on things she wants to hold so she gets frustrated when she drops them all the time). Sunday I discovered her sucking on her thumb instead of her entire fist and since then I catch her all the time like that. She looks so cute when she does that!
She's also in the process of discovering her voice. She's a chatterbox already, just like her mommy and daddy were (and still are) hehe. She'll start out cooing quietly to herself (or whatever giraffe is in her lap at the moment) and within a few minutes she is yelling at the top of her lungs, just happy to be heard. I wish I could figure out the stories she tells me, but she seems extremely content with the fact that I just sit and listen and talk back when she's finished. It was soo cute: on Sunday there was a lady in our ward sitting behind me with her 7 month old little girl, Ellie, on her lap. Ellie started screaming (happy, play-with-me! screams) at Lynlee and was so excited. Lynlee just sat and stared at this other baby, brow slightly furrowed, trying to understand. After a few minutes she started to coo very quietly at Ellie and would look surprised when the baby would scream back. I was giggling the whole time!
It's amazing to watch Lynlee discover new things - her feet for example. She first really discovered her hands about a month or so ago and spent so much time studying them until she looked past them and found her little feet one day. While giving her a bath she was munching on her hands, as usual, when she all of a sudden pulled them out of her mouth and started to reach for her toes, staring very intently at them. She grasped her soapy foot with wet hands and brought it to her mouth for inspection. When it was almost at her mouth it slipped out of her hands and she threw her arms out like she was falling and had a look on her face that suggested disgust and utter terror (this is her oh-my-gosh-I'm-falling-through-the-air-while-still-firmly-on-the-ground-I-just-don't-know-it stance). She did this repeatedly for about 10 minutes until finally getting frustrated enough to decide that bath time was over for the day.
I know that all babies go through these different "milestones" in development and so my stories are really nothing too new, but all the same it is so much fun for us to watch her discover and learn rather than just reading about it all online.
When we first brought Lynlee home from the hospital (it seems like eons ago!) I thought I'd never want her to get older because I loved how small she was and the way I could just cuddle up with her. However now that she's starting to play (she almost accepts the game of peek-a-boo) and interact more with people I vote for this stage to stay. She's growing so fast! As a new mommy I've heard it several times from other mommies: "Enjoy it now because they grow so quickly." This is very true and I'm having a love/hate relationship with this concept at the moment. I truly adore my child and wouldn't trade motherhood for anything in the world!

Love that sly little smile

Discovering Zack and trying to pet him

Hands and feet - two of her favorite discoveries so far

She LOVES this thing - thanks Ivy for letting us use it! Note Daddy's books underneath her - Physics and Calc 2 are handy to have around!

Tall Friends for a Growing Girl

Somehow along the short road of Lynlee's existence in this world giraffes have become her theme animal. Don't ask me how it happened because we just discovered this for ourselves! The other day Chris and I were playing with Lynlee with some of her toys and Chris pointed out that she has a lot of giraffes. They just keep popping up everywhere with this little girl! Personally we think it's cute, a bit more original than all the teddy bears that covered my shelves when I was young.
I've been on the hunt for a good floor mat with dangling toys for her for a few days now. She's to the point where if you hold a toy up in front of her she'll just stare at it for the longest time and then try reaching for it. If the reach is successful and she gets a good hold on it she attempts to drag it to her mouth (it's really cute to watch her determination). While I love that she's now to this stage in life, my arm doesn't necessarily agree since it has to do all the work - this is what led me to my hunt. While searching ksl yesterday I came across the perfect one! A little jungle themed floor mat with a big giraffe holding up part of the cross-bar section that holds the toys. In honor of our little girl's animal theme that has started we snatched it up for just $9. Score! The whole family has been enjoying it over the past day since we've had it so I think it was a particularly wise investment.

Lynlee testing it out for the first time

Daddy making sure it's entertaining enough for her. "It is" he declared :p

Zack investigating all this business including Zoe (who was still hiding underneath).

They hung out together for a bit this morning. Cute :)

And here are a few more pictures of Lynlee and her other various giraffe friends.

Whenever I hold this one up to her she always tries to eat it!

Toy Store Experience

Last night was Lynlee's first experience in a toy store. Blickenstaff's is literally just down the street from where we live so we all took a nice little family walk down there last night. If you haven't been there, you should go! They have all sorts of games and toys, and I'm not talking like your local Toys R Us selection of toys. I'm talkin' old wooden toys and games you haven't heard of in years, candy from the early 1900s, unique gadgets that could entertain for hours (Chris found a whistle thing that sounds like a duck quacking and carried it all around the store with him like he was 5 years old) - the list goes on and on! Every time we go there I see at least 20 things that I would want to get for myself - and I'm a grown up! (But really a big kid at heart :)
I feel like the youngest generations have lost something in today's society. It's all about the interactive electronic era and while it is exciting and entertaining I feel that there's something to be said for sitting down with some plastic animals and playing zoo or spreading out the overwhelming number of pieces for your puzzle and getting lost for a while in putting the picture together.

Not that she really knew what was going on, but there were a few toys that Lynlee found interest in (she's only 3 1/2 months old) such as the finger puppets and normal hand puppets, a very hungry caterpillar toy with lots to crinkle and pull,  a giant giraffe (she just loved right up to that thing!) and a little kid-sized armchair.

She looks more like she's trying to escape in this picture but a few moments earlier she was just having a ball!

The Bross family had a blast in the toy store :) Like I said, if you've never been you should go! Even if only to walk down memory lane and discover a new kind of fun outside the ever-growing bombardment of the video game/constant tv watching era.
www.blickenstaffs.com