Baby Cooper is Here!

Yesterday, Avery's cousin Cooper finally arrived. Jared and I went to visit them in the hospital, but Cooper and Avery have not officially met yet. Cooper weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. So basically he is already Avery's size! Seeing Cooper made me realize how skinny Avery is. Although she's started wearing size 1 diapers (we ran out of newborns), she still swims in 0-3 month clothes, especially any pants or bottoms. But at least this way she'll get to wear her clothes longer.

Avery is smiling quite a bit more these days. Also her hair is getting longer and thicker. But it is still definitely blonde and her eyes are still really blue. She seems to enjoy listening to music and I think she's beginning to notice her toys. She likes her lovebug that lights up and plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Here are some pics of Baby Cooper. Many more to come with him and his cousin!

Four Weeks Old

The last couple weeks have been busy and chaotic, but Avery has been such a trooper. I'm very sad to say that Jared's dad passed away on the 16th, so we've been spending most of our time with his family.

Avery continues to get bigger although she's still wearing newborn clothes and diapers. She's much more alert and aware of people. She is even starting to smile and make a lot of cute noises. The first few weeks she wanted to be held all the time, but now she loves laying on the floor and "talking" to people. She's starting to like her swing a little more, although it's not her favorite. She also seems to like her little music player.

I think she's learned Jared's voice and likes it when he talks to her. She also prefers sleeping between Jared and me. Luckily she's getting better at sleeping on her own in a bassinet next to us.

Two Weeks Old

Avery reached the two week milestone today. She is definitely filling out and changing every day. Her hair is still mostly blonde and her eyes are really dark blue. She is already trying to hold her head up and her legs are getting stronger. When I hold her in front of me she uses her legs to push off my stomach.

We're doing alright sleeping at night. We don't quite have a routine yet but aside from getting up to eat every 2-3 hours she usually sleeps a good part of the night. This week it is just Avery and me at home. Jared went back to work last Tuesday and then my mom stayed with me the rest of the week. It was so great having their help, but we're managing on our own this week. Of course, it is hard to get anything done so we've been watching a lot of movies and the Price is Right.

We've had quite a few visitors over the last week, many of whom brought us much appreciated dinners. I haven't had to cook at all since I've been home!

One Week Old

Avery is officially one week old today. She had her first check up today which went really well. We were anxious to see how much she weighed. She weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce at birth, and when she left the hospital she was 6 pounds and 13 ounces. We'd figured she'd gained weight because her cheeks definitely look fuller than when she was born.

Well, she weighed in at 7 pounds and 14 ounces. This means she's gained over a pound in 5 days! Needless to say, she is a good eater and doesn't like to miss a meal. Her length and head circumference were about the same. She was in the 45th percentile in weight, 75th in length, and 50th in head circumference.

The doctor had a glowing report so it seems we're lucky to have a normal, healthy baby. She was especially impressed at how calm Avery was and said that she was good at "self soothing."

Overall, Avery is a really good baby. When she cries it's usually not too hard to get her to calm down. If not, then she is probably hungry or has a dirty diaper. She does not like it when her diaper is full!

My New Friend Kate

It seemed like Avery spent her entire Saturday sleeping. She barely opened her eyes all day despite the fact that she had quite a few visitors come see her. One of her visitors was her new friend Kate. Kate is 2 weeks old (10 days older than Avery) and the daughter of some friends who live near us. Kate's mom Jennifer, who went to school with Jared, will be watching Avery once I go back to work. Here is a picture from their first play date - they both slept through it! This morning, after so much rest, Avery was wide awake and calm for quite a while. Since she sleeps so much it's fun to interact with her while she's awake. She likes to look at us and have us talk to her. I can tell she recognizes my voice.

Avery really really hates having her diaper changed, especially the part when a cold baby wipe touches her. Yesterday I started using the wipe warmer and noticed a difference immediately. She doesn't get mad anymore so changings are not as bad for either or us.

First Day at Home

So far things are going well. Avery has spent most of her time eating and sleeping. We're still learning what she likes and dislikes, but she is not shy about letting us know when she's unhappy. Her new thing is that she likes her hands and arms free instead of having them wrapped up in her blanket. She swings them around like crazy even while she sleeps.

Right now we are spending most of our time at home until she gets a little bigger, but we are up for visitors. Just call or text me if you'd like to come meet Avery.

We tried the swing a little today, but so far she's not sure what to think about it.

Avery Grace is finally here!!

She's here! Avery Grace was born Tuesday, April 29 at 4:59 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20.75 inches long. She has a head of long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.

Avery had a bit of a rough start after she was born but is doing great now. She's eating well and all signs point to a healthy baby.

It seems the consensus is that Avery looks a lot like Jared in the face, but she seems to have many of my features like long legs, arms, toes and fingers. Obviously I'm completely biased but I think she is so adorable.

We were all glad to come home this afternoon. And other than some tornado sirens, all is going well. Enjoy these pics of Avery's first couple days. There will be many many more to come.

1 - Just born, getting her footprints

2 - Just had her first bath

3 - With Great Grandma Leila, see all the blonde hair

4 - Hanging out in the hospital

5 - With Aunt Sarah before we left the hospital on Thurs

6 - Just got home, so tiny in her carseat

7 - At home getting some sleep