3 months, 1 week, 4 days

 

Kerala had a pretty busy day today - she hosted a playdate with two of her new friends, Jonah and Andrew. Both babies are about two weeks old and it was crazy to see the difference 3 months makes. Kerala was super happy and didn't really fuss at all during the playdate - a huge change from the first playdate she hosted. Kerala's busy day wrapped up with a dinner with our friend JT.

Kerala has officially moved from 0-3 month clothes to 3-6 month clothes. I am super psyched because she has a ton of cute clothes in this size that I have been dying to put on her. She can still fit into some of her 0-3 month clothes, but now she has a ton of more options, which is very exciting. Lately I have been trying to get Kerala to nap in her crib. Normally she won't go to sleep unless I lay down with her. Today, she did one of her morning naps in her crib and I am hoping that she will begin to take her afternoon nap in her crib as well. We still don't have much of a schedule, but I understand that babies don't really get on a nap schedule until about 4 months. I have been trying though to track when she seems to naturally be tired and hopefully we can work a schedule around that. Also, lately I have noticed that Kerala sleeps with one eye open - my friend Tiffany had noticed this before, but she didn't seem to do it around me until lately. While we seem to have our evening routine down pretty well, the last few nights have been pretty hard sleep wise. Kerala seems to wake up every two hours or so until about 3:00am. Hopefully, she will get back onto a longer stretch of time soon.

3 months, 1 week and 2 days

 

Since yoga on Friday, we have been pretty low key. On Saturday, we went to a bbq at Todd and Brandy's. Kerala got to meet our friends Diane and Jim's son, Jack. Jack is 7 months old - so a bit bigger than Kerala. It's really neat to see the difference a few months make. Jack and Kerala took a couple of photos together, but other than that didn't really have much to do with each other since Kerala slept for a good part of the bbq. Over the weekend we have gotten a couple of belly laughs out of Kerala. Unfortunately for us, Kerala doesn't seem to laugh at the same thing twice - so we have to keep topping ourselves with funny things which is getting a bit hard. We have also tried to introduce a bottle to Kerala because Troy and I have a work function on Friday and I won't be around to feed her. It's been difficult but Troy was finally able to get her to take a bottle. She basically won't take a bottle if I am anywhere near her. Tomorrow we have another music class. I am looking forward to it because our friend Karin may attend as well.

3 months, 6 days

 

Today Kerala and I had our first yoga class together. We met up with Tamra and Silas at a local yoga studio for mommy and baby yoga. Kerala seemed to really enjoy the first half of the class. The instructor taught us some stretches for the babies which Kerala really enjoyed. I taught them to Troy this evening and he spent about 15 minutes this evening doing yoga with Kerala. As I mentioned, Kerala liked the first half of the class. She got really fussy during the second half of the class. I was able to calm her down by sitting with her on an exercise ball and slightly bouncing. So many people recommended this to us and I must say it really does work - she went from screaming to sleeping in about a minute.

The other big thing of the day was that Kerala was laughing pretty hard at Troy this evening. He kept making these really silly noises and faces and she thought it was histarical. We have never seen her laugh like that so it was really sweet. Lately, she has been making a ton of new noises and is much more verbal. She has been so talkative that last night I thought she was awake at around midnight but it turned out to be her cooing in her sleep. It was pretty sweet.

3 months, 5 days

 

Sorry for the delay in posting. We have had a pretty busy week since our last post. On Saturday, Kerala hosted a playdate for six of her little friends and their parents. We started at a local park and then moved to our house for a bbq. Overall, I think it was a success and everyone had a nice time. On Saturday afternoon, we visited with Grandma and Grandpa Perry, my sister and neice. After Grandma and Grandpa Perry's we headed over to our friends Cullen and Tabitha's for a birthday party for their daughter, Helen. On Sunday, Troy celebrated his first father's day. It was pretty low key - Heather treated everyone to lunch for father's day. On Monday, Heather and Hannah made the trek into the city to visit us. We had a really nice visit - I am sad to see them go back to California.

On Tuesday, we had a very exciting day - Kerala had a doctor's appointment and then we went to our music class. The doctor's appointment went really well. Kerala is still 25% for weight - but the doctor said that's perfect because she is maintaining her weight class, so no worries and we should continue to breastfeed. The doctor did confirm that Kerala has started the teething process. While she doesn't have any teeth popping in yet, her gums have started to thicken. Troy and I kind of suspected it since she has begun to drool a lot more and loves to have hard things pressed against her gums. Overall, the doctor said Kerala looked great. After her doctor's appointment we headed home to nap before our music class. We got to our music class a bit early and I had an opportunity to talk to the teacher about my tone deafness. It's kind of funny, I think our teacher feels like she needs to give extra attention to Kerala because I am such a horrible singer. This week we sung a couple of songs in front of mirrors, so Kerala got to check herself out which she enjoyed. We also danced a lot more this week - this class is killing me with all of the singing and dancing we are doing! After music class, Chrissy and Sean had us over for dinner - it was lovely.

On Wednesday, Kerala and I met up for lunch with JT, Tamra and Silas. It was especially nice because they treated! After lunch, Kerala, Tamra, Silas and I met up with our friend Jessica and her son, Gabe and headed out for a walk around Bucktown. We look pretty funny trecking around Bucktown since we all have the same type of stroller.

Today, Tamra and I went for pedicures. The babies were a bit fussy - but Tamra actually calmed both of them down. Today is also Troy's birthday - he had a work event so we will be celerbrating it this weekend. Tomorrow, Kerala and I will be doing a new activity - mommy and baby yoga!

2 months, 4 weeks, 1 day

 

This week Kerala and I went to another music class. It went quite well until the last song when Kerala started crying really loud. The teacher was very sweet and tried to convince me that she was crying in pitch. After the music class, Troy met us down at our friend Chrissy's house for dinner with her and her son. It was wonderful - we love having the home cooked meals. On Wednesday, Ushma, one of my college roommates, stopped by to visit with me and Kerala. It was really great to catch up since it had been a super long time since we had seen each other. It was also nice for Ushma to meet Kerala since I call and e-mail Ushma questions about her all of the time (Ushma is a pediatrician and told me I could call/e-mail questions whenever, which is constantly). On Wednesday evening we stopped by our friends Julie and Chris' house to visit their 4 day old son Jonah - I can't believe Kerala was ever that small! It's crazy to see her next to newborns and realize how much she has grown. We had a really nice dinner with Julie and Chris. There son is really cute.

Today was a very exciting day for us because my sister and neice were in from California. Kerala loved hanging out with Auntie Heather and was very enthralled with her cousin Hannah. We had a really nice visit with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Heather, cousin Hannah and my parents neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. McGrier. Heather and Hannah will be here for a week so we plan on doing a couple of play dates before they leave.

This week we have also started an evening routine where we give Kerala a bath and then get her ready for bed. She has been going down so well - I kind of wish we would have started the routine a month ago. We start getting her ready for bed about 7:30 and by 8:00 she is sound asleep. Also, last night Kerala woke up around 11:00pm and as I was heading down to check on her we heard her crib aquarium turn on and then we didn't hear another sound out of Kerala until she woke up around 2:00 for her feeding. I don't think she knows how to turn it on yet, but at least we know that it does sooth her. -

2 months, 3 weeks, 4 days

 

Since last Tuesday, Kerala has had a pretty fun week. On Wednesday, we headed out for a walk with Tamra and Silas. It was really beautiful weather so it was nice to get out and about. On Thursday, we had our friends Jim and Brandy over for dinner. Dinner started with Kerala sleeping, but then she woke up. We had her up for a little bit and then we spent the next two hours trying to get her back to sleep. Lately, it's been harder to get her to go to and stay asleep. We are working on getting her to go down at the same time every night, but that's been a bit of a challenge.

On Friday, Kerala and I hung out around the house. Friday evening, Troy went to the eye doctor for a follow up on his eye. The pain is basicallly gone, but he still has blurry vision due to scarring on his cornea. Hopefully the scarring will go away and his vision will be back to normal.

Saturday was Kerala's first visit to the zoo. Kerala and I went to Brookfield Zoo with Aunt Julie and Uncle Ralph. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos, but Uncle Ralph did capture her first visit on video, which we can't wait to see. After the zoo, we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Perry's. This visit was very nice other than when a couple of cicadias landed on me. Saturday evening we went to our friends JT and Tamra's for a bbq. A couple of our friends at the bbq could really tell a difference in Kerala in just one week - they said she has really gone from being a newborn to a baby. We wrapped up the week with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Perry's.

This week Kerala had really started to put a lot more things in her mouth. As you will see in the photos, she loves to chew on the duck rattle that Aunt Heather sent her. She also is putting a lot more weight on her legs - sometimes we just hold her up for balance. She still hates tummy time, but her head is getting really strong. She has also been laughing a lot more - she likes to laugh at funny noises or if you munch on her belly. It's super cute.

Finally, her birth announcment will be coming out shortly. We did the "photo shoot" today and we just need to finish it up.

2 months, 2 weeks, 6 days

 
 
We are going to start trying to blog more often - that way we can give you all more detail on what we have done. Since our last blog, we had a couple of play dates and started our music class. On Monday, Tamra and Silas had us over - check out the photos of Silas and Kerala. I think they are in love! While the babies slept, Tamra and I were able to catch up on a couple of episodes of "What Not to Wear." The show made me realize that I really need to get my haircut!

On some sad news, on Monday night Troy came home with an eye infection. Fortunately, it's not contagious but it is quite painful. He went to the eye doctor Monday evening, today and he'll have to return tomorrow. It seems to be getting better, but he still has to put special drops in every 1/2 hour or so.

Today, Kerala and I went to our first music class. We are attending a mommy and me music class and it is a ton of fun. Kerala was super happy the entire time and she loved the teacher - she couldn't take her eyes off of her when she was singing. I didn't realize how much singing I would be doing - I am quite tone deaf. After the music class, our friend Chrissy hosted a play date. Check out the sweet photos of Kerala and Chrissy's son, Sean. Sean was especially sweet during dinner when he rocked Kerala's car seat so I could eat. I think we have him pretty nervous around Kerala because we always tell him to be gentle - so he was pretty timid holding her hand for the photos.

2 months, 2 weeks, 4 days

 

Check out Kerala as she reads her favorite book - she actually really does like this book. On Tuesday, Kerala went with me for a pedicure. Tamra treated for my birthday and we took turns getting pedicures and watching the babies. Kerala and Silas slept most of the time - so it was definitely a success. On Wednesday, Grandma Sue came for a visit. We ate some My Pie pizza while Kerala slept and Grandma got to play with her a bit after her nap. On Thursday, Troy ended up being gone from about 8:00am until 11:00pm. Unfortunately, Kerala was super fussy that evening so it was a pretty long day. We think she may be teething since she has started to drool a lot more and she seems to like to press her hands or Troy's finger against her gums. On Friday, we had a play date with our friends Maureen, Ben and their son, Jimmy and our friend Lara who is due any day now. Jimmy was sweet with Kerala - in the pictures he is grabbing onto her arms. On Saturday, JT and Tamra hosted a bbq. Kerala slept a good part of the bbq thanks to the soothing efforts of our friend Tiffany - she is really a baby whisperer. We wrapped up the week with our Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Perry's. Kerala slept in Grandma's arms for a good portion of the evening, while we hung out on the front porch. Other than Troy puttying a cicadia shell on me, it was a lovely evening.We added pictures to both the May and June photos, so please make sure you check out both months.