1 month old - smiling!!

JoElle is already a month old! Wow! Time flies...She started smiling at mommy and daddy Saturday! And when she smiles she really grins!

JoElle is really noticing us more; before she would stare at us when we fed her, now she is starting to notice us other times and is looking for us, too.JoElle got her pictures taken last week, and she did so well! She actually slept through most of them, so we got some cute sleeping baby pics.

She is still so very awake during the day, she doesn't require a whole lot of sleep. She has now been to church with us twice and lots of friends have met her. JoElle is getting used to us and us to her, things are much calmer!! She still loves to cry out when she needs or wants something, but we can calm her quickly, so it is not as stressful as her fussiness from the intolerance to milk!

I am actively seeking jobs, so please pray for me! It is challenging to apply and interview while taking care of the baby. My last job was temp to hire and they decided not to bring me back after having JoElle, ok so I thought this might happen, but it is still nasty. Needless to say, I must work for the income and my own sanity at times...:)

3 weeks old

JoElle is three weeks old today! She has been rolling over a lot from her tummy to her back- at first we just thought she accidently rolled over, but almost every time we put her on her tummy on the floor she rolls onto her back all by herself! She first rolled over the day we brough her home from the hospital, when she was 3 days old, in front of me and my mom.

Today she was waking up and getting hungry, so I went to get her bottle ready, and when I came back she was on her back looking at me! She is sleeping on her tummy a lot because she is much calmer this way, she doesn't sleep well at all on her back. She can move her head very well, so we are not worried about her. The reflux medicine and switching from soy formula to Nutramigen seems to be working, she is much happier and calmer.

JoElle: 2 week checkup

JoElle went to the Dr. for her two week checkup today.She now weighs 10 lbs 4 oz and is 22.75 in long. So she is a growing girl! She is in the 100 percentile for height and 97 percentile for weight.We switched her formula AGAIN to an even more easy to digest formula(hence more expensive, Nutramigen) and now she is on acid reflux medicine, too. We hope this will reduce her fussiness and allow her to get some rest at night.

2 weeks old

JoElle is two weeks old today- but it seems like she has been here even longer than that!We are still struggling with her formula, we aren't so sure that this soy formula is good for her either, but we go see the doctor on Tuesday, we will know more then.

She was up for 5 or so hours last night crying almost the whole time because she doesn't feel well. She hardly got any rest last night until I slept with her in my arms. This week we plan to take her for pictures (we will see how she feels!!) and it is also my birthday on Wednesday, so Grandma has offered to babysit so Tim and I can go out. She is a perfect angel for Grandma! Grandma also offered to stay a night or two so Tim and I can both sleep. Sounds like a plan to me!

First encounters

Our neighboor's Mark and his girlfriend Andrea came to see JoElle today- Mark says JoElle looks just like Daddy. They both walked off saying how gorgeous (and big) she is...well we think so too (not big though, she seems small to us especially compared to her 7 month old cousin Peyton) Grandma came for a visit, too (my mom). This is her first time to visit since she helped us coming home from the hospital. She changed JoElle's diaper like an old pro!

First bath- still so fussy

Last night we gave JoElle her first sponge bath (yeah yeah it's been almost a week, but she has been fussy! Who can blame us?)She enjoyed it, maybe because she was quite drowsy from Tylenol!!! JoElle is a very touchy, fragile baby. If you know what she wants and what she is trying to tell you, she is happy and responds well. But if you miss it, she gets herself worked up rather quickly! But now we are confident we CAN calm her down, and are finding more ways to do so.She loves to suck, so sometimes it is confusing: is she hungry? Just likes to suck?? So she is on a 2 hour feeding schedule, which is working out well! This morning, she found her thumb! I found her in her swing sucking on just her thumb with all her other fingers up in the air like a big kid. She has always loved to suck on her hands (since birth and before, as seen on the last ultrasound in Dec), and the Dr. told us she was going to be a thumb sucker! Well, she is already!

JoElle is not tolerating milk or soy based formula...

We have made it through a week! WOW!!Poor JoElle has been having digestive problems and not able to sleep for hours on end each night- crying the whole time because she has gas and can't get it out (even with Mylicon). Daddy and I have both been calming her the best we can, but she is in pain. So this morning, we called her doctor and said enough, what can we switch to? So now she is on soy based milk instead. Daddy also has a problem with lactose and both of us couldn't tolerate milk based formulas as babies either, so this is really not surprising.We just can't wait to have a happier baby once she adjusts to her new formula! It is hard to see her in such pain.