Hailey's 3rd Month

Hailey's third month was so much fun.  She was beginning to become mobile and very expressive.  For me, this month was just one step closer to month 4 and trying baby food!  There were some hard times this month...I started back at work and that meant putting Hailey in daycare. We were lucky enough to have an in home day care, but it still meant our time together was about to be cut short.

Here are my favorite things about month 3 with Little Miss...

I made the mistake of taking her 3 month pictures right before nap.  There was nothing that could make her smile...

10. Are you ready for some football?!
Mike and I are HUGE Texas Tech Football fans.  Hailey is one by default.  Eventually we would let her make her own decisions about what college team she wants to go for, but until then we will do everything in our power to push Tech on her :)  I love how cute she looks in her football gear...weekends are football weekends in the Cardell house!

 

 

9. Facial Expressions

Little Miss became very expressive this month.  Her smiles were easier to get :) Mike and I probably looked like crazy people trying to get her to smile.  My heart lights up when she smiles.

 

 Not only was Hailey showing us her feelings, she was also starting to tell us how she felt.  Hailey is an eater!  Because of her reflux, I had to stop nursing her after a few minutes on each side so that she could burp.  My goodness was my girl mad about this!  She would scream and push off of my shoulder while I tried to burp her.  The moment she got back to business she was fine.  It was hilarious!  I would laugh and laugh while she screamed.  I sound so horrible saying that, but I knew she wasn't hurt...she was just ticked off that she wasn't getting what she wanted.  My feisty little miss...

8. Snuggles
Sleepy baby.  That is one way to describe Hailey.  Ever since our trip to Austin Hailey slept through the night.  She loved sleeping and she didn't care where she slept...just like her mommy :)  As the summer ended, I really started letting her nap wherever.  I didn't care if I was spoiling her...she could sleep on my chest, lap, swing...anywhere that was close to me.  I missed her when she was in her crib.  As selfish as it was for me, I cherish those naps like you couldn't believe.

7. Mover and a Shaker
Hailey has always been a mover.  I remember when I was pregnant...she would kick and punch me all day long.  The only time I didn't feel her moving around was when I was sleeping....thank goodness!  During this month she really started to pick up the kicking and grabbing at her animals on the play mat.  Even though it was probably a fluke...she rolled over!  On August 28th she rolled from belly to back for the first time.  Tummy time was definitely a favorite thing this month.

6. Pool day!
Mike's dad has the most amazing pool.  The two of us have spent so many summers by that pool with is brothers and friends.  We couldn't wait to have Hailey join in on the fun.  Dr. Sickler had told us to wait until Hailey was 8 weeks old to get in the pool.  We decided that Labor Day weekend would be the best weekend.  It wasn't too hot and our good friends, Jeff and Lauren, were able to join us.  It was so fun!  Hailey loved the water.  She didn't show a lot of expression, but she was so calm.  It was funny to see her in a huge sun hat with a diaper that looked like it was going to explode.  It was definitely worth the wait.

5. School Days
August meant one thing...back to school.  This is a very bittersweet topic to write about.  I am blessed to have the job that I have and to be surrounded by all of the wonderful people at my school.  I have always been someone who loved to work.  I was very excited for the new school year, but sad (and scared) to leave Hailey.  I knew she was in good hands, but there was always a question in the back of my mind about whether or not I was making the right choice.  Some days...I wish I would have listened to it...

 

 

4. Bedtime Routine

The routines really started to set in this month.  A lot of it had to do with me returning to work.  I needed the structure and so did she.  She was having to wake up earlier so we could get to Mrs. Debbie's in time for me to get to work.  There was a lot going on! It was stressful and wonderful all at the same time.  My favorite routine was her bedtime stories.  Mommies-the BEST books are by Sandra Boynton!  I absolutely love them.  My favorite is "Good Night Pookie".  Hailey's favorite is "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".  I love how interested she looks in some of these pictures.

 



3. Doggie Love
Finally!!  The dogs learned to love Hailey this month.  She also became very aware of them.  Tucker started to relax and Duke would get close to her.  I think Duke took to Hailey the most this month.  In the mornings, I would hear him go in her room and lay down on the dog bed we had in there.  He would follow me in her room when we would read stories before bed.  He even started to lay with her on the floor.  A wonderful friendship between a girl and her dogs started to form this month. 

2.  Bumbo!
It was time to practice sitting up.  Hailey finally had enough neck strength to give the Bumbo a try.  This picture says it all...

1. Monkey Hair
Hailey really started to loose her hair this month.  Poor thing was balding.  On the back of her head she had a little circular bald spot.  I smile every time I see it in pictures.  The dark head of hair she had was being replaced by what Mike and I call "Monkey Hair".  After naps she would wake up with crazy bed head that it reminded me of a baby orangutan!  She quickly took on the nickname "Monkey".

Month 3 was so much fun with our Little Miss!  My little baby girl grew so much physically and emotionally.  Mike and I had so much fun getting to know Hailey.  Her personality was starting to shine and we just knew the best was yet to come.

Love,
Mary

 



2 months!

Hailey's second month was busy, busy, busy.  Hailey experienced her first road trip, had her first bottle, started sleeping through the night,  and met a lot of new friends.

Here are my top 10 Hailey moments from month #2:

10. Her first bottle.
This was a moment that I will never forget.  Since H would be starting daycare in about a month, we figured she needed to get used to drinking from a bottle.  At first I was so excited because it is such a "big girl" thing for Hailey, but once I saw her doing well with it I lost it.  I cried and cried.  She didn't need me anymore.  So silly to think, but that's all I kept saying.  So many mixed emotions.  I was proud of her for doing such a good job, happy that she could take the bottle, and sad because she was getting bigger.

9. Bath time
Bath time was getting to be more and more fun!  I liked to give her baths in the sink, but daddy loved giving her baths in the tub.  She was starting to show so many expressions during bath time and it cracked us up.  This was one of the first routines that H started to rely on.  It is crazy to see how much of a schedule they put themselves on after they get out of the first month sleepiness.



  

8. Nap time

This month we spent a lot of time napping together.  I was still off of work and it was way to hot to be out and about.  I knew the days of napping together were coming to an end, so I had a hard time putting her down once she fell asleep. Those were some of the best naps I've ever had.

 

 

7. Road Trip!

Hailey took her first road trip to Austin the weekend of July 31st.  We went to visit her second parents and Skyler and Tristan.  Hailey did so great on the trip down there.  She slept the whole way down and stayed asleep most of the night.  I was very impressed with my little girl.  The Doerings had not seen Hailey in person since she was born, so it was fun to see how much she had changed to them.  Needless to say, she was held and fought over all weekend.  The trip back went pretty great.  We left during the day and Hailey napped most of the way.  I woke her up in Waco to feed her and she went right back to sleep.  She was the perfect little road trip buddy.

 

6. Sleepy girl!

Hailey was a good sleeper from the beginning.  She wasn't to difficult to put down and she slept really well.  Before our Austin trip, H could do 4-5 hour stretches at night.  While we were there, Little Miss decided to sleep 7 1/2 hours! I thought this was just a fluke because she had spent the day wide awake at the outlet mall.  Seriously, no nap that was longer than 20-30 minutes.  From that weekend on Hailey slept through the night.  She would go down between 10:30 and 11:30pm and sleep until 9 am!  It was heaven.

 

5. Naked baby!
We found out in Hailey's second month that she loved to be naked! This silly girl loved sitting on the changing table just hanging out in her birthday suit. We would get some great smiles during these times. 

 

4. Gassy baby

Hailey loved to toot.  She would let the gas go all the time.  Sometimes she would get some pretty bad gas bubbles that would make her very cranky.  We were starting to worry because as funny as the tooting was, we didn't like it when it made her upset.  Hailey also started having reflux around this time.  She would spit up a lot.  It worried us.  Dr. Sickler calmed a lot of our worries with instructions on keeping her upright after eating and supplementing with formula if we needed.  It all started to work itself out as she grew that month, but the gas still stuck around.  Pappy was the best at getting the gas bubbles out.  Mike and I could rarely get the gas bubbles gone as quickly as Pap could.

 

 

3. Chunky monkey and baby acne
Hailey really started to fill out this month.  She went from 6 lbs 3 oz at birth to 10 lbs 5 oz at her 2 month check up.  Her Aunt Des used to thank me for giving her a baby with rolls :)  I didn't realize just how much she had chunked up until I saw this picture:

Seriously! Check out those cheeks...and that double chin!  Hahaha.  I crack up every time I see this picture.  This month also brought baby acne.  Hailey had it all over her face.  If you look really closely, you can see it in the picture above.  I thought it was an allergic reaction to the soap we were using, but it turns out that a lot of babies get this because of a balancing out of hormones.  It went away the weekend we went to Austin.  Katie and Marc had this amazing baby soap that cleared it right up!

 

2.   Date Nights

Month 2 was filled with lots of dinner dates with our Little Miss.  We had Pappy's birthday at Capital Grille, dinner dates with daddy and mommy, lunch dates with Aunt Helly and Grandma, and girls nights. 

 

 

Hailey loved going on dates.  Her favorites were dinner date.  She hated to be left in her car seat.  She wanted to be in someone's lap watching what was going on. 

 

 

My favorite dinner date was with the girls at Grimaldi's.  She barely napped all day (probably because she was so excited) and then when we got there she was awake the majority of the time! It was about a 3 hour dinner and she was the star of the restaurant.  She got to meet Amy that night.  She loved her mini nap in Amy's arms.  Aunt Lauren had fun showing her off to the entire restaurant! Hahaha.  I still crack up thinking about her taking Hailey from table to table introducing her to people. 

 

 

Mike and I loved taking Hailey to dinner.  She was the best little dinner guest.  Dinner dates with Hailey became a favorite weekend activity for us.

1. Play time
Hailey began to love playing on her mat this month!  She would stare at her animals and the lights for a long time.  She was really starting to take notice of things that light up and make noise. 
The TV was quickly becoming on of her favorite things to stare at.  It was so funny to watch her "watch" TV.  She would stare at the screen for a long time with no emotion on her face.  It cracked me up.

 

My favorite part about play time was the noises she was starting to make.  She would grunt, squeak, and "talk" to us and her friends.  During tummy time she could follow our voices and turn her head to look at us.  Playtime with Hailey was definitely the highlight of month 2 :)

 Hailey found her hands this month too!  She couldn't control them yet, but she would try so hard!  It was so funny to watch her try to grab these things that moved around and hit her in the face. 

Hailey's second month went by faster than I would have liked.  We were getting closer to the end of the summer and the beginning of day care and work.  It really is true what they say...time goes by so fast. 

Love,

 

Mary