And the big news this week is that Sarah is most likely allergic to cow’s milk protein.  We found some blood in her diaper and took her to the doctor.  She hasn’t been particularly fussy.  You would think that if she is having that much intestinal distress she would be screaming her head off, but she isn’t.  Apparently it could take up to two weeks for the dairy to clear my system and hers, so we won’t know if my elimination of dairy is helping until then.  If she is still having symptoms after two weeks, then I take her back to the doctor and also cut out soy.  Luckily this type of allergy is something she should grow out of by her birthday and isn’t related to any dairy allergy she may have later in life.

Cutting out dairy is hard.  Thank goodness Sarah is so cute and gives me a huge smile every time she sees my face.

Other big news is that she had her first bottle this past weekend!

Here are some pictures from Sarah’s last bath.

She is a very accommodating baby.  She is happy to go wherever Ted and I are going during the day or wherever we are all going during nights and weekends.  She does have a thing about red lights though.  She hates them and lets us all know about it.  She is also rather fussy in the mornings when I have to get ready for the day instead of holding her.  She also frequently is fussy in the evenings when Ted is getting ready for bed. In the evenings no amount of holding her stops the anxiety.  But (so far) she is not the type to scream without stopping.  There is generally some intense arm waving and loud heavy breathing punctuated with yells.  Then we calm her down for a few minutes with walking her around and singing and then repeat the whole process over and over.  Overall she is a pretty calm happy baby though.

Something else worth mentioning is Zoe’s overwhelming need to sit on this baby.  She is quite crazy about it.  Like a duck determined to hatch an egg.  I let Zoe sit with us but that is not enough.  She is constantly inching closer trying to get on top of Sarah.  I have to hold her away and if I move my hand she is instantly moving in.  It is quite comical when Ted joins in and I have Ted, Sarah, and Zoe all on my lap at once.

Yesterday I took Sarah to her one month well check.  She is now 10lbs 11.5oz!  She has been able to hold her head up for awhile now, but she has been doing it for longer stretches this week.  Also while we had seen fleeting smiles here and there before, this week she seems to be really smiling in response to things.

Also, Sarah got to wear the ‘My entire life is being blogged’ shirt we got for Ted (but was too small by time we tried to pull it over his head).  The shirt rings as true for her as it does for Ted, even if the idea of blogging has fallen in popularity.

PS: Thanks Pops and Gram!

PPS: Pics from a few weeks ago, she hasn’t shrunk.

Sarah mostly slept through her first Christmas.  Lucky for her she had Ted to open her presents.  This Christmas was filled with Skype instead of travel.  On Christmas Eve we did a post dinner skype with Jack and Ben.  Then later on we skyped with my sisters, aunt, and cousins and participated in Yankee Swap with them.

Then on Christmas morning we opened stockings and a few gifts from Santa and each other before a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, and fruit salad.  We then opened more gifts before skyping with my sisters, Jack, and Ben again.  We all opened the presents from aunts to nephews and a niece and then Ted and Jack played the drums together.

Then we participated in a five location conference skype with Great Nana, Uncle John, Gram, Pops, Auntie Kristen, Uncle Josh, Abby, and Aunt Dede reporting in from MA, NH, two FL locations, and us representing NC.  Craziness!  And yet the sound quality was better on that massive skype than it was when we just skyped with RI.  Mysterious internet.  It was great to see everyone and just amazing to see everyone all at once.  Other than missing out on hugs and getting to pass the babies around, it was just like getting together in real life.

After all the skyping we fed Ted a quick lunch and got all dressed and ready.  Just before it was time to head out I put Sarah into her Christmas outfit.  She immediately filled a diaper and leaked on the outfit.  Pat changed her into the dress she wore Chrismas Eve and she let us know in no uncertain terms that she would need to eat before we left the house.  I fed her and burped her and she proceeded to puke in my hair and all over my shirt.  I went upstairs and washed out my hair and changed shirts and we were ready to go!

We arrived at Kate and Peter’s fashionably late, but hopefully Ted and Sarah distracted everyone.  Ted was on his best behavior and made himself right at home.  He passed out hugs left and right and had everyone laughing with him.  Sarah slept while we ate dinner and woke up when we were done, just in time to be passed around to everyone for snuggles.  After dinner we took a walk and Ted tried out his new scooter.  Luckily the rain held off for us and we came back just in time for dessert.  We had a great time.

This week we didn’t have a doctor’s appointment to tell us how much Sarah has grown, but she has outgrown her newborn diapers and some of her newborn pajamas.  I have been putting her in some of the super cute 3 month size outfits that she got as presents and have been continuously surprised that they fit.

She has been focusing on our faces much more this past week.  She will spend a long time just quietly examining my hair line especially.  I remember Ted doing that too.  I assume the contrast between my light skin and dark hair is the easiest thing to focus on.

She has been holding her head up for longer and longer periods.  She also continues to use the weight of her head to throw her whole body wherever she wants to go.

We took Sarah to her two week well-check today.  The doctor said that she looked great and that she had gained back enough weight that she was over her birth weight (which is what they hope for by two weeks.)  She is now 8lb 12oz which puts her in the 60th percentile for weight.  She is 21.5 inches tall, which is the 90th percentile for height!  She didn’t get that from me!

A lot of Sarah’s facial expressions and movements remind me of Ted when he was this small.  One thing I don’t remember is him being this vocal though.  I don’t mean crying.  Sarah is frequently making little noises.  She squeaks, purrs, snores, and makes little noises that seem to say, “hello?  I am over here.”

This past weekend Auntie Christine came to visit and help us get ready for Christmas.  On Friday we got a tree from the Farmer’s Market.  Saturday we decorated the tree and the house and went to the Christmas Parade.  On Sunday Ted got to spend some quality time playing with Auntie outside.  Then Sunday night after Auntie had to head back to Boston, Ted and Pat went to the Christmas Celebration at Pullen Park.  It was a very fun, action-packed weekend.

Ted putting the rocket ship on the top of the tree.

Sarah’s First Parade!

Ted had the best view.

Sarah is one week old today!  Hard to believe I spent the the entire week before last with one thought going through my mind:  I cannot believe she has not been born yet!  I was sure she would be born by Thanksgiving if not sooner.  With Ted I was convinced he would be late and then he was born on his due date.  A doctor told me second children usually come earlier than firstborns.  Not in this case!  Who knows how long Sarah would have stayed in there had she not been induced or evicted, as I like to say.

Eight days after her due date Pat and I headed to the hospital for a scheduled induction.  I was worried that forcing her out before she was ready would lead to a longer labor or even a c-section.  Luckily none of that came to pass and I had a much shorter labor and was able to forgo the pain medication again.

Since we were expecting her so much earlier she missed meeting Auntie Kim, Auntie Anne, and cousins Jack and Ben by a day.  She also only had super short visits with Auntie Christine, Grampa, and Gramma.  Luckily Sarah did get to spend some quality time with Gram and will get to see Auntie Christine again this weekend.

This week we took Sarah to the doctor twice.  The first time was her 48 hours after leaving the hospital weight check.  She was down to 7lbs 12oz from her birth weight of 8lb 9oz.  They asked us to come back in another two days to check again.  She gained 3oz in those two days so they were satisfied she is on the right track and our next appointment is her two week well check.

Sarah sleeps in our room in a bedside co-sleeper.  I am absolutely loving this.  When we had Ted in our room during his first days it was in a pack and play and I had to get out of bed to see him.  Which I did every time he made a little noise.  I didn’t sleep at all when he was in our room.  We moved him to his crib in his own room pretty quickly.  This let me sleep between feedings which was wonderful, but after walking back from his room I usually had some trouble falling back asleep.  So far with Sarah I have been able to place her back in the co-sleeper and fall back asleep immediately*.  Of course now that I have admitted this, it will change, because that is what babies do.

*Except for the couple of times when she has turned into what Pat and I lovingly call her voracious velociraptor moments, where she will go four hours trying to nurse constantly with no break, chomping on anything within her reach.