How Patriotic!

Lydia's sporting the red, white and blue for Independence Day.

Summer fun in the sun

Maaavelos daaahling! This is the place to be seen. We had a nice hot day for a pool party on Saturday. Lots of nice food and drinks. BBQ pork chops.. yum! No better time to try Lydia's first touch in the pool. She didn't like the first little toe in but we tried again and she liked it for a little longer.. maybe 10 seconds. Guess it was a little cold for her.. she's got to get tougher if she's ever going swimming in Montana. Of course we had to try on her sunglasses which she had a tough time keeping in place... such a tiny nose for support. We managed to get this super cute shot though.

2 months

12 pounds, 10 0unces of baby goodness. Lydia is very healthy, and in the 90th percentile for weight. Only the 60th for height (at 22 inches), so she'll probably start sprouting up soon. She got her first big group of shots today, and did very well. A bit of initial screaming but she calmed right down. By the time I got her home, she seemed pretty sleepy, so now she's having a good nap. So far, shots have not been as bad as I anticipated, but we'll see what happens in a few hours if she gets a fever or finds that her legs are hurting her. I guess we won't be working on her walking today.

Sleep

Well, besides age and weight at birth, the most common question seems to be... How does she sleep? Friends, family, people who work at the grocery store, strangers we meet on walks, everyone wants to know about sleep. So, in case you, like the rest of America, are interested, here is the scoop on the current sleep patterns. Around 7:30 pm, we decide it is Lydia's bedtime. We bath her, feed her, rock her, and either when she is asleep, or seems near sleep, we put her in her crib. She then lays there for awhile, we do a few tricks that work to get her napping in the day, and usually by 8:45 she's out of bed again. She plays until 10 or so, and then after a meal, she's to bed for good. She has been sleeping until 4 or 5ish. Eats, goes right back to sleep, and wakes up at 8. She plays for an hour or so, naps from 9-11, and then usually takes another nap in the afternoon, or a series of short naps. Her bedtime does not seem to get any earlier with more or less napping in the day. It does not help that it stay light until 10:30 or so. Overall, its pretty nice to get that 10pm-5am stretch. The first few times she slept so long, I kept getting up to check on her, almost frantic. But, now I sleep right along with her, so its not a bad deal. So, that's the deal with 2 mths old and sleeping. At least she's going in the right direction from birth. - Polly

Keyword: Interactive

Yep. Lydia is getting a lot more interactive. We're starting to see her use her hands. She's making some new noises now.. like a little girlie squeal. And if she is in the right mood, usually in the morning, we can get her to smile back at us... not just a reflex anymore. We're getting her routine down and I think she is picking up on it. Maybe not every night, but at least she is close.

On another note, I have been shooting trap lately and really enjoying it. That's the one where you say "Pull!" and the little disc flies out and you shoot it. It's a heck of a lot of fun and I'm decent at it. You can tell I'm a computer guy because I've got a spreadsheet that adds up my scores and calculates my average... it's 21. Woo! When you shoot a perfect round of 25 you get a patch commemorating your victory over cornstarch discs. I have yet to get such a patch.

-Rob out.

<cliche>Got Milk?</cliche>

Indeed I do not "got milk", but I can borrow some. Drumroll please..... Lydia Jean Becker's first bottle feeding! I'm sure it's not as satisfying as when Polly feeds her naturally, but I enjoyed it. Polly was a little sad to see her grow up so fast but liberated a little. Lydia was hungry and quickly gulped down her fastest meal ever and went back for more after the bottle. No troubles taking the bottle or going back and forth. So now I can get up in the middle of the night and feed her (and I'm happy about this? I guess so)

Keeping your feet on the ground...

Left me first say that I really like Saturdays as a rule. They were invented by Dr. Satur thousands of years ago because he wanted a day that he didn't have to go to work, but instead stroll around town with his family. I'm glad to annouce that we are keeping the founding mission of Saturday alive by doing just that. We got ourselves all ready and set out for a brunch at The Catalyst cafe with our friend Jill. Some buckwheat waffles, eggs, toast and coffee (a treat!) later we headed out for our walk. We meandered all over stopping at shops, the farmer's market, and to visit Jake at work. We went over the bridge to Bernice's Bakery to celebrate Lydia's 1 month of age by eating some treats ourselves. Somehow we end up there very frequently.
Lydia was AWESOME the whole day. She slept a lot, but even when she was awake was just nice and calm. I think she likes the hustle and bustle of being out. We brought her to the park and changed her outside in the sun. She even spent some time without her clothes on and loved it. She got to feel the grass between her toes and didn't seem to mind (or really even notice).

A major minor success

Yesterday Lydia was able to fall asleep in her crib for naps and not by being held. She still needed some coaxing and her little turtle sea aquarium crib toy which plays music. But I consider that a step in the right direction. So last night we tried to continue the trend by putting her in her crib when she's tired and try to get her to sleep in there. We aren't up to the crying it out stage yet... maybe over the weekend when we can both afford to be up a lot more. Polly spent a lot of the night up with her last night keeping her calm and in and out of sleep. We're hoping that she gets the hang of this sooner rather than later. Apparently after 3 months old it is a lot harder to get them to sleep on their own, so it's better to start right from the beginning.

We know she's getting enough sleep to get energy to eat, she's now 9 pounds and 7 ounces! She's getting to be a tiny chubby baby!

Sprung

Our yard has sprung into action. The pear blossoms (left) are blooming and Lilac tree is very purple. There's dandelions everywhere that I need to take care of with Weed & Feed. We went to Bozeman Friday for Stacy and Eric's graduation. Lydia handled the car ride and everything with ease. A little meltdown near the end of our drive there.. but otherwise slept the whole way. We both wish we could have stayed longer to visit with family there. Now it's Polly's very first Mother's Day. We had waffles with strawberries and a little vanilla ice cream. Yum. And some nice flowers of course. Now it's off to Jake's for a BBQ. Fun!

All by myself, don't wanna be...

There's no more company around to help us out anymore and I'm running very short on days home with Polly and Lydia. If I can get some work from home hours in then I can go in to work on thursday and then work from home on friday. That way we can leave early enough for our big trip to Boseman. I hope she handles the car ride and new environment well. Lately she has been having trouble getting to sleep on her own. We have had to use a lot of tricks like putting the basinet in the bathroom with the ceiling fan on to get her to sleep. Of course the usual swaying, rocking, shushing etc. But those eyes have been popping right back open, most likely accompanied with a loud sound. I hope this isn't the start of the dreaded COLIC. That unexplained mysteriously unconsolable baby syndrome. Lets all hope that she gets her nights and days figured out without too many nights like last night. whoo.

New Guestbook Entries

Don't forget to check Lydia's Guest Book to see yourself and everyone else who has come to visit and hold her. There have been some additions to this album recently.

The Snugli Squeeze

Here's Lydia trying out going for a ride in her Snugli. I think she's a little small for it still. What do you think? We've been trying to get her mobile and get outside with her. Our goal is to have her be an outside girl.. you know really like the outdoors. We went for a nice long walk around Caras Park on Saturday which she slept through most of. We had her first outdoor feeding, she did great. Then the next day Polly and I got our first time out of her presence since she was born (and conceived I suppose). We took the opportunity to go to Walmart and ShopKo!! Exciting stuff! Lastly, we went out to dinner at The Mustard Seed. It was delicious asian style food. Lydia got a nice warm bath to finish off the day.

Some stroller action

Today Lydia went on her first stroller ride. She sort of liked it. We walked around Caras park , watched the kayakers, and enjoyed the great weather. Then we had a nice lunch outside while she slept in the stroller. For the big finale we stopped at Big Dipper for some ice cream. What a treat!

Before our outing we brought her to the Western Montana Clinic to check her hearing. It's this cool little device that plays sounds in her ear and then measures if she heard something. We were all wondering if she would have to raise her hand if she heard a sound. hehe.

Happiness is a clean baby

Lydia got a bath today and she really liked it. Of course we had the heater fan going so it was nice and warm.
For those of you who have never seen a naked newborn or haven't in a while, there's more pictures on the picasa web album. I can't believe how much we have learned in the past 6 days. She's almost a week old! I think we are starting to figure our what she means by different sounds and body language. We've certainly been studying her plenty.

More pictures

For more pictures of new Lydia, Polly and Rob visit our picasa web albums

Lydia Jean Becker day 2

Lydia Jean Becker day 2. The day after her birth she was really tired and slept all day. Then she was of course up and crying most of the night. Day 2 she is much more awake and alert. We gave her a tour of the house and showed her some pictures. We love her so much! I can't believe how much we have learned in just 2 days.

Welcome Lydia Jean

Welcome to the world Lydia Jean Becker. She was born Wednesday April 18th at 10:08PM. 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long. Wow we are totally amazed with this new little girl. I think I could watch her all day. Polly & Lydia are both very healthy and doing great.

Birth Story

APRIL 18, 2007
THE BIRTH

Having never been in labor, I was not sure, but becoming quite suspicious of some odd sensations the night of the 17th. They were not regular contractions, but seemed to continue in the morning and afternoon of the 18th. We had chosen to have our baby at The Birth Center, and I had been seeing two midwives there for all my prenatal care. Around 3pm, we decided to go have things checked out. The midwife, Jeanne said I was 2 cm dilated, and thought with luck the baby would come before midnight, or sometime the next day. We decided to go home, to rest more, since it appeared that it may be a bit of time. By 4:45, things had picked up, and at 5:15 we were back at The Birth Center. I was almost 4 cm. In the soothing home-like environment, I began to prepare for the birth. Jeanne put me in the whirlpool tub which was very relaxing. We had meditation music on, lights off, candles lit and the evening light coming through the cracked blinds. Rob, my mom, and Jeanne all worked hard to keep me comfortable and relaxed. Just after 9, I could tell that it was time to start pushing. With calm, supportive guidance and a lot of hard work, the baby descended perfectly, and arrived at 10:08 pm.
She was immediately put on my chest, and Rob and I were in love with our new daughter. She was found to be in perfect health and very alert. She was 6 lbs, 13.5 oz and stretched to 19 3/4 inches. Dad, Sam and Michael came in to meet her and thus baby Lydia met just a few of the many people who will love her.
Rob and I spent the night with her curled between us, the fire place warming our little baby girl. What an amazing day. Nothing could have prepared me for how wonderful everything would be. We were home by 8:30 the next morning, ready to begin our life as parents.

It's a start

Well, after a long night up with contractions, we got a little sleep this morning. Things have backed off a bit so we are waiting to see what happens. It's some progress and the baby is definitely getting closer! It was very exciting thinking that it was finally time... but it wasn't.

Fruit Fondue?

This morning we had a healthy breakfast of honeydew melon and giant strawberries cut up and dipped in a yogurt & honey mix. It was amazingly tastly.

Speed Week

Our new to us car nicknamed "Murphy" and Polly striking a classic pose. It's something we can both fit into better and will also fit a carseat nicely. Plus it's nice and fast.

Not so high

Another visit to the birth center and we got some good news. The "high" blood pressure isn't really all that high consistently... so we got the OK to have it at the birth center instead of the hospital. Of course they will monitor it and if it gets high during then we will have to move to the hospital.
Polly is relieved. We are both glad.

Almost Go Time

Well, our baby is almost here. It could be any day now. Polly and I are both really excited and ready for her. I'll post pictures and info about her as soon as she comes!