Happy Halloween!

We've had a whirlwind Halloween, and the day is just beginning.

First, we went to Taylor's in the Ferry Building with our friends Sarah and Olen. Then we dropped by Daddy's work! Poor dad was very busy so we only got a few minutes with him...

Then we stopped by Mommy's work to see her co-workers!

Next up? Grandma Kathy is on her way over RIGHT NOW! We can't wait.

Ten Weeks

Natalie says "Don't worry, even though this Bumbo seat is on the bed instead of on the floor like it should be, Mommy never left my side even for a second!"
Our girl is all of ten weeks, 3 days old. She's learned to do quite a few new things this week - from blowing raspberries, to shrieking, to arching her back off the floor. Today we were playing on the floor on a blanket, and she managed to turn herself ninety degrees during the course of the hour. It was pretty amazing (to me at least)!

She seems to like reading books. She scans the pages fervently when I hold them up for her. The current house favorite is Go, Dog. Go! although our favorites change quite frequently... Reese often joins in during reading time.

Today her new trick was trying to roll over. She can only get as far as her side - that is just fine by me. Now I am frantically trying to get her to do "tummy time" more to improve her neck strength, in case she decides she wants to practice in her crib when she's supposed to be sleeping.

We begin the move process on Thursday. Thankfully Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Geoff are coming to help out. They also will be our very first babysitters, as Tyler and I are attending a wedding of some close friends on Saturday night! I know Natalie will be in very good hands, though I know I will miss her incredibly. She's never been away from Tyler or I for more than fifteen minutes!

And, tomorrow is Halloween so check back for some pictures of our little bunny!!!

Two Months!

Our girl is now two months old. What a ride it's been! She's gone from sleeping all day and night, to sleeping really well at night and poorly during the day, to sleeping passably during the day and poorly at night. Once we move into our ultra-quiet new house, we're hoping for better sleeping patterns. In the meantime we're using the white noise machine liberally, and shooting dirty looks out the window at all the loud trucks and cars. However, I've found that the dirty looks don't really do much...

As you can see, she loves her hands - so much so that she gets incredibly frustrated when her whole fist won't fit into her mouth! I've always loved her adorable, scrunchy little fingers and toes, so I'm glad she is starting to feel the same.

In growth news, she is now too long for most of her 0-3 month clothes! It's so fun to pull out her 3-6 month outfits - but at the same time, I'm sad to have to put her her stylish newborn duds into storage.

Her favorite place besides home? Starbucks, of course (just like Mommy and Daddy). Whenever we walk in, she gets extremely quiet and alert. I don't know if it's the people, or the lighting, or the music... but she just loves it.

Quite a few people have asked how Reese is doing with this whole thing. We seem to have good weeks and bad weeks... somehow we had hoped that the cat would wake us up less at night, since we'd already be up with Natalie, but this has not proven to be the case. If Natalie gets up at 3 a.m., Reese chooses 3:45 (after we've fallen back asleep) as her time to run around meowing. Fun. She sulks sometimes, as shown, but I think she's really starting to come to grips with our new little one.

We're so happy with our little family! It's really fun to see Natalie grow and change. We can't wait to see what this upcoming month has in store.

Pictures

Eight Weeks

What a week we've had!

On Tuesday, Natalie and I enjoyed "Picture Day" at our Mom-and-Baby group. All of the babies are so adorable! Since Natalie is the littlest, she had to sit in the corner so she had extra support sitting up, although she is learning how to hold up her head really well these days.

Then on Saturday, we went to visit our friends the Damrells in Sacramento. We went to a place called Apple Hill, where we got donuts, cider, apple pie, caramel apples... you name it, we bought it. What a way to celebrate fall! We were also really excited to see Jack Damrell for the first time. He's far too wonderful and handsome for words.

And... here is our other big news!

Reese is moving! Well, her humans are moving too... Natalie's wish is being granted and she's getting a backyard of her own. We are moving out near the ocean and couldn't be more excited. We'll have a garage, and a backyard, and Natalie will have a whole room to herself (instead of a glorified closet). Best of all, the house is on a very quiet street, which will help all of the Gibbs family members sleep better. Yay! We move at the end of the month, but have already started packing up everything we can.

In other Natalie news, Tyler and I noticed that she has really been practicing batting at things and trying to grab them this weekend. The look of concentration on her face is so adorable! She gets frustrated after a while, though, and very tired. We can just imagine how hard it must be to learn how to do these things! Tyler and I are conflicted - while we are so excited to see her develop and grow, we know that with each passing day she will be grabbing more and more, and it will be harder and harder to keep her out of things she shouldn't touch. It's a catch-22!

Pregnancy Picture Recap

Just thought I'd post a pregnancy recap...
4 Weeks Pregnant! I sure didn't know what I was in for...

17 Weeks

20 Weeks, with Reese

23 Weeks
27 Weeks

29 Weeks

33 Weeks - oh man was I starting to get swollen. Reese didn't mind though - more to love.

37 Weeks

39 Weeks

Alas, we didn't get a 40 week picture because Natalie decided to come at 39 weeks, 6 days - all 8 lbs 14 oz, and 21.5 inches of her!

7 Weeks + 2 Days - updated with pictures!

Tyler, Natalie, and I had a very busy weekend avoiding the Blue Angels, who were in San Francisco for Fleet Week.

On both Friday and Saturday, we tried out our new stroller in Mill Valley with the Youngs family. Ironically, on Friday Natalie and Anna were dressed in exactly the same bodysuit (the white one from this trio)... On Saturday, Tyler and I dressed Natalie in this outfit in purple. Little did we know that Anna would be dressed in the blue version of the same outfit! And, we have the same stroller as the Youngs family does (the BOB revolution in Orange). The girls were twins all weekend long - although Anna has 5 1/2 months and 10 lbs on Natalie.
Anna and Natalie in matching onesies:

This bouncer ROCKS!!!

Saturday, in matching dress and legging outfits. Tyler and Todd did not coordinate their outfits, sadly.
Natalie says, "Have I mentioned how much I love my paci? And my daddy?"

Then on Sunday we drove to Petaluma to see the Hamners! Renee and Brett welcomed their daughter Lilah almost exactly one month before Natalie was born, and this is the first time we've seen them since we had Natalie. We have some lovely pictures from yesterday, as I'm sure you'll agree:

YES! Natalie pooped so hard that it ricocheted up the back of her diaper and into my lap, ruining my outfit and hers. May I add that this is the second time in a week that she has achieved this feat in a public setting. Luckily Renee was kind enough to loan me a pair of pants so I didn't have to wear a poopy dress for the rest of the day. After the outfit catastrophe, we had a really lovely time relaxing in the warmth of a Petaluma afternoon. Natalie loved looking around the Hamners' back yard, and desperately wants a back yard of her own now.

Appointment Update

Natalie weighs 10 lbs 9 oz and is just under 23 inches long. That puts her in the 70th percentile for weight, the 90th for height, and the 80th for head circumference. She's on track to be tall, fit, and extremely intelligent. Oh, and also kind, generous, loving, and beautiful. Isn't it amazing how much they can tell from six-week measurements?

She also got a whole bunch of immunizations today. It seems to me that it was pretty hard on her. Tyler said that she screamed at the first one in surprise, didn't do anything at all for the second shot, and screamed again at the third as if to say "stop it, for goodness sakes!" - I was crying too hard myself to know exactly what she was doing, to be honest. Afterwards she fell asleep for a few hours, but every now and then she would let out a little wail in her sleep. It was very heartbreaking!

Here is a picture from last Friday afternoon - playtime with Reese and Natalie!