Valentine's Day & Ella's 1st Birthday Party

Paige celebrated her first Valentine's day by attending her friend, Ella's birthday party. To celebrate the occasions, she wore a special Valentine dress with red shoes. Every girl has to have a pair, right?! And while she spent a portion of the party catching up on some much needed zzz's, she had a great time. Happy 1st Birthday Ella!

Four Months!

Paige reached the four month mark last week. We celebrated by all coming down with the flu, which I'm sure we picked up during Paige's visit to the pediatricians' office. She received more vaccinations, which had already caused a fever. Paige weighed 12 lbs 5oz, which is still in the 25th percentile and is steady at 25-50th percentile for length at 24". Her head did finally jump from the 5th percentile to the 25th so I guess she's becoming more proportionate or smarter, one of the two.

While she's still not sleeping well (more to come on this soon), she is learning new things and is soaking in her surroundings. She's trying desperately to roll from her back to belly but just can't figure out what to do with that arm stuck underneath her. Her fingers are constantly in her mouth, which leads to a soaked shirt most of the time. Paige also loves her Daddy's scruffy face on her belly and often laughs, which has to be the sweetest sound that I've ever heard.

These are some of my favorite pictures of Paige yet. Those wide smiles are difficult to catch on camera so I was excited to see that I snapped the photo just in time. And here's one of Paige and I taking a quick snooze together. It's the only way she sleeps well!

Paige's Baptism

Paige was baptised into the Catholic church on January 31st. We traveled to Ft. Wayne so that she could be baptised at St. Joseph Hessen Cassel, my childhood parish and the same church as our wedding. Paige wore the same dress made by her Grandma for my sisters and I over 36 years ago as well as a special bonnet made especially for her also by her very talented Grandma. She looked beautiful and did a great job, taking the event in stride. Maybe she was filled with the Holy Spirit? Thanks to all of our family and friends for making the very long trip for such a short period of time, especially her Godparents, Julianne and Scott. It made the day all the more special for us.

Sleep?

I don't think I mentioned it, but when Paige reached the three month mark, we made the transition from cradle in our room to crib in her nursery. Apparently the transition has been a little tough on Paige because she hasn't slept since (at least it feels like it's been that long). I'm sure many of you know this already, because I vent and solicit tidbits of advice from everyone I know. But, just in case I haven't racked your brain for suggestions yet, I figured a post would reach the largest audience.

Paige has never been much of a napper during the day but we could usually get some solid sleep out of her at night. She had even pulled a few 5 or 6 hour stretches around Christmas. However, for the past four weeks, those stretches have gotten considerably shorter. If we do get her to sleep, which is usually difficult to begin with, she doesn't stay asleep for long. Sometimes it is as little as 15 minutes before we have to start the whole soothing process all over again. Needless to say, this is pretty exhausting for everyone involved (Rosie and Zoe included since they share our room).

The things we've tried seem somewhat humorous when I think of them all. Swaddling vs. not swaddling, light room vs. dark room, crib vs. pack and play, flat on her back vs. propped up in Boppy, rainfall vs. waterfall sound machine. I've even left a worn t-shirt hanging over the end of her crib in hope that the scent will make her feel like I was still there with her. We finally took her to the pediatrician, hoping that he might be able to offer some magic advice that would work instantly. Unfortunately and fortunately, Paige checks out perfectly and all he can suggest is time. While I don't want her to be sick by any means, an easy answer would be a welcome change.

I'm in the process of reading a book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Happy child?! What about ecstatic parent?! So our only plan of attack at this point is to begin some sleep training recommended in the book when we return from Ft. Wayne next week. In the meantime, we're anxiously awaiting Grandma and Grandpa's loving arms and some precious, precious sleep!

Mountain Getaway

To celebrate the long weekend, we headed up to Banner Elk, NC for a mountain getaway with our friends the Iten's, Cappelletty's, and Bailey's. Although I started the trip out by slamming my index finger in the car door and spending the first three hours in the ER, we had a great time hanging out at the cabin, playing games and eating until our stomachs were ready to burst. I've posted a few pictures on our shutterfly site along with a few other random pictures from bath and tummy time.

www.hamfamilyphoto.shutterfly.com

Three Months!

Yes, I just posted her two month photos a couple of days ago because three months quickly snuck up on me. Paige is still doing great. She's smiling up a storm, cooing, and rolling over from her belly to back. Drew likes to joke that someone switched our baby from the little terror that she was a little over a month ago and now we have a cuter model. I happen to think she was cute all along, but she is definitely becoming more fun. She's starting to gain a little personality and I look forward to spending each day with her, waiting to see what she'll do next.

We don't go in for another pediatrician visit until four months so I don't have a weight update for you, but she's still growing!

Paige's First Christmas

This year we decided to spend Christmas with the Ham's for the first time since I've known Drew (guess it was about time). Drew's parents allow us to bring Rosie and Zoe too so we packed up the car, which was quite full but comfortable due to Drew's masterful packing job. The drive to St. Louis is about 12 hours total so in order to break it up, we stopped in Nashville for the night. Paige did great on the drive, sleeping most of the time just like her sisters. We had a wonderful time with family and celebrated Christmas often (I think five times was the final count). Of course Paige was spoiled rotten by both sides of the family! After capping off the trip with some family photos (Christmas gathering #5), we headed back home to warm and sunny NC. We can't wait until next year, when Paige is a little more interested in the whole Christmas scene.

See the explanation for Paige's outfit and more pictures at http://www.hamfamilyphoto.shutterfly.com/.