'Kini Part Duex

My friend Joy had a birthday party at the pool in her complex so Elle decided that she was going to sport her other bathing attire. She went for the 'kini with the dragonflies on it and the matching shades!

She loved the water!

Check out the size of that belly... Sombody needs to lay off the Oreos!

'sup? I'm just chillin' in my 'kini, showing off my hot bod!

Oh Cabbage...How I love thee!

Yes, I like a good cabbage roll, cabbage in soup, even steamed cabbage with some butter can be a tasty side dish. I never thought I'd be putting cabbage in MY BRA!

Some women say breastfeeding is the best thing in the world! While I agree, and at times it is such an amazing bonding experience, sometimes it is not so fun.

Like when I get plugged ducts...once a week!!

I finally could not take it anymore. I called the lactation nurse to get some advice.

Cabbage is what she told me.

Yep, cabbage. Go ahead, just call me cabbage boob!

When I have a plugged duct after feeding I have to put cabbage in my bra with an ice pack. I guess it is supposed to dry you up.

I've done it twice now; it's a little stinky but seems to do the job!!

Oh cabbage...how I love thee!

Startin' Her Young...

Cole is hoping to have his daughter play xBox with him any day now. Now that she can sit in her Bumbo seat and hold her head up, she has nearly all the skills she needs to be an xBox player. She even started using her hands with a purpose, so he's hoping she can work the buttons on the controller.

Have no fear though...we have a pink controller so she will look stylish, and feel girly while playing Tiger Woods 2009! Way too much fun!

"Seriously Dad...what am I supposed to do with this thing?"

Our Little Spinner

We don't swaddle Elle any more when we put her to sleep. One night I decided that I wasn't going to swaddle her, and she slept for 12 hours. That ended the swaddling pronto! We just lay her in her crib and she falls asleep.

If you remember the post "Our little Houdini" I wrote about how Elle came out of her swaddle, off the sleep positioner and ended up perpendicular to the sleep positioner.

Well, this morning I woke up to this:

The ends of the crib are to the left and right in this picture. She just decided she wanted to spin around I guess!! I'm hoping she doesn't keep this up as it might rub off the little bit of hair she has on the back of her head, excentuating her male patterned baldness.

Football Season is Approaching...

Touchdown!!

Elle is getting ready for football season. Even in her sleep. She must be dreaming of her dad teaching her the names of key players, pizza, and Superbowl parties! Let the games begin!

Our First Ferry Ride

Joy, Whitney, and I had a fun-filled day last week. We decided to walk from my house down to the catch the Coronado Ferry, have lunch in Coronado, take the ferry back, and walk back to my house. This turned out to be a feat! We met at my place at 11am...and returned at 4pm. But we had a blast!

I brought Elle with me, Joy brought her son Titus, and Whitney brought her little 12 week old baby (still in her tummy) .

The walk down to catch the ferry was fun. At the end though, we had to hustle as we almost missed the ferry.

Lunch was tasty. Dessert was delicious. The ferry ride back was fun too!

The walk home...let's just say it is all uphill. We powered through and had a good time!

Elle really needed a nap, and eventually fell asleep on the ferry ride back...

Whitney, Joy and Titus on our ride back to shore...

Screen on the Green

Every year the San Diego Museum of Art at Balboa Park does "Screen on the Green" where they show movies on a big screen and everyone sits on the lawn with picnics and friends and enjoys the movie.

Last night was this summer's first Screen on the Green. Because Cole came back from Vegas, and I had to pick him up, Elle and I couldn't stay for the movie last night.

Coach, Elle and I walked over to the park and hung out for a little bit with our friends who were having their picnic.

Here's a picture of Elle hanging out on the picnic blanket:

Yep, you guessed it...thumb in mouth!

Just chillin' on the blanket!

...and So it has Begun...

Elle and I were hanging out the other day. She was laying on the couch, I was hovering above her talking and singing to her. It was a glorious, bright, and sunny day. All was right with the world and here's the picture to prove it:

Then the inevitable happened.

Yes, you guessed it, my sweet little girl put her thumb in her mouth.

It stayed there.

She was sucking on it.

Like she meant it!

I mean the pacifier is so close!! Reach out and grab it girl!

It's really cute now; but it probably won't be so cute when she has buck teeth at the age of 2. (Do they get buck teeth that early?? I should ask my mom, since I used to be called 'bucky')

The the other bummer...it's her right hand...Come on girl...use your left hand like your mom!

So...I was trying to be sneaky...

Yeah,

So I thought I could plan out blog posts; start a bunch one night, just add pictures, then write the text each day and post them at my leisure, you know, spread 'em out.

Little did I know that all the posts would be date and time stamped with the date that I started working on them.

Bummer.

So I've been found out.

I'm a planner.

Always trying to find the most efficient use of my time.

Well, I guess I'll just have to plan them out with pen and paper.

Here's a cute picture to leave you with:

A Morning Girl

Elle sleeps 12 hours or more at night these days. Amazing!! I guess she takes after both her dad and me. She's just a girl who needs her sleep. There is nothing better than going in to her room in the morning after she has woken up to get her.

This is what you see...

This is before she saw me hovering above her crib

She spots me...

...and she realizes it is her mom who loves her...

One Saucy Little Girl

Elle has a few inappropriate habits she has had since birth:

• Her middle finger is usually flipping somebody off
• She has not yet learned to cross her legs like a lady (they are always spread wide open)
• She burps
• When she uses the bathroom in her diaper, it is not very quiet (it would wake a hibernating bear)

...and now this:

What are we going to do when she is a teenager???

Swing Fun and the Flying Bear

Elle's swing has a bear that hangs down to entertain the child. This bear has wings. I don't know that I've ever seen a bear with wings...but hey, we want our kids to be imaginative don't we??

A flying bear though?

It seems to get Elle's attention. I even caught her talking to the bear the other day.

"Look at the wings on that bear"

"So, tell me bear, how DID you grow those wings?"

Tummy Time...We're trying...

"Mom, I'm just going to eat my blanket if you keep putting me on my tummy! I've had enough"

So... my daughter HATES tummy time! It is recommended that you lay your child on her tummy for 5 minutes 3 times a day at least. I'm lucky if she lasts 1 minute before crying!!

How is this girl ever going to develop her neck muscles? We shall see!!

But she does look sweet on her tummy!

"I told you Mom...I HATE this...I know we don't say 'hate', but that is how I feel!"

"Okay, I give..."

More Daddy Torture

One of the first things my brother said to Cole, I think right after, "Congratulations, you're a dad!" was, "I've been anxious to see if you would torment your daughter in the same way you tormented my kids at a very young age!" Taylor was pleased to see that Cole did not single out his nieces, but treats all children equally.

These pictures were taken when Elle was probably about 4-6 weeks old I'm guessing, based on the fact that she is sleeping through this entire torture session.

Face lift at such a young age...

The furrowed brow...

Our little Asian baby...

Chubby!

Crazy Thoughts

"Mom...you're crazy, and you are scaring me!!"

I don't know if it is the fact that I'm not working right now, the post-baby hormones, perhaps the hormones in my birth-control (yep, back on 'em), or just because I have the best baby in the world...but I've had some crazy thoughts lately.

Yes...I want another baby!

Slap! slap! I know, Elle is ONLY 3 months old, how could I be thinking these thoughts.

I keep seeing friends on Facebook with their hospital pictures, and their cute tiny new babies, and I miss it already! Crazy!

But here...Look at the difference:

A few days old...probably 6lbs or less

And now today...probably 12lbs...in the same shirt (premie size)

Don't worry....my plan is to wait until Elle is 2 before trying for #2...hopefully I can hold out that long!

Growing fast...

Elle is officially wearing her 0-3 month clothes these days. She wore her premie and newborn size clothes up until 3 weeks ago, but I have officially removed all of the tiny clothes from her drawers and replaced them with 0-3 and 3-6 month sized clothes. She is growing so fast now. This morning she hopped on the scale and was 12lbs!

This change in size has opened up her wardrobe significantly. Most of the clothes that Elle wears have come from her cousins Morgan and Marly. They have such cute clothes so I love the hand me downs! The shirt that she is wearing in this pictures Amy gave me at my baby shower in Colorado. I couldn't resist putting the hood on her.

When I was pregnant people would say, "They grow up so fast, enjoy every minute!" of course I replied with something like, "Yeah, I know." They weren't lyin'!! I almost forget what she looked like when she was a mere 5lb 15oz. She's still a doll baby and I'm enjoying every minute of my time with her!

Bumbo

The Bumbo seat has made its appearance in the Petersen household. The package says that if the kid can hold her head up...you are good to go.

Well... here's what Elle thought of the Bumbo at first sit:

"Really? Really? Seriously Mom...why did you put me in this thing? I like it better when you just hold me!"

Then she got into it.."Pound it girl!!"

"Oh mom...I'm falling!" Maybe she can't quite hold her head up well enough.

Now there's a happy girl!!

Elle's Been a Busy Girl...

In the first three months of Elle's life she has:

Been to:

Three weddings

A funeral

A concert

A baseball game

And...

Dipped her feet in two oceans (Pacific, Atlantic)

Taken a trip in an airplane

Gone swimming in a pool

Seen fireworks

Been in four states

Road tripped twice

And sleeps through the night...12+ hours!!

Postpartum Depression... Part Deux

So...

Remember I posted a while ago about Coach and her post-partum depression? Yeah, well, she's still got it.

I was in Orlando, Cole came home from work, and here's what he saw..

Just laying in the planter

Please Dad...just let me stay here

What? I'm allowed to be sad...

Elle's First 4th of July

This Fourth of July weekend the whole family was sick. I came back from Orlando with a cold, Elle was stuffy, Cole got sick, and even my dad was sick. My mom and dad came down for the weekend to see all their grandchildren and also to dedicate Elle on Sunday the 5th.

We all went to Mission Beach where Amy (sis-in-law) and her family go every year. It was fun to see my nieces Morgan and Marly as well as Amy's family. We were sad that Taylor couldn't come this year....Cole said he had a "Taylor shaped hole in his heart." I think this sadness mixed with the sickness is what led to this picture. Coach is just showing her empathy. She's so loyal!

We headed out the beach sickness and all. Elle needed to touch her toes in the Pacific Ocean, since she had done the same a week before in the Atlantic!

Here goes...

...and her feet touch...

...not so happy with the temperature of the water...

...much better on the beach, under the umbrella, with my hoodie on!!

We hung out on the beach for a little while, ate some dinner with the gang and then headed home. Mom and Dad went to bed as soon as we got home, but Cole, Elle, and I had to see some fireworks!

Bassam, the owner of the cafe in the bottom of our building has a key to the roof; so Cole, Elle, Daniel, Kate, Patrick, Maddy, Carrie, Bassam and I headed up to the roof to see the show! Or I should say showS.

We counted 11 different fireworks displays from the roof. We saw everything from Eastlake to UTC. It was pretty cool. Here are a couple pictures of the 'works.

There were actually three displays that were synchronized....but the iPhone could only get two in the picture...

The greenish glow to my face is from Daniel and Patrick holding up their phones to shed some light so the picture would turn out...don't know why we didn't just go down and get the camera...

Sickness and all we had a great 4th of July! Fun was had by all!!

Daddy Torture

It is nice when the husband volunteers to change, dress, bath, hold, or generally take care of the baby. Well....

So I thought.

As I was dumping Cole's photos from his phone onto the computer I saw these pictures:

Poor girl... Look at her little foot sticking out the bottom...