Early to bed...

OK, I mentioned earlier about the whole early bedtime thing. We had been putting her to bed whenever we (read Jenna) went to bed because I wanted to maximize the concurrent sleep! But, we decided that we should establish a bedtime routine and time. We chose a 9-ish bedtime because that is when she started to "meltdown" from the day and throw a fit or 2! She was sleeping so late in the morning, though, I figured if I was ever going to be anywhere at a reasonable hour, that we should move it up some more--plus I'd been reading those books. The last few nights we have put her to bed anywhere between 6 and 7-7:30. She goes right to sleep and sleeps for 4-5 hours before she gets up and then sleeps another 4-5 hours. And, she still takes (relatively) good naps during the day. She has also been much happier during her awake times. I guess she just needs tons of sleep. Hindsight being 20/20, I guess all those times of unhappiness before were her telling me that she was overtired and instead of rocking and consoling her, I should have just put her down and let her get some shut eye! Who knew!!

I imagine that this will all change in a few more days, though, because it seems that when we get one pattern figured out, it changes. I keep hearing that this is how it will be for the rest of eternity, so I guess we should just get used to it!

It's Nathan's 5th Birthday!!


We went to Rock Hill to celebrate our nephew's 5th birthday! Nathan had a great Spider Man cake and got some neat presents.

Jordan is growing more and more every day. I know that's an obvious statement, of course she is growing, but it's crazy to think that just over 11 weeks ago, we didn't even know if she was a girl or a boy!

Back to sleep?

So, around 6 weeks, we decided that Jordan slept better on her tummy. Well, I've been reading a couple of different books on sleep and, of course, they have to advise against tummy sleeping. One of the other things they suggest is an early bedtime, but I digress! Tonight we went to put Jordan to sleep and as usual, she had fallen asleep on my shoulder while burping. So, I laid her down on her tummy and she was fidgety and unhappy. Kenneth suggested putting her on her back. She laid there for a few minutes and without a peep went to sleep! Now, I'm not sure when Kenneth became a parenting guru, but it was a good move! The only downside is that she gets up more frequently because she throws her arms around, etc. (That's why we were putting her on her stomach to begin with.) But, when she did get up and nurse, I could lay/lie (?) her back down and even if she wasn't asleep, she would drift right off. So, we've decided that it's better for her to learn to get herself to sleep now and work on longer periods of sleep later. I am not gonna lie--I miss those 7 hours stints I could get when she was on her stomach, but at least now I don't have to wait until she's comatose on my shoulder to put her back down!

Grammy's birthday

Today is Grammy's birthday (Jordan's great grandmother; my Dad's mother). Today was also Jordan's first day in the nursery at church. She did pretty well with everyone fawning over her and holding her. After church, we met Grammy for lunch at the Ham House and then eventually back to Grammy's to open presents.
Happy Birthday!!

swimming with my Pop

So, my Dad isn't in any of these pictures, but he was there for Jordan's first adventure in the pool. Although the weather wasn't great, it was actually nice for taking her to the pool. It was very overcast (rained on us actually!), so there wasn't too much of a glare or anything. I am pretty sure Jordan liked the water--she likes her bath, so I figured she probably would. She didn't fuss, but she never smiled and splashed around or anything, either. She did end up falling asleep on my shoulder, so I imagine she was at least comfortable!!

After our adventure in the pool at the Hyatt, we walked down to West End for dinner. Jordan did fairly well, but I did have to hold her during dinner to keep her from fussing too badly. That's what I get for keeping her up way past bedtime!

first night out

Well, tonight was monumental as it was the first night that Kenneth and I went out without Jordan. We were invited to dinner and a movie with 3 other couples. Mom and Carroll came over to babysit. After Mom finally just kicked me out of the house, we went to have pizza and to see Four Brothers (violent and bad language, but pretty good!). I called on the way to the movie even though Kenneth didn't understand why. I figure Mom would have told me that everything was fine even if it wasn't, but it was still nice to hear!! About halfway through the movie I decided that I was ready for it to be over so we could go home. Not that the movie wasn't entertaining, but I just thought I would rather be holding my little girl!

Grandma's birthday

Mom's birthday was actually yesterday, but we are celebrating tonight. Carroll made filets--yummy!

Jordan was getting a little cranky towards the end of dinner, so Kenneth took her into the living room to settle down and this is what happened! :)

2 mo. appointment

We had our doctor's appointment this morning. The Christie Group is so great. All of the doctors we've met have been so patient and helpful! Jordan weighs 11 lbs. and is 22 3/4 inches long. Her head is 39 centimeters and all of these measurements are in the 50th percentile for little girls her age. The Dr. was happy with all of this and said that she might even be a little ahead developmentally! He said one of the next milestones is to roll over. We'll see what happens!!

visit with the Manning's

Kenneth's parents came down this afternoon. They came dressed in the appropriate "uniform" for our dogs--jeans. But, they wore sandals, so Ash licked toes as his greeting!

When Jordan wasn't nursing or having her diaper changed, then her Grandma (the one with the accent, as Irma says!) was holding her and singing to her. Jordan still looks more like a Manning than anything else and Kenneth's mom keeps asking me where I was during the pregnancy since there's not much of me showing right now!

Kenneth, his Dad and I watched the NASCAR race at the Brickyard (in high definition!). Dale Jr. had a rough day and "just didn't want to get back in that piece of crap!" after he wrecked on a restart--I thought it was amusing!

first boat trip!

Today was my first day at the lake (Hartwell) and out on the Party Barge!
It was questionable as to whether or not we would find an infant life vest for Jordan so that she would be able to go out on the boat. But, that's what Grandma's and Great Grandma's are for! I called a bunch of places in Greenville to no avail, but a Marine supply place near the lake had a lone infant vest, so it must have been fate!

The jacket is marked for 0-30 lbs. Well, that is quite a range for folks this small--it pretty much swallowed her whole, but she didn't get in the water. Maybe next time we'll get her in the water. She loves her baths (and the lake was about as warm as bath water!), so I'm hoping she'll like the lake and the pool just as much.

Jordan also got to see her Uncle Trey and Aunt Heather. It was great to see them, but we also got to visit with my Grandma before she headed back to sunny Florida.

8 weeks old!

Our "little" girl is apparently making this supply and demand process work to her advantage. She is up to 10 1/2 lbs!! Wow...

I'm getting SO big!

In this picture, Jordan is laying next to a standard size pillow. I realized that it is sometimes difficult to gauge perspective when looking at all these pictures, so I thought comparing her next to something might help.

Her legs are bent, but not very much--she's getting to be such a big girl!

Some of the pictures from this day are a little blurry. We discovered this weekend that her eyelashes are getting longer. I tried to take pictures to show that, but I guess I got a little close! :)