Callie is 11 weeks old today and is growing and changing more and more each day. She is so alert and engaged now. She is cheeky and playful and smiles so often. She makes my heart ache with love each time I look at her or hear her adorable noises. Here is a photo of my little girl taken today:
She's so big now that she no longer fits into her 0000 clothes anymore and is in her 000. Here is a photo of Callie in her car seat the day we bought her home from hospital and one from yesterday to show how much she's grown (we've also had to adjust the straps in her car seat up to the next level):
Miss Callie has settled very well into a routine and seems to respond very well to it. The routine we are using is based on the Save Our Sleep one by Tizzie Hall. I like it because it lays the routine out for you very simply so its easy for sleep deprived parents to work with! We're not super strict on the routine and adapt it to her as needed, and it seems to be working very well. She is up for the day at 7am and in bed at 7pm with at least 2 sleeps during the day. Some days she would much rather be up with us and that's ok too. The routine just gives us a guide so we know she is getting enough milk and sleep. It also gives us a rough idea how the day will go so we can fit outings and visits into our day. Its all going very well and I am really glad we have implemented it. Callie is also getting very good at self-settling, which is wonderful. She is sleeping amazingly well. She sleeps from 7-10.30pm when she has a dreamfeed (usually she is totally asleep for this one) and then often only gets up once over night. We have even had a few nights (including Sunday night) where she has slept through until 6am or later. Such a good baby.
Callie is still sleeping in her cradle in our room and has her very cute comforter Mizzie the monkey to keep her company. Here is a photo of Callie in her cradle with Mizzie:
So in my last post I mentioned that Callie and I had to have our 6 week checks and that Miss C was having her 6 week immunisations. That all went well.
On Monday 3 March we took her to see Dr K, the paediatrician who looked after her in hospital, for her 6 week check up. Dr K weighed, measured and checked her all over and was happy to report she is doing great. At this appointment she weighed in at 4.76kg and was 56cm long.
On Wednesday 5 March Callie and I went to see Dr B for my check and all is well there too. The C-section scar is healing great and Dr B was happy with how I'm doing. He also told me that if we have number 2 he would be more than happy to care for us. He also said that with a baby as gorgeous as Callie how could we not want another one? How sweet is he?!
Thursday 6 March it was time for Callie's 6 week immunisations. She was such a good baby and only screamed a little and then was quite happy once I feed her. I wasn't so brave and had a bit of a cry. The nurse said that was very normal and gave me a hug. I'm so proud of Callie, she was a star.
The following day we hopped on a plane to Melbourne to go see my Mum and sister. Callie was such a little champ on the plane. She slept the whole way except for a little as we were landing and was fine once I fed her. Our hire car was ready for us and an excellent company called Hire for Baby had fitted our car seat for us. It was such an easy process and we will definitely use them again.
The weekend in Melbourne was very special. Callie got to meet my friend Emma and my extended family and most importantly she got to meet my Mum. Seeing Mum with Callie will forever stay with me. It was so special. Mum was besotted with her and just wanted to give her loads of cuddles. I got some beautiful photos of the two of them together. It was also the most lucid and engaged I had seen Mum in months. It brought tears to my eyes and I am so grateful for those moments seeing the two of them together. Here is a photo of Callie with her Nanna Gwen:
Home again and it took a few days to get Callie settle back into her routine. I think being in a strange place, not sleeping in her own bed and a disrupted routine really messed her around. Thankfully she was back to herself within a few days.
Callie loves being outside. I think she'll be a very outdoorsy little girl as she grows up. She loves going for a walk in the pram. I try to take her and Smudgey-Moo out for a walk each afternoon, weather permitting. It is not easy to walk Smudge and push the pram at the same time, but it makes them both so happy I couldn't not take them both. Here are our girls out for a walk:
I always thought that I would get bored being home with Callie, but nothing could be further from the truth. Each day is full of laughter and new experiences as Callie grows. I love my time with her. We play together, talk, sing, dance, go outside and have cuddles. We read stories and play with Smudge. My days are full and are even better on the weekends when Bio Mum is home too and our whole family is together. I love my little family.
A few weeks ago I bought Callie a swing and man does she love it! She is fascinated by the hinges and the toys hanging from it. She is very happy to just swing away in there, often dozing off. There was a little drama with the Swing, with it not swinging itself, the sensor wasn't working or something. I contacted the company and within 24 hours of me emailing the details and receipt we had a new base for it and now it swings itself perfectly. Here is Callie Boo in her new swing:
Miss Callie went to her first picnic when she was 8 weeks old. I took some burgers and picked Bio Mum up from work and we had a little family picnic down by the lake. It was windy but lovely. Here is Callie at her first picnic:
On 21 March I took Callie to see the Maternal Child Health Nurse for a check up, she was exactly 2 months old. The visit went really well and the nurse was really pleased with how she is doing. At this appointment Callie weighed in at 5.185kg and measured 56.3cm long with a head circumference of 39.3cm! I'm aiming to take her back in this week for another check to make sure she is still growing as she should. She feeds like a champ, but I am a little concerned that maybe towards the end of the day I am not producing enough milk for her as she seems to often get frustrated at her 6pm feed. Maybe she's just getting tired? I don't know. I'll talk to the nurse about it.
Callie has also decided she hates baths again! When she was in hospital and the first few weeks at home she screamed through every bath, but then seemed to start really loving them and only screaming when we got her out. Now she is back to screaming through them and I've got no idea why. I've tried feeding her before the bath, having the heater on so she doesn't get cold and nothing seems to help. I've even tried getting in the bath with her and for the first one it was fine, but the other two times we tried that it wasn't so good. Not sure what else to do. I guess we'll just keep trying different things and hope she starts to enjoy the bath again.
On Saturday 22 March our awesome friend Cass from Plum Photography came over and did a photo shoot for us. It was such a lovely afternoon. We got the photos on Friday last week and they are just beautiful! Cass did such an amazing job. I love them so much and can't wait to get some printed. I'll end this post with a few photos from the shoot (all credit to Plum Photography). I'll hopefully post again soon.
