Blargh

We're dealing with Gwen's first "real" illness; she had a cold a few weeks ago but it really didn't seem to faze her one bit.  This time she seems to have picked up my cold and she's quite unhappy about it; lots of not-quite-cries while being carried around, low-grade fever, nasty congestion, wakes up from sleep panicking because her nose clogged up and she couldn't breathe, etc.  The whimpers are the worst though.  From what I can tell, normal baby cold stuff.  Now we just have to hope Jenni doesn't get it or we'll be in real trouble.

On other news, we just started putting away the newborn clothing and puling out the 0 to 3 month outfits.  Practically 4 months old and just now getting into them.  We think she's a bit over 10 pounds, but the official weight will come on Wednesday's 4-month visit.  To us she seems HUGE.  Yet other people tell us, "oh, mine was that size just after he/she was born!".  Well, let's just say that I'm not counting on her getting a basketball scholarship to go to college on, that's for sure.

She's also just graduated to the 8 ounce bottles; she's been finishing 4 ounces pretty regularly, so we bumped it up to about 5 ounces per feeding now.  As a comparison, she's gone through these bottle sizes so far:

The 2 ounce bottle took us from birth to about 1 month old, but since we only had one the washing became quite tedious.  For the last 3 months she's been eating from the 4 ounce bottles and we've watched her incrementally eat more and more at each feeding.  Quite nice in hindsight since the biggest reason we were stuck in the NICU for so long was because she wouldn't eat.

And now, for the random picture time!

Gwen doesn't fill out half her pink bear coat yet.

My hand for size comparison.

Aunt Sarah and Gwen.  This one was supposed to
go with the last post but I missed it somehow.

Aunts Susi and Sarah with a happy Gwen.

Aunt Susi with unhappy Gwen.

Aunts Emmy and Susi rocking out.  Susi stole my hat. But to be honest,
she looks better in it than I do...

Amy, Grammer Jude's neighbor and lover of all babies.

Pensive baby is pensive.

Starting to get the hang of this sitting thing.

Serious baby is serious.  I actually picked this one because to me it just
doesn't look like Gwen, especially in the full-sized image.  Something
about the angle I think.

Dar?  Or for those of you old enough to remember,
"What you talkin' about, Willis?"

Gwen's current preferred mode of transport.

And now it's time for silly baby sounds and kicks!  Our friend Robert says that Gwen makes duck calls.  You may judge for yourselves.

Very Belated Holidays

Here it is, practically February, and I'm just now getting around to posting some holiday pictures.  I wasn't kidding when I said work's been killing me.  But Gwen's babysiter had to take her own kids to the doctor today and I had to come pick up Gwen, so time for a post!

First off is Christmas with my family. Somehow we didn't get pictures with everybody, but this is what I got:

Grammers Judy

Uncle Mark and Cousin Jack

All the Nagl girls.  Clockwise from left are Susi, Judy, Sarah, Gwen, and Emily

Uncle John

Gwen at her first Mexican restaurant.

Jenni's family came up to visit over New Year's.  Somehow we never got any good pictures of the adults (not kidding - NONE), but there's always children to entertain us:

Megan and Morgan, devouring Judy's lemon tartlets

Madeline

Morgan holding Gwen

All the girls and an unhappy Gwen.  She was very tired that day.

Morgan holding Gwen, with Maddy gently stroking her head.  I don't know where Megan disappeared to...

Madeline was very cute - every time Gwen would start crying (which was quite often), she would bring something to Gwen, we assume to make her feel better. I remember a blanket, a stuffed animal, the boat pictured above, Christmas presents, and several dog toys.

An update past due

It's been quite awhile since the last post, I know.  Work is killing me at the moment, but I'll try to make some posts soon.  Really, I will.  And there's been no super-exciting milestone to speak about; no teething, crawling, solid foods, or prom dates yet.

For now, a brief summary:

Gwen's retinologist says she doesn't need to come back for another appointment.  That sounds like a positive thing, but I can't give any details since I wasn't there.  The normal eye doctor appointment is still on the table.

Just chillin' with dilated eyes

She know who's in charge here.

She likes to ride around on my left shoulder.

And she's plotting behind my back

She's starting to be able to sit upright if her head's supported a little bit.

But it does tire her out a bit

There is tummy time.  Never her favorite activity, but it must be done.

She's still surprised by bright lights.

Hands are the most awesome thing ever.

And they belong in my mouth.  All the time.  Even while eating.

She's met some strangers.  And by strange, I mean:

She's a brave one.  If this guy were holding me, I'd be screaming my head off!

That's enough for now.  The Luke needs sleep.

Three months

Gwen turned three months old at the beginning of this year, and while I posted some of her "new tricks" in the last post I made, I hadn't gotten around to posting those pictures, sorry! This is my first picture post, so wish me luck (and tell me if there's any problems!).

Gwen has also experienced her first cold, since the last blog relating to her. She's passed it to Luke and me as well, but Luke seems to have gotten it worse. Lots of sniffles for Gwen, but she took it gracefully enough and wasn't too fussy.

On to pictures! They're from about two weeks ago or so.



There's the "almost Piper-esque" finger nom. Not quite!




You can see the fascination with the Wildcats.


A few Christmas gifts from her friends Amelia, Natalie and Piper, and her daycare provider Davina.




Just a little size comparing with Luke's finger.

Strange...

I'm an engineer.  I work in a building with a large number of engineers.  In general, we're an odd bunch.  For example, I came into my office to find this:

This is the pear I hadn't eaten from my lunch the day before, velcroed to the bottom edge of my shelf.  What would give somebody the idea to affix random produce onto unlikely surfaces?  The world may never know, and it's probably better off for that.

Tastiness

I know, no posts in forever.  Jenni has the pictures, she'll make a post soonish.

But for now, my most recent culinary creation:

Grilled Fondue Bagelwiches!

Leftover fondue cheese is slightly tricky to work with, you need to reheat it pretty gently or it turns rubbery.  Very long cooking time and you have to flip pretty frequently to keep the bread from burning before the cheese is ready.  But the end result is one of the best grilled cheese sammiches I've ever had.  Nom nom nom.