Favorite Faces

Here is a round-up of Millie's expressions that we've caught on camera!*

milk drunk ~ 2 weeks

"ohhhh" ~ 6 weeks (started from day one!)

grumpy bee ~ 5.5 weeks

tubby face ~ 6.5 weeks

talking to a picture ~ 7 weeks

daydreaming ~ 6.5 weeks

smiling ~ 6 weeks

laughing (and wiggling!) ~ 8 weeks

Bonus photo ~ Here is Sneaky Pete doing his best "it's so hot and I'm so bored and no one will take me for a walk and that crying creature is still in the house making me nervous" face:

*Please Note: out of respect for a girl's privacy, not pictured are "sad baby" and "fury". 

Sleeping Beauty

The last two days have been glorious, as the bunny child has been sleeping all night! Wednesday night we slept 11-7:30 and last night 10-7:30. She usually stirs and roots about twice during that stretch, and we've been able to nurse together without waking up. Once she's latched on she pushes her belly into mine, stretches her pigs out on my upper legs, and we hold hands while she nurses. Absolute heaven I tell you! Oh, and when she's done she rolls back and sighs. Have I mentioned that I love this girl?

With all this rest, she and I have been very productive.  Yesterday, after finding a simple dress tutorial online, we took a trip to the fabric store.  Nana and I went there for the first time last fall when we were planning Millie's baby quilt. It's a small shop, but luckily they have a great selection. I bought material for two dresses (the other one is strawberries!) and finished one today.  It still need buttons, but safety pins work for now.  :)

This is Millie's "look" when she knows I'm going to bend down and kiss her face!

After the kiss: a wet cheek and a smile :)

front   *    back

For the next dress I'm going to try making ties at the shoulders instead of buttons, so it will be reversible. The pattern said 6-12 months but I adjusted it slightly, and it can be a tunic/top after she outgrows it as a dress.  I would really love to learn how to knit so I can make her some wool vests for the fall and winter. Maybe if she keeps sleeping...  

PS: You can click the photos to view them larger.

2 Months and Counting...

Last Wednesday we celebrated Millie's 2 month mark! On May 27th we took her "1 month photo", and on June 27th her 2 month.  Pictured with Millie is the beautiful blue bunny that my friend Diana crocheted for her. She made it before she even knew we were calling her "bunny".  In utero we called her "little goat" for a while and "rotten ralph" briefly.  Since birth Millie has accumulated more nicknames:
Millie-Bea
Bunny (sometimes prefaced by Sweet or Soft)
Bumble Bee
Mill Bug
Boo-Boo
Piglet
Pigger
A Bigger-Pigger

One Month:

Two Months:

Baby Meet n' Greet

Last weekend we drove up to MA for the Baby Meet 'n Greet!

Here is Sotir greeting Millie :)

The Mama/Teta and Xhaxhi/Babi switched the babies for some snuggles!

Teta Annie holding Sotir... M having some sofa pigs

With Teta Nocio (did I spell that right?)

Some guests, after running around in circles with Besnik during a monster game

Not sure who gave this man two babies, but luckily no one would start the car for him to make his planned getaway.

With Teta keri-Ann and cousins Besnik and Sotir! We had such a great visit with the B-man! Love you B!

Millie slept most of the way there and most of the way back.  I never imagined myself nursing a baby in a booth at a McDonald's rest stop, but we made it work.

There are pictures of Grandma and Xhaxhi Joey and Milton cousins on someone else's camera, so hopefully we'll see those soon.  It was so wonderful to meet sweet little Sotir and get a chance to play with Besnik.  Millie received a very special present that we'll post about when we take pictures of it. All in all a great visit! 

Catch-Up

I tried to post this already and it disappeared! The last few weeks have been very busy! No time to type it all up again now, so I'll just post the pictures with captions.

Grandma came to visit for Mama's birthday! We had a great time visiting the herb store and eating cake! Also Gam wanted to show off her tan- everyone was impressed.

We got Millie's social security card in the mail.  "Official Business"... makes a person feel responsible! Now where did we put that...?

We retired the newborn sized diaper covers :(  That was emotional for all, but fun to think the next time we'll see them will be for a little brother or sister! You were much loved, newborn dipes, thanks for keeping the poop in.

We made a trip to New Haven for Jeremy (Brady's cousin) and Crem's wedding. Millie met so many relatives from the West Coast... it was so wonderful to see them and introduce her.  Of course it was extra special for her to meet the Oldfield clan because she is named for Gran (Mildred, or Millie-O!) Here's karen holding M in the hotel room :)

And with Dick... please do not attempt to adjust your computer screen, he really is just that tall ;)

And Uncle Andy! He told Millie all about her cousins Juliana and Emma.  We can't wait for all the girls to meet.

Here is Jeremy playing his guitar during his ceremony. This is the only picture of the wedding that we got- but in my defense I didn't have a lot of free hands for a camera.

Nanc, Nana, and Doog! We tried to tell him babies don't drink wine, but he insisted.

Here's Dave- the proud poppa to Jeremy.

Uncle Andy, Nana, and Nancy during toasts.  Hopefully Grampa Steve has some more wedding photos to pass along soon.

And finally, here's M with her Daddy on Father's Day.  Everyone was pretty hungry, so this is the only picture I got where at least one of them wasn't crying.

We've got some great smiley-baby pictures coming soon!

Belly Love

May Favorites

Here are some of Millie's favorite things from May:

Tubby time! Millie loves tubby time... when we put her in the whale tub she gets a look of awe on her face. She turns her head all around and stays content the whole time. I'm hoping to get the go-ahead from the midwife on Friday (6 week pp) to take baths again, so I can bring Millie in with me.  I've read that babies love having the floating sensation again, so we can't wait to see how she'll react.

Nana and Gaga came to visit from Oregon.  They helped us plant some veggies in the garden and made lots of delicious meals. We'll see them again in a few days for a wedding in CT.

We are really enjoying bed-sharing with Millie.  Right from the beginning she let us know she prefers to sleep on her side, no matter how many times Mama tried to put her to sleep on her back!  Now she even scoots and squirms towards me during the night if she's not close enough. She is a serious snuggler.

We've been taking walks in the park with Sneaky Pete.  She loves being outside and usually falls asleep instantly.

The wrap has been a big hit- so far we've worn it to a farmer's market, a barbeque, a garden store, and for walks.

Naked baby! (this picture has no story... just cuteness)

One of Millie's other favorite things to do is gaze at her custom made artwork. It calms her down instantly.  This was the first thing she ever focused her little eyes on, followed by the bedroom lights.

That's it for now... Millie says it's time for supper pigs!