Family resemblance

People keep saying that AJ looks like her daddy, and I believe them, but mainly because so many of them are saying it. I just don't see a lot of resemblance between babies and adults. But I was editing some photos in Picasa this evening and Don pointed out a baby photo of him that I scanned in awhile back, and sure enough, there is a clear resemblance:




Daddy as a baby



AJ earlier today

I feel like their faces/heads are different shapes, although I'm not sure how old Don was when that photo was taken, which could make a big difference. [ETA: Gramma B. says he was about six months in that photo, so her head may come to more closely approximate his; who knows?] Their hair seems to be almost exactly the same color, though, and they have very similar smiles--except that it doesn't look like AJ got the dimples.

Speaking of hair, people kept commenting on AJ's hair being red when they saw photos, and it definitely looks red in photos, but we didn't think it was ACTUALLY red at all--except that now that we can go outside more, I think it does have pretty strong reddish highlights in natural light. Which is actually similar to my natural color.

I also think AJ got my eyelashes:




I mean, I know I'm her mother, but those ARE exceptionally beautiful baby eyelashes, right?

How much do I love baby dresses?

A LOT.











This outfit is a 3-6 month size (11 weeks today!), but the tag said that meant 12-17 pounds (why can't more baby clothes put poundage on the label?), and AJ is probably about 12 pounds now. Anyway, the dress and bloomers both seem to fit fine. Who knew seersucker was such a popular fabric for babies? I think she has at least three little dress/bloomer sets made out of it.

The strongest baby in the world.

When placed on her back in the motion gym, AJ now quickly rolls onto her side and slowly inches around the mat:



On her tummy, she's holding her head up for longer periods of time:



She's no longer content, usually, to be over a shoulder if she's awake and alert; she likes to sit on our laps and look out. As daddy discovered today, she really likes to do assisted super baby poses:



She's already wearing some 6-month size stuff. (We need to resize all her Fuzzibunz this weekend to accommodate her growing legs, so she's been wearing a lot of disposable diapers this week.) The black onesie here was a gift from her Auntie Niz (whom I really think she resembles in that last photo, at least in her smirk); the legend says "Because I'm awesome." The heart-covered sleeper came from my advisor.

Achievement unlocked: side roll

AJ has been tipping back and forth when placed on her tummy for awhile now, but very suddenly (it seems) she is rolling onto her side from her back. She can't do a full roll-over onto her tummy, but all our baby books indicate that we should stop swaddling her for sleep at this point since it won't be long before she can and swaddling actually increases SIDS risk if they get onto their stomachs (and it does seem like swaddling is starting to piss her off more than anything, plus she yanks her arms out every single night now). Changing her diapers today has been a special challenge, now that she can attempt to roll away from me while I'm fastening them...

I just happened to be taking some iPhone video today while she was playing in the motion gym and got some footage of the side roll. I will also include a less impressive video of her on her tummy solely so that y'all can hear me talk in a semi-normal voice for once. I am starting to believe there really is some kind of biological imperative to talk like an idiot to babies.






The onesie came from a giant pile of dinosaur baby clothes in various sizes that my mom gave us at our Missouri baby shower. It's nice to know we'll always have at least a couple of dino pieces that currently fit her.

Music Monday: Rainbow Connection

While my go-to lullaby remains a folk ballad about sororicide, daddy's signature number is "The Rainbow Connection," which he usually does in a full-on Kermit the Frog voice the first time through (he gives up on that for subsequent performances, because apparently it's hard).

Happy Easter!

I have always been in Easter for the stuffed animals and dying eggs--it should come as no surprise that I love to dye things. As a child I was also definitely into the Easter dresses, and now I get to have them again by proxy:

Sorry about the radio silence.

AJ had her 2-month appointment on Monday, which included her first round of vaccinations, and was super tired/cranky for a few days afterward (and ran a mildly alarming fever all day Tuesday, although it was really only alarming because I am a spaz; our doctor* warned us that many babies do run a fever after immunizations).  So there weren't really any cute pictures to share.

I should note, however, that she is doing an excellent job with the growing.  Her 2-month stats:

Weight: 11 lb, 3 oz

Height: 23"

Head circumference: 15.16"

I mainly pay attention to the WHO growth charts rather than the CDC ones, because AJ is exclusively breastfed, so the WHO growth charts provide a better comparison.  (The nutritional content of breast milk is pretty steady regardless of maternal nutrition, although dehydration reduces supply.)  According to the WHO charts, AJ's percentiles are:

Weight: 42nd %

Height: 68th %

Head Cir.: 53rd %

This is the first time we've had a head circumference measurement.   At birth she was in the 55th percentile for weight, which dropped into the high 30s for the first couple of weeks.  Her weight percentile is now holding steady from when she was a month old (she didn't actually have an appointment, but I did, so I got them to weigh her)--like, exactly; at 9lb, 4oz, she was in the 42nd percentile at one month.

Her height has increased dramatically, though.  At birth she was 18.5" long, which put in her in the 12th percentile, so it seems like a pretty big jump.  Of course, a pre-med friend tells me that she's heard infant height is a poor predictor for adult height, which makes sense to me; I was the tallest kid in my class up through the 4th grade and now look at me.  Students would do double-takes when they spotted me outside of class, wearing flats (my current batch of students has been aware that I was short from the beginning, since when they first met me I was 38 weeks pregnant and not exactly sporting any cute heels).

Most of her 0-3 month clothes now fit perfectly--the 6-month stuff is still too big, but I'm guessing she'll need mostly 6/9-month sizes for the summer.

Here she is a couple of days ago getting ready to go for a walk in her stroller, wearing a Carter's footed sleeper (size 3mo) from my old friend Marcus & his wife, a hat that her Auntie Hannie made (it's the Thursday hat from a complete days of the week set), and a fleece blanket from her Great Aunt Karin:



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*Yes, "our doctor"; he is AJ's pediatrician as well as my GP.  He is the only doctor in the world whom I currently trust.