Brylee- Six Weeks Old

Smiley Brylee- that's our daughter's new nickname. Brylee has been smiling in her sleep since day 1 but this week she began interacting with us through smiles. The joy in her sweet face as she laughs and smiles is indescribable. On the other side of that joy is a momma talking in a high pitched voice while dancing and making faces :) Don't you love how those little eyes and nose scrunch up when she smiles. Be still my heart. 

My social butterfly loves our mom and baby events. Because moms get a year of maternity leave in Canada, there is so much for moms and babies that we go to at least one meetup every day. It gives us a chance to get out of the house and meet new people. Brylee really enjoys laying on her blanket and looking at and talking to the babies beside her. It is adorable to see her cooing and smiling at the other children!

Based on our measurements, she weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces and is 22 inches long. Her hair continues to grow. And is actually showing some blonde at the roots. :)

Brylee's least favorite things are bottles, pacifiers and the car seat. The girl won't take a pacifier or bottle for anything. Here are all the pacifiers we've tried. 

We were told in prenatal classes not to try these things until 6 weeks of age so that she didn't have nipple confusion. Believe me, there is no confusion. She knows what she wants and that's all she wants. So be it! I'll take all the bonding I can get, especially now that she is enjoying laying on the floor playing over being held. 

Here's our weekly recap:

-Thursday- Brylee and I attended our first Mom's Morning Out Bible Study at Pineland Baptist Church. Brylee fell asleep during it so I took her to the nursery. I almost cried. This was her first time being without someone in our family. I could still cry today thinking about it. Of course she had no idea I even left her, but I think it will be awhile before I leave her again :). 

-Friday- Two of the sweet girls I met at the Joseph Brant prenatal classes (Brittney and Jess) came over for a play date. This was our first time seeing eachother since we've had our babies! Brittney had Hunter two weeks before Brylee and Jess had Robbie two days before Brylee. Brylee loved playing with Hunter and Robbie! She kept putting her arm over Hunter. It was hilarious!

We decided to sleep train Brylee that night since we had nothing to do on Saturday. She previously had been sleeping in the rock and play and awoke every 2-3 hours to feed. Since birth, she refused to be swaddled or lay on a flat surface. However, I wanted to change that. I knew she wouldn't sleep on a flat surface without being swaddled. I had tried that. She would wake herself by flailing her arms and legs. So, on Friday night, I fed her on one side until she was drowsy, swaddled her, and fed her on the other side. Let me tell you. The girl slept SIX hours, woke up to feed for maybe 5 minutes, slept another SIX hours, fed and then slept two hours. Talk about well rested parents! We couldn't believe it! I kept waking up and checking the time. Luckily, we are still on that schedule today! 

-Saturday- I put together Brylee's high chair and bouncer. I must have been bored :). Clearly she is too small for the bouncer. Brylee did enjoy her first meal with us!  

-Sunday- Brylee took a pacifier for all of 2 seconds. This is the first and only time that has happened.

-Monday- We joined Momstown Burlington and went to our first meet up. Moms sit around and chat for an hour. It was wonderful and I loved meeting new moms! Here is Brylee's cute outfit from L^2 that she wore out. 

-Tuesday- Brylee had her first baton practice! #MiniMe. We also went to our Tuesday group where we learned infant massage. There are so many benefits to infant massage that I was thrilled to learn. Of course Brylee slept through the intro and then woke up screaming because she wanted to eat. She missed out on her first "spa day". 

I also pumped for the first time, and like I mentioned before, she wouldn't take the bottle despite Daddy trying so hard. (Yep, see her screaming in the picture) 

Wednesday- I went to a Momstown class called Baby Basics: Sleep Training. I learned lots of great information for when Brylee turns four months! We also went to Stars and Strollers with Brittney, Hunter, Jess and Robbie. We saw American Hustler. Worst. Movie. Ever. None of us even understood it. Brylee was asleep in her car seat for once so we stopped and saw Daddy at work. Isn't he cute in his overalls he wears in the plant?! :)

Brylee {One Month}

If you don't believe in love at first site (which I didn't previously), have a child. The instant love and connection I felt with Brylee when I first laid eyes on is something that is indescribable. 

Now our sweet Brylee girl is one month old! It's funny how it seems like just yesterday she was born, but how it also feels like she has been a part of our little family forever.

Here are a few stats for you:

-Diaper size 1- We moved from the newborn size at week 3.

-Clothing size 0-3 months- We also moved from newborn clothing at 3 weeks, although Mommy does still squeeze Brylee in a few of her favs! :)

-Head circumference- 38.5 cm

If you haven't already noticed, I'm a list girl. So here you go. In her first month, Brylee:

-lost her umbilical cord

-starting grunting in her sleep

-can follow a toy with her eyes

-can sooth herself when crying (only when she wants to 😊)

-loves laying on the floor and kicking her hands and feet

-pulls Mommy's hair

-sleeps in the rock and play

-loves her swing

-has had two growth spurts (8 days old and one month old)

-loves to eat

-hates the car seat

-loves being outside

-will not sleep on a flat surface

-loves sleeping on Daddy's chest

-hates sleeping ON Mommy but loves sleeping beside her

-rarely sleeps during the day 

-got her nails clipped for the first time (Mommy was too scared the first 3 weeks so she just filed them)

-loves bath time!

-enjoys laying by the window and looking outside

-is knocked out every time I put her in the Baby Bjorn

-loves when we read to her

I can't wait to see how she grows and changes in her second month!

Brylee- Five Weeks Old

What a busy week we've had! Before we get to the week recap, let me tell you about what new things Brylee is doing. On Tuesday we were having play time like normal. I was talking away to Brylee girl. She had her first awake smile! And she smiled two more times after that! I was one happy mommy! My heart just melted. She also started laughing....or what I believe is her laugh. She makes this very high pitched noise when she is talking that I am calling her laugh. I love it! Brylee started grabbing hold of my hair and pulling it (unbeknownst to her, I'm sure!) That will make you want to cut your hair! She is becoming so much more active. She follows toys and bats her hand at them. She loves her play time! 

Time for the weekly recap:

-Thursday- We went to the doctor's office for our one month check up. I can't believe she weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces! That's up exactly 3 pounds from her birth weight. She had also grown TWO inches since birth and is 22 inches long! Wow! Here is a comparison photo from 8 days old and 4 weeks and 1 day old. 

-Friday- The Halton Doula Group has a bi-monthly mommy group called Breastfeeding Cafe. We had a great time meeting other mommies and will definitely be going back! I learned about baby lead weaning and am interested in trying it. 

-Saturday- Happy one month sweet Brylee girl! Learn more about her first month on the one month blog post!

I got a nice morning out at Wal-Mart and Target! I racked up on some Christmas clearance. (It was 90% off!) I also bought Brylee back a little surprise....a red sparkly bow :)

-Sunday- We got to meet baby Caleb, the newest addition to the Pineland Baptust Church family! We also took a family picture since we hadn't taken one since the first week Brylee came home from the hospital!

Sunday night we had an awesome dinner with Wes, Robyn and the boys! Here is a picture of our dessert! Yumm!!

Monday- We had a play date with some of our sweet friends from ROCK! We haven't seen some of them in a while since they graduated from the program so it was great to catch up! I failed to take a photo since Brylee slept most of the time. 

Tuesday- We went to our normal ROCK group meeting where we learned about introducing solids. Oh boy! It will be here before you know it!  

Also, Daddy gave Brylee a bath for the first time! She slept SEVEN hours after that. I know I know. Growth spurt. 

Wednesday- Brylee saw her first movie! Well....kind of. Some mommy friends from ROCK and I went to see Saving Mr. Banks at the Stars and Strollers event where every Wedneady at 1 they turn two theaters into a baby friendly place. They keep the lights dim so you can see to feed, the volume is kept low, there are changing tables in the theaters, and they give moms $2 off the ticket price! Brilliant marketing if you ask me! It was so much fun!

Brylee- Four Weeks Old

I'm not going to start out this weeks post with Brylee stats as I'm going to save those for her big one month post on Saturday! However, I do need to mention that I was incorrect in Brylee's weight last week. You see, earlier that morning, Matt had taken our scale out in the garage to weigh our garbage. Our garbage is picked up twice a month and each time you can only have three 50 pound bags. You can image what a challenge that can be with diapers! Anyways, I brought the scale inside and weight Brylee. I later found out the scale was a little frozen and wasn't reading accurately! I think you will be surprised how much she has grown in  one month! Stay tuned!

Bylee loves:

-Her activity gym- Gaga bought her the activity gym and boy does she love it! She stares at the toys and even hits them with her hands.  We love to see her eyes follow the toys when we move them. Her little legs and arms go to town when the gym plays music!

-Sun bathing- Brylee loves looking out any window, so I often will lay her by the sliding door in our living room. Another plus is that she gets some vitamin D since we can't be outside for too long in this freezing Canadian weather. 

-Dancing with Daddy- When Matt gets home from work, he instantly grabs her and starts to dance with her. If she is wide awake, she just stares and stares. If she is sleepy, it puts her to sleep. If she is crying, it stops her from crying. Those two love each other  so much! (I don't have a recent picture of this, so here is an old one)

-Baby Bjorn- While Brylee no longer likes the Moby Wrap, she loves the Bjorn. I tried it on Sunday and it puts her to sleep faster that you can say "Good night!" We used it during the day several times this week. (Excuse the selfie....and unshowered selfie at that!)

Brylee doesn't love:

- Car seat- I know I posted last week that she now liked it. Nope. Boy was I wrong. We took a trip in the car this week to Michael's and she cried the entire time. Poor girl!

Hiccups- Nothing is changing there. 

Four week recap:

Thursday- We cheered on Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Brylee's face tells you the outcome of the game. 

Saturday- Mom took her first trip out solo. I just wandered and wandered around Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. This was the day Brylee got her activity gym!

Monday- What a morning we had! Here's the story: We were all dressed and ready to go exercise with some mom and baby friends. The car is pulled out of the garage, on and hot. (Our garage is too thin for me to open the door and be able to slide Brylee's carseat in). I put Brylee in her carseat, and I don't even get one arm strap around her arm....And spit up. Projectile spit up. (Okay I am exaggerating but still) Her entire last meal. On her. And everywhere. So I strip her and start the bath. I lay her down on her play mat, run outside, pull the car in the garage, close the garage and hear crunchhhhhh. Yep, closed the garage door on my car. Oh Mondays! The rest of the day we played and relaxed in the comfort of our home. 

Tuesday- I had a big to do list on Tuesday. We started off by a 15 minute car ride to Michael's where Brylee cried the entire time. I fed her in the car in the parking lot and then we shopped. She whined (in the car seat again) until we were checking out which is when she fell asleep. We then headed to ROCK for my weekly mommy group. Brylee slept all of 10 minutes when she ate and quickly fell back asleep. The group was two hours, just so you have an idea of how long she slept. Since she was still asleep, I decided to conquer grocery shopping and a stop at Big Lots. The girl didn't wake up until we got home. She ate another quick meal and was out again for four hours. She must have worn herself out crying on the way to Michaels. 

We also got to see our full newborn session gallery on Tuesday! Oh I can't wait to get them printed and hung up in our house. Robyn did such an amazing job capturing our sweet girl!

Wednesday- Finally at four months I got Brylee's footprints. They don't do that in the hospitals here, hence the stop at Michael's on Tuesday to buy an ink pad. You can tell just how longer her toes are by the massive gap in between the ball of her foot and her toe prints. I still haven't conquered her hand prints because she likes to ball up her fists. I'll have to wait until Daddy is home and Brylee girl is asleep.