Apple Picking!

Today we went with the Craft family to the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery to pick some apples - it was a perfect 70 degrees. We found the Macintosh apples we were looking for and Josh fell in love with Mutsus. The place we went to, nestled in the Hudson Valley, had wine tasting, a bakery and live music playing outside at their restaurant...we opted to head back home and enjoy a bite on the Crafts' patio.

This was the first time Dagney has ever faced outward in her Bjorn carrier - she loved it.

The boys enjoyed their baby carrying responsibilities for the day. We got left toting around a bushel of apples...

but made the most of it!

Dagney loves her big girl stroller now. She got quite a few compliments and smiles from on-lookers.

Cole found snuggling against his Daddy much more interesting than picking apples.

Dagney took a cat nap on the way home. Notice the cute little sneaks?

She's a little ham now, isn't she?

Still loving those fingers.

Cole and his Mommy Janelle...he's 6 weeks old already!

Back to the Basics

As much as I was totally in love with the new blog look (borderline obsessive), I had quite a few complaints that it was difficult to read and (the worst) was that Dagney's godmother wasn't getting whole pictures shown on her computer -and we definitely can't have that. So I'm back to the old blog template with some different colors and maybe I'll try again some other time. After all, the blog isn't for us as much as it is for everyone we love to see the baby and what she, and we, are up to!

Daddy's Home!

Josh went to Long Island yesterday for the closure of his client's three month contract (which went quite well he tells me). In the meantime, Ohma spent the night, helping me with the baby and then spending the day with her. In preparation for Josh's return the baby had fun in the tub after rolling around on her blankie (she is quite the "roller" at this point...tummy to back and vice versa....rolling her way under the coffee table...I'll have to capture it on video for everyone).

Fresh and clean for my Daddy!

There's nothing like Daddy's strong arms and big smile! (mommy happens to agree)

This One's For You, Aunt Kara!

"Hey Dagney, want to jump in your jumperoo?"...

"Don't threaten me with a good time!!"

All Wrapped Up

Here's a cute pic of Dagney wrapped up in a blankie especially made for her by Josh's Great- Aunt Rene (well, Great-Aunt I believe...she is Josh's Dad's Aunt) in Minnesota. Correct me if I'm wrong Dad and Mel! Josh told me that he had a blankie from his Aunt Rene when he was little, and wore it out so that she had to make him another! She also made us a gorgeous quilt to commemorate our wedding day.

Jumpercize

Here's a cute clip of Dagney in the Jumperoo (and mommy clearly enjoying the show). We had another nice weekend together after the immunization drama...Dagney's back on schedule and has been in a great mood! We spent today watching the Vikes play while Dagney entertained us in the Jumperoo and I made a big pot of chili. Next weekend it's apple picking with our friends...we originally planned to go this weekend, but I wanted to make sure Dagney got lots of rest for the upcoming week.

What Were You So Worried About?

Update

Baby Dagney is doing much better...I don't know if it was the Tylenol, Ohma and Ohpa magic or a nice combination, but she was in much better spirits this afternoon. She took a long stroll with Ohma for some fresh air and had quite a few naps. Extra fussiness let us know when it was time for her next dose of medicine. After a nice bath tonight I checked her temperature...101.8...and she fell asleep at 7:30 after her bottle. Let's hope she sleeps good tonight so mommy and daddy sleep good, too. Thanks for your help Ohma and Ohpa....especially for strong-arming me into a nap that lasted 2 1/2 hours (longer than I slept last night!). Night all.

A Mom Must-Read

This post, from a favorite blog, cheered me up today:
http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2006/07/too-young-for-chutes-and-ladders-too.html
I don't know about your computer, but Mom-101 takes forever to load on mine!
Baby update: after some morning diarrhea and projectile vomit, she is sleeping (not necessarily soundly) but sleeping nonetheless.

Poor, Sick Baby

Last night I checked on the baby before heading to bed...she seemed restless as she laid in her crib and it made me pace around a bit and periodically lean into the crib to listen to her breathing. Thinking it would be smart to try and get some sleep for work (but knowing I'd spoon the baby monitor all night), no sooner did my head hit the pillow that I heard her start to cry. It wasn't her normal middle of the night "I'm hungry" cry...it was more of a sad little mewling that told me something was definitely wrong. Sweet little baby had a fever of 102.8. We gave her a dose of Tylenol and called the pediatrician. He assured us that it was not uncommon after immunizations for a baby to get a fever up to 48 hours after. His advice was Tylenol every 4 hours and a lukewarm bath. The bath definitely calmed her down, and after some help from Josh we were able to get her back to bed at 1 a.m. Then she was back up at 4 and another dose of Tylenol later she fell asleep as I snuggled her in the rocker. It's about 6 am and I hardly slept a wink...I'll be home with her today to give her lots of lovies and make sure everything is okay...I even placed a call to Ohma and Ohpa this morning and they'll be here in a couple of hours for some "anxious mommy" support. There's nothing quite as heartbreaking as a sad little baby cry. I'm learning that all the emotions of motherhood can truly be overwhelming - especially this feeling of wishing you could suffer for them.

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Baby Dagney!

It's 10 o'clock at night, but I just couldn't wait to blog. I just got home from Open House at my school and didn't get to spend too much time with Dagney today, but Kim took some pictures throughout the day for me to post, and after work I took her for her 4 month checkup (unfortunately getting shots is not the way I'd choose for her to celebrate her 4 month birthday). Thankfully Josh met us at the pediatrician's office and we were able to keep eachother calm as our little one endured a painful couple of minutes. The great news is that Dagney's 14 lbs, 8 3/4 ounces and is in the 90th percentile for her height, which is a whopping 25 1/2 inches. We got a green light to try some solids if we wish, but our doctor said that it's really not necessary right now as she's moving along schedule without them. And because there's some family history of food allergies, he felt we might want to hold off a bit. He said everything else looked and sounded great!

Off to Kims!

Jonny gives Dagney some love.

Squeals of delight for Kim!

Ta Da!

This is too sweet...

Charlie and baby....he just loves little Dagney.

A Great September Weekend

We had a lot of fun this weekend...relaxing at home, hanging out with friends, baking oatmeal scotchies, visiting with Ohma and Ohpa while we cheered on the Vikings and, to top it all off, baby and mommy took a walk to enjoy the crisp evening.

We love snuggling on the couch in our jammies.
Ohma and Ohpa bought Dagney a jumperoo for her 4-month birthday - and she loves it! Thanks Ohma and Ohpa!

She was having so much fun I couldn't get her to look up for the camera!

Ohma had been waiting all week for these baby snuggles.

Oh alright...just a quick shot...

Ohhhhh look what we just missed!

Definitely bundle-me-up weather now.

Good Morning!

A Room With A View

I just love when Daddy burps Dagney in the morning and she suddenly realizes I'm sitting in the kitchen looking right at her - what a smile I get to start my day! This is the end of our first full week of me being back at work. Each day Dagney seems to get more and more used to her new surroundings at Kim's house...she's napping better there, which is something I was worrying about a lot, and doing well with a nighttime routine. My friend Kara carpooled with us today and got to meet Kim and her family when we picked up Dagney after work. Kara (always the speech therapist) commented that Kim's children are great social and language models for Dagney. As difficult as the last 2 weeks have been for me emotionally - I feel so grateful that Dagney gets to spend the day in a loving home while I still get to help many little ones overcome obstacles they face learning and participating in school. Now I'm going to spend a little time with my husband and baby and appreciate every second.

Operator Error

And the shot I was looking for:

at least I learned how to use the video mode on my camera!

Sunday Morning Fun

The morning started off with some family-style snuggling in bed and turned into family floor time. Now that she's napping soundly upstairs I have a chance to blog. The Bunkers household has gone through some major changes over the past week with mommy returning to work. We have a very different morning routine, which has begun to turn our nighttime into a routine as well. We never had to worry about when we went to bed before! Now Dagney is going to sleep about 8 p.m. and we have a before-bed ritual of changing into pjs, reading a few favorite books like Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a warm bottle and some gentle bouncing on the blue ball if she needs a little prompting to get nice and drowsy before I lay her down in her crib. And that's something relatively new, too. A couple of weeks ago we started transitioning Dagney into her crib at night and not just for naps. While I really miss her right next to us in the co-sleeper I admittedly sleep much better when she's in her own crib. Next to me every rustle used to wake me up, but now I hear her on the monitor only if she wakes up. This leaves me in better shape for work in the morning...even if she has a middle of the night feeding, which she seems to slowly be phasing out. Friday night she slept from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. without one, but last night she wanted a feeding at 2 a.m. I don't mind it as it just means extra time with her for now.

Great shot, daddy!

I get some awesome giggles in this position - Dagney thinks it's great fun "looking down" on mommy.

Nibbling on Baby Einstein blocks...a gift from Granny Mel.

Dagney has gotten good at reaching, grasping and manipulating objects with her hands. Of course everything makes it into her mouth, which is quite cute, especially when it's your hand being "devoured".

She has been successful in rolling over from her tummy...but not consistently and certainly not for the camera! Lately I'll find her awake after her nap on her back when she started off on her tummy. She's also desperate to roll from her back to her tummy but for now only manages to make it onto her side.

"Who wants to play?"

All In A Day's Work

Get over here you little bugger!

Oooh almost had ya.....

Gotcha!

Aren't you proud mom?

School Day 3

Well it's day 3 of the new school year and our whole schedule has changed! Daddy takes care of Dagney when she wakes up and mommy gets ready for work. I heard all this laughing and fun going on downstairs that I had to investigate and take a picture of the dynamic duo. I am truly going to appreciate the weekend when it gets here!

Baby Likes Bumbo

Since Daddy went to visit friends in Virginia, Dagney and I snuggled in bed this morning for a long time before getting up to play and relax. Over the past few days she has been enjoying the new Bumbo seat we bought her. You might also have noticed Freddy, below, in lots of pictures with her lately...he happens to be her favorite toy who always elicits a smile in the morning...but in these pictures Dagney looks like she's down to business with inspecting all his different textures and features!

Can you just let me mouth my toys in peace without putting that camera in my face every time??

The End To A Great Weekend

Dagney and I went to spend the day with Aunt Jenny who is now 23 weeks pregnant! She has definitely "popped" and looks beautiful. Dagney made a new friend and I got a pep talk from my best friend about returning to work on Tuesday. I'm sure she's still going to get a teary phone call from me on Tuesday morning and I'm also sure she expects it.

Dagney was all smiles for Aunt Jenny.

Dagney meets Gonzo who is soon to become her biggest fan.

The beauty of pregnancy.

Just hanging out.

Dagney got lots of kitty lovies. Funny how our own 3 cats want nothing to do with her!