The Darling Dozen: Week by Week! Eleventh Week

Today is a busy day for my little family. We had the circus in the morning and then Alan's buddy Colton's birthday party in the afternoon. Alan was pretty excited, he woke up with the sun and has yet to stop talking about the circus or the party lol. He could not wait. :) Be sure to check back with us next week to see how it went!

Here is the second to last Darling Dozen post we will do for Anna. *Sniffle* I cannot believe that she is a week away from being twelve weeks old and only a couple weeks from being three months old. How is that these past eleven weeks have gone by so fast? We are so blesses to have her in our life, what a wonderful little girl we have.

Week: Eleventh Week

Weight: 9 pounds and 6 ounces

Height: 24 1/2 inches

Diaper Size: She is still only size one. And they are just HUGE on her still!

Clothing Size: She is still in between size Newborn and size 0-3M. This is probably her last week wearing them too so I went crazy and started putting her in as many of them as I could.on her. I just wanted her to where them all, they are all so cute and tiny!

Eye Color: They are pretty light grayish blue right now. They still have a dark ring around the edge but the inside part of her iris is a very pretty blue. I love them, I think they will lighten up and look alot like mine! Yes!

Hair Color: It is a mixture of red, auburn and blonde right now. Her hair is so long now too, some strands are even longer than my finger! I wanna put it up all the time and put bows in her hair, but Lon wants me to wait until she is a little older. I still sneak a few on her every once and a while lol, but I respect his request. :)

This Week's Developments: Anna's movements are starting to be refined this week. Jerky movements are being given way to more circular movements. She should also start to push with her legs when on her back or belly, a way for her to start crawling. She is already doing this and it amazes me how much she moves around the floor now!

New Achievements this Week: Anna rolled from her back to her belly this week! And she has been moving like crazy, this girl just wants to be able to sit up on her own and walk already! She has also starting this thing where when I sit with her in my lap, sitting up, she will contract her little abs and sit herself up away from me! I think she is almost ready for that Bumbo chair! Exciting! Her movements are more refined and she likes to "help" me prepare to nurse her. Her little hands will find and grab my shirt and pull me to her mouth. She is so smart!

Breastfeeding: Is still going good. And now, pumping is alot better too! I have been able to pump 3-5 ounces on each side now, each time I pump. I no longer am worried about my pumping stash while I'm at work. As for breastfeeding, Anna can now nurse really well, she only needs to eat for about ten minutes on each side. I was worried about her shortened eating at first but researched it and found out that this is common for babies as they get older. They get alot better at getting the milk out of the breast and so it takes way less time for them to eat. Yay! It has made my day open up SO MUCH MORE!! I can now get several things done around the house in a day, rather than just one thing each day. On average, Anna nurses every 2 to 4 hours in the daytime and every 7 to 8 hours at night.

Colic: No colic here! Just babies who fuss when they get put down because they love the energy contact! :)

Differences this Time Around: Her weight is still the biggest difference, other than her being a girl. But she is almost three months, only nine pounds and still in newborn clothes. Alan was three months old, almost fourteen pounds and about to be in 6-9M clothes! Wow that is a five pound difference! That's almost a whole baby!

Sleep: Sleep has been okay this week. Definitely a million times better than last week lol! I have only been sleeping for about five hours a night but I cannot complain. Last week I was only getting an hour or so, if I was lucky, in the hard wooden rocking chair. Now, do not get me wrong, I love my rocking chair. Its my mother-in-law's and she lent it to us when Alan was born. Its entirely wooden and engraved with beautiful decorations. I love to run my fingers along them. It seriously is my favorite piece of furniture in our house! But I hated it last week because even though it is just beautiful, it is very hard and uncomfortable to sleep in. But Anna wanted to sleep on me while being rocked ONLY so I did what I had to. I will say that I am very grateful that she is willing to sleep next to me in her bassinet this week though.

Anna's Personality: This amazing little lady is already so full of life and personality, she reminds me so much of her brother and even me! She is so smart for her age and we always joke that she is two months going on four years old. We swear that she wants to do everything Alan does, she is just so fascinated with him! She is also very particular and picky. I know I say this alot but she likes things to go her way always. I have adjusted myself slightly to make myself more comfortable and completely ticked her off. She is a little princess but we allow her to be right now because really, you cannot spoil a baby.

Places Anna has Been: Children's Clinic, Walmart, Albertson's, Grandma Melanie's house, Grandma Amber's house, Village Inn, 5Star MMA, Pioneer Park, Applebee's, Rimrock Mall, Scheel's, Victoria's Secret, Oasis Waterpark, Geyser Park, North Park, YMCA, Metra Park, Texas Roadhouse, Norm's Island, Pioneer Park, Chuck E. Cheeses, Salad Creations, U-Do Yogurt, Vanity, Rue 21, Maurice's, JCPenney's, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Denny's, Zoo Montana and Altana Federal Credit Union

Bathing: We are still doing the washcloth baths but I have added a regular bath once a week on Sundays. Recently I have been looking online for things to help us with bathing her and her emmense dislike of water. I found this wonderful new thing called Blooming Bath Flowers. They are huge, plush flowers that you stick in you sink to bath your children. And they look amazing! Lots of babies who hate baths in regular baby baths love baths in the Blooming Bath Flower! I am going to look and see what stores these are at and I will do a little post on them sometime next month or so. Here is a pic of one for now though:

Look at how much this little one is enjoying bath time!

Best Moment this Week: Taking Anna to her first circus this morning! She loved all the new things to look at, especially the animals! She did not like the clown though, although he was my favorite! That story to come next week!

How's Mama: I am doing amazing this week! I have been able to get alot done around the house, got my first paycheck since starting work again, got a decent amount of sleep, was able to get out of the house a few times and Lon even bought me a book to read with his paycheck this week! Yeah he bought me Hunger Games. Yes! Pretty good week for me indeed!

How's Big Brother: Alan has done really good this week at school and at home with us. However, he had some issues today at Colton's birthday party. He does not get to see Colton alot anymore and I think it made it hard for him to understand that they were Colton's presents and that he needed to let him open them and then share. But he did good for the most part. He is still my big boy helper, always doing anything I ask him to do. Last week he helped me bake cinnamon rolls and make Kool Aid. I was so proud of him!

How's Daddy: Lon is my trooper. He got sick yesterday and had to stay home from one of his jobs but he was not able to find someone to work for his other job, so he still went in and helped out. He also went into work today even though he still was not feeling well. My amazing husband! Goodness, I love him!