Ouch my hair!

Just a quick funny story...I was changing Parker's diaper last night and all of a sudden she started screaming.  I shifted my focus from her booty to her face and saw that she had grabbed a fistful of her own hair and was pulling!  I guess this is one of the downfalls of being an infant with all that hair.

Big Eyes

Parker is really starting to make eye contact when she is awake now. She looks right at you with those big, beautiful eyes. We assume they will stay blue/green/grey, because Greg and I both have light colored eyes.

Our nights are getting better, but the first part of the night is still the toughest. After 10:00, Parker is ready to party. She just wants to be held and gaze around. But once she is asleep, the rest of the night goes pretty smoothly. She'll go 4 or 4.5 hours before wanting to eat again.

We had a family outing to Lowe's yesterday (a nice little Saturday) and Parker did great. Although I don't think home improvement stores are gonna be her thing, she slept the entire time. Today I took her to Wegman's by myself. This was an accomplishment, especially for noon on a Sunday...that place is always packed! Once again, Parker did great. She actually woke up and checked out the place for a little while and then decided to take another snooze.

Go Cards!

Success!

I tried out the bouncy seat again today and Parker finally liked it.

We also had another much needed bath and afterwards I was calling her my little chickadee, look at that fuzzy hair!  (from my phone, not good quality)



Family

Parker had some important visitors last weekend...Grandpa arrived from St. Louis and Aunt Gennie, Uncle Eric, and Cousin Clare from Pittsburgh.

We had dinner at Papa G's house Friday night, where Parker gave Greg and I a true taste of parenthood by spitting up on three consecutive outfits in a five minute time span.  Clare kept Otis in line by riding him around the living room.

Saturday night Gennie made an amazing dinner and everyone came to our house.  Parker was pretty much an angel and napped in her Rock n' Play Sleeper while we ate.

We are still figuring out the secrets to soothing this little girl, but one of the new favorites has been the Baby Bjorn, especially when Daddy is wearing it.





New Experiences

Parker likes her play mat.  It has become our go-to place to put her when she is awake and we are eating dinner.  She looks in the mirror at herself and just hangs out.  So far she is not a lover of the swing or bouncer, so we'll keep giving those a try.

We gave her the first sponge bath this week and it went pretty well.  We saved her hair for last and that was the only part she didn't like. 

Grandma Lang is here visiting this week.  We are having lots of quality time during these rainy few days.  Here is Grandma and Parker watching the Cardinals beat the Brewers!

Home Sweet Home

We got to come home on Thursday morning.

Today we took Parker to her first Pediatrician appointment.  She is 90% in both height and weight and 60% in head size (guess it's not so large after all!)

Otis is getting along great with his little sister.  He is very concerned when she cries and always wants to be near her.  I think he is barking less too...he seems to know he shouldn't wake her.

Tonight we are cheering on the Cardinals and Parker is the newest fan.  She is wearing a onsie from Aunt Annie, even though it doesn't quite fit yet!

More Parker Pictures

I had a fever after the delivery and so both Parker and I needed IVs and antiobiotics.  My IV was removed this morning, but Parker has had some trouble with hers.  They had one in her hand that fell out Tuesday morning, so they put another one in with a little padded board on her arm.  Then this morning that one fell out too, so she came back from the NICU at 6:00 am with an IV in her head!  Poor little thing!  Her blood work has all been good up to this point, as long as that continues, she just has one more dose of antibiotics at 6:00 pm and then the IV can come out.  Otherwise things are great!  She is eating well and seems to have a very sweet & mild temperment.  She has been alert often and likes to listen to our voices.

Papa G

see the bandaged IV on right arm

already Daddy's girl!

is that heartbreaking or what?

Parker Arrives!

Parker Rose Goforth was born on 10/3/11 at 7:45 pm.  She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and is 22 inches long. 

We were scheduled to come to the hospital for an induction on the evening of 10/3, but my water broke at 4:00 am.  We came to the hospital around 6:00 am and things started progressing quickly a couple hours after that.  At 3:00 pm, I started pushing and made good progress until 6:30, but Parker is a big girl (and has the head to match) and we were given the option to use forceps or a c-section.  We went for the C.  Just an hour later we finally had the answer we had waited 41 weeks for, it's a girl!

She seems to be pretty mellow so far and has been very alert, especially after eating. The name Parker is one that we both just really liked, not too prissy, a little different.  Rose is my Mom's middle name.  My Mom reminded me that Parker has the same initials as her before she got married, Patricia Rose Gibler, which I hadn't even thought of!!

More pictures to follow in the next few days...