More Family

We have had a busy and exciting couple of days. Elyssa, Adam's sister, and her boyfriend Zach were in town for the weekend. Elyssa met Audrey before, but it was Zach's first time seeing her. On Friday, we went up to visit our cousins in the mountains again.

This time we hiked Shrine Pass Ridge from Vail Pass that went up to about 12,000 ft with less than 1000 ft of elevation gain and rewards hikers with a magnificent view. Round trip the hike was about 3 miles. A great view for minimal effort. Elyssa and Zach did remarkably well for having arrived from Boston only the day before.

We ate a picnic lunch on top of the ridge where the fat ground squirrels were prepared to climb into your lap to get your crumbs. No fear at all. We waved our arms, made threatening sounds, threw stones. Nothing would scare away these brave squirrels.

After our hike, we went back to Gordon and Ricki's for a bbq where we talked and talked until Audrey was over it.

Saturday, we had other family over to our house for a bbq. I spent most of the day preparing menus and appetizers. We did take a brief break to visit the Avery Brewery tasting room which is a great place to bring microbrewery enthusiasts. Good beer at a great price (free!)

This bbq was the first time I had entertained people in our house since Audrey was born. I'm not sure I could have done a dinner for 10 without Elyssa and Zach holding and playing with Audrey.

Elyssa and Zach went back to Boston on Monday. We had a great weekend with lots of delicious food and fun conversation.

Yesterday I got to entertain for the second time since Audrey was born and the second time in one week. Other cousins, Zach and Morgan were in town. Zach goes to school here and his sister, Morgan, drove out with him and is flying back east today. They are both so calm and comfortable around babies! We had a relaxed evening of eating and playing with Audrey. We determined that Audrey is definitely teething. She drooled all over the front of her dress! And when we gave her the frozen caterpillar toy, she went to town gnawing on it.

It has been so nice seeing all of our family over the last week. I'm afraid the next week looks pale in comparison. We do have some exciting trips planned for the next couple of weekend though. More on that later.

Mountains with the Nutiks

After a difficult sleep night, we spent all day Sunday up in the mountains with our cousins. The weather in Boulder was expected to be up near 100F, so we were thankful for the opportunity to escape the city.

They found a wonderful hike that switchbacked up a mountain across I-70 from the Vail ski resort. We hiked for about 3 hours which is perfect for me in my (still!) post partum condition.

Adam wore Audrey in our Ergo for the first time and he loved it. He said it felt a lot more comfortable to him than the wrap-style baby carriers we had been using. I was worried that the Ergo wouldn't fit him well since he is 6 ft 4 in, but it fits him well.

After our hike we all went over to Vail to enjoy their Arts Festival and Farmer's Market. We found a perfect shady spot to enjoy our picnic lunch, some delicious Colorado peaches, and some Jazz.

We changed Audrey into an adorable red, black, and white sundress that we received as a gift from the Scheiners. Opposite, you can see her in her sundress with cousin Gordon.

The Vail Art Festival was a lot of fun too, but we were getting tired and dehydrated. Although the weather in the mountains is cooler, it was still in the 90s. We saw some landscapes photos that were impressive. We especially liked one of the area near Canyonlands in Southeastern Utah. I have tried photographing this area too and it takes skill and presumably, the right equipment, to capture the crags and canyons in all their splendor.

When the heat and the lack of water caught up with us, we decided to head back to Gordon and Ricki's place for some refreshments.

Tyler, nearly 2, really enjoyed seeing Audrey and learned her name right away. It was wonderful seeing Tyler run around and hearing Tyler using so many words. It was like being able to look into the future. Before we know it Audrey will be big!

After a long day in the mountains we headed back to Boulder. We were a little scared of the nighttime as Audrey hadn't been sleeping well since her 4 month shots. But I was surprised by how easily she fell asleep and I was totally elated when she didn't wake for a feeding until 3:30am. She gave me 5.5 straight hours of sleep.! It had been a long time since I had that many hours of sleep in a row. We should go up to the mountains more often.

Four Months!

Today, Audrey is 4 months old! And 4 months means another trip to the doctors. She wore her little lemon dress that daddy picked out. Once again, Dr. Baumgartner confirms that Audrey is a healthy, happy girl.

She weighs 14 lbs 1 oz.
She is 24 inches long.

She is right about 50th percentile for both height and weight.

Audrey is now sleeping off her shots. She plans to spend the rest of her birthday taking it easy at home.

Stripes

Notice the cute (knit by me) wool longies that Audrey is wearing! I based these on the Little Turtle Knits "the longies pattern," but made a lot of changes, like I knit it with 20 sts/inch instead of 18 sts/inch. I also added cute stripes on the legs (with a jogless jog!) and a little bit more ribbing on the bottom cuff.

Yarn: Cascade 220 in dark green, light green, and hot pink
Gauge: 20 sts/inch
Needles: US 7 and US 5 for ribbing
Pattern: Little Turtle Knits, "the longies pattern" with modifications

I'm the Princess, That's Why!

Here is Audrey with her first ever t-shirt. Not only is it a t-shirt, but it is a t-shirt with a sassy cliche on it. And boy does she look cute! According to the person who gave this shirt to Audrey, they are made by a guy in Boulder who has made a ton of money off of them by making big deals with big companies. This tee is especially adorable because it matches Audrey's newest pink and purple striped wool soaker that you can just catch a glimps of if you look closely.

Audrey's new favorite toy

Audrey's new favorite toy is her Baby Einstein Discover and Play Activity Center, a.k.a. exersaucer. She absolutely loves it. I was skeptical at first. Do we really need another expensive toy that could qualify as a piece of furniture? In all honesty, the answer is no, we don't NEED it. But we decided that it might make life easier.

World Breastfeeding Week

August 1 - 7 is World Breastfeeding Week. We have been exclusively breastfeeding since the beginning and plan on continuing until Audrey wants to quit. I feel lucky to have had no complications and a supportive husband. Audrey latched right on. My milk came in 3 days after I gave birth and we have been gaining weight and producing lovely stool and urine specimens ever since.

Did you know that exclusively breastfed baby's poo doesn't even smell bad! Really, it smells almost sweet.

In honor of this week-long initiative to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, I have put together a list of a few breastfeeding resources:

The National Women's Health Information Center's breastfeeding pages

Kellymom - A website that provides evidence-based information on breastfeeding and other parenting topics.

Dr. Jack Newman's breastfeeding page - I like this page specifically for the latch videos. So much of the first breastfeeding for me and my daughter was done alone. I wasn't sure we were doing it right. Dr. Newman's videos reassured me that we were.

Baby Center's breastfeeding page - Lots of articles on a variety of breastfeeding topics from the basics to dealing with challenges to pumping and storing expressed milk.

50 State Summary of Breastfeeding Laws - The National Conference of State Legislature's website summarizing the state laws (or lack of laws) protecting nursing mothers.

There Was a Litte Girl...

When Audrey's hair is wet, it is so curly! I keep wondering if her hair will get curlier as it gets longer.

There Was a Little Girl
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

Yarn Cakes

Mmm, almost good enough to eat! I got some Cascade 220 to make some pretty woolie diaper covers. I have already made 2 (and I am almost done with a third) that fit Audrey's current size. My next project is going to be to make a pair of longies to fit her in the fall. I got both patterns from Little Turtle Knits.