Candid Grace pics

The great thing about babies is they're super easy to photograph because they don't really move. The bad thing is their expressions change really quickly so catching the cute ones is quite a challenge. Here are a few favorite candid shot of our little girl starting with the most recent (3 week old Grace) and moving to older favorites I have been slow in posting.

Flower power:

First tummy time:

I started tummy time at three weeks with Grace. Archie used to hate tummy time so I need to be vigilant about getting Grace accustomed to it.

Learning to self soothe:

Grace loves to be swaddled. Since newborns don't have much control over their limbs, she tends to get herself hyper by aimlessly slinging them around. Being a papoose helps her calm down but hasn't quite prevented her personal fussy time, which often takes place sometime between 8-10 p.m.

Her Aunt Bonnie gave her this cozy, crocheted blanket. Thanks!
Grace also really loves this pink elephant her Hamilton cousins gave her. Archie loves it, too. If you pull the tail, it plays music. I think that's how Archie learned the word "pull." Quite educational :)

This was made the morning Hunt's parents left to catch their flight back home. Grace wanted to make sure she had good memories of Grandma so she (at two weeks) lifted her head so she could remember the details of her face.

Nothing like a good nap on Grandma:

The Return of the Guys!

After a five day four night separation (Hunt's and my longest in going on six years), the guys returned. They got home around midnight, and Archie was like a little zombie. When he first saw me, he was speechless and remained so quite a while. He let me hold him but, as Hunter said, had so many emotions coursing through his toddler self, he didn't know how to react.

Not knowing if they would be hungry, I had a special snack waiting for both Archie and his dad.

(Goldfish for Archie, cookies for his dad.)

Doctor visit results: Wait on surgery. The doctor had Hunt give Archie a three day course of very special eye drops, which prevent the eye from focusing and thereby allow him to get better measurements. (These are powerful drops as nausea can be a side effect - Archie threw up one night.) The doctor felt like Archie has been being under corrected and changed his glasses prescription from 1.50 to 6.00. Big jump! We go back in two months to see if it's working. If so, we may keep on that track for awhile and either not do the surgery or just do it to correct small defects. Otherwise, I guess we might go on and do it. Because of the drops, Archie might not be able to focus for four more days. Poor little guy!

We are planning to head home late Saturday night. Our Internet might be unreliable for awhile so I'll schedule some picture posts to publish while we're getting settled.

Grace takes a bath!

Here's a chronological photo series of Grace taking a bath! When I used to bathe infant Archie, I thought it was the most complicated thing in the world. Hunt and I would call his Grandparents Startups in for help every morning. Now, I'm a little more speedy and can bathe her by myself! Amazing!

Getting ready! Getting all the supplies together still takes me awhile but I've learned to keep things in the same place nearby the bathing location! What are the supplies needed? Two towels (preferably hoodies), bathing mat, tub, sterile cotton for eyes and saline, cotton for cleaning any poo-poo before bathing, baby soap/shampoo or Top-to-Toe wash, washcloth, clean clothes, diaper, blanket...so much!

Archie wanted to check out the bathing process. We start with eye cleaning followed by the shampoo:

Next, we put her in the first hoodie towel to dry her hair before undressing her and taking off her diaper.

(These pics are a little old. Her cord dropped off at 13 days if you were wondering...)

Time to suds up:

The hospital taught me to put them in the water on both tummy and back. I love this next pic!

Time to dry off:

What I've been learning in my exciting solitary Bangkok life with a newborn

The guys are fine in Hong Kong. (Who wouldn't be with access to California Pizza Kitchen?)

The baby is fine, too. Actually, she's doing fabulous! She's gone over six hours between feedings four of the past six nights. Way to go for a three week old!

What am I doing?
Trying to use my time productively.
Is it working?
Maybe.

So far today, I've learned some interesting things:
First, I've found a blog I absolutely love: Chronicles of a Babywise Mom.
All you Babywise Mom friends, check it out. She always has just the article I need. I especially like it because she incorporates great tips from many sources other than Babywise.

Since Grace's nighttime sleep started extending so long, I've noticed she often wakes early (and fussy) from daytime naps. While reading the Babywise blog, it hit me. I've been overemphasizing daytime wake time to stimulate nighttime sleep. Since sleep begets sleep, I've cut her wake times down today and she's done much better with napping longer. (We'll see if she still does her wonderful sleep job tonight, but I'm feeling positive.)

Second, I've gotten totally into Baby Massage. Grace loves it! She just kind of oogles and googles and you can see her relaxing. (Oh the stresses of being a newborn!) Recently, one of the malls was doing free baby massage. We tried it out there, and I started reading up on techniques for doing it at home. I found this great guide at parents.com, and I've been using regular baby oil!

My exciting solitary life in Bangkok with a newborn

Here's the latest and greatest report on Darling #1's eyes: He's really noticeably cross-eyed. OK, we all already knew that. Yesterday morning at 8 a.m., Archie and Daddy set off on a great adventure - their first trip to Hong Kong while my Gracie Girl and I stayed behind so newborns can do what newborns like to do.

Eating: (no pic)
Crying:
Sleeping:
Speaking of which, I love how they can go from screaming on their blanket full tilt to sound asleep in the blink of an eye:

Back to the Archie update.
We KNEW one of two things would happen:
1. The doctor would want to do surgery immediately and the girls would fly out to HK to join the guys for the big event.
2. The doctor would want to do surgery later and the guys would come home and we would all depart for home tomorrow as planned.

Guess what? We got the unimagined Option #3.
-The doctor wants to do a 3-day course of eye drops and another exam on Thursday.

After looking at plane schedules and ticket prices, Grace and I decided to stay in Bangkok so newborns can continue doing what newborns like to do (see above) and Mama can save the hassle of international traveling.

This brings me to my very exciting life in Bangkok with a newborn. Yesterday, I went to church and swapped blinds with our duplex neighbor (fun stuff). Today, I took Grace to the hospital for her one month checkup and shot. The doc said her weight gain was perfect, which helped her self-esteem greatly since he'd indicated at her six day visit she was getting a little porky and needed to pull away from the trough. (We assured her she had a perfect baby body.)

I will admit I've enjoyed the peace and quiet of life away from a toddler's demands and uninterrupted Mama/baby time, but I think I'm starting to miss Hunt and Archie. The only thing on schedule for the next three days is twice daily trips to the ultra-cheap Thai food court (an easy walk) and loving on Grace unless I can think of something exciting a newborn likes to do besides the activities listed above.

A Rocky Top tribute for my parents!

Here's Grace sporting her UT attire. I know Me-maw and Papa are hoping for another little Vol.

This first picture is near and dear to my heart because it's the first picture I've ever successfully edited part of the background out of in Photoshop. As amazing as Grace is, she can't actually sit up by herself yet, and the original has a hand behind her neck for support.





And, just for comparison, here's UT Archie. The Grace pictures are at 2 weeks. The Archie one was made sometime between 4-6 weeks.

More Baby Hunt Nostalgia

This yellow outfit is a survior. It's weathered both Hunt's and Archie's babyhoods and has now been passed on to Grace. The tag says Carter's so I asked Hunt's mom if that's the same Carter's kids brand that's still around today. She said it was. What a classic! (I think I like today's styles a little better, though.)

Baby Grace around two weeks:

Baby Archie around two weeks:

Baby Hunt Nostalgia

Baby Archie or Baby Hunt? When Hunt's parents came to visit a few weeks ago, Hunt's mom brought some baby pictures of Hunt. Can you tell who is who? (Well, that's probably pretty easy since Hunt's baby pictures are photos of photos and therefore pretty grainy.)

Baby Hunt:
Baby Hunt eats spaghetti:
Baby Archie eats spaghetti (14 months):
I'm glad Baby Archie is the neater spaghetti eater. His new thing is towels. He can't stand messes and always asks "I towel" so he can wipe his hands, face and the table. (We have to watch carefully because he likes to wipe up Baby Grace, too!)

Grace in the movies!

Here's my precious Gracie Girl making her movie debut! There's not quite as much action in these as the Archie ones I posted yesterday, but you can enjoy her cute little newborn faces.

Grace in the hospital (first movie):



Two week old Grace. There's not too much difference in the next two videos. She's sitting in her infant seat staring around. It's more a matter of if you like your videos with hiccups (first one) or without :)





Oh, here's a video to display her brilliance! (After I made the video, I fed her so she quickly forgot her pacifier :)

Archie in the movies!

OK, so they're not full-length feature films, but they are some pretty cute clips. (And some of you movie making gurus, please help me out with my technical question at the bottom!)

I've been meaning to post this first one forever. I made it before we left for Thailand at a restaurant near our old apartment that raises chickens and ducks for consumption.



These next two were made the night before Hunt's parents left. We celebrated Grandma's birthday (Aug. 19) and Archie's 2-year birthday (Sept. 15) a little early.





Archie is so cute when he says "Hi, Baby Grace!" This is my favorite clip (content wise) but is in desperate need of editing. Does anyone know if/how you use Microsoft Movie Maker or Roxio Creator to crop out an unwanted part of a movie?

Man's Best Friend Rides in Style

Living in Bangkok always has its surprises. While my parents were visiting we found a dog that lives in the bike shop next door with its very own wheel chair!

My Dad really wanted some pictures and the owner was nice enough to bring it over one afternoon. Here are some photos:



Apparently the dog was hit by a car and the owner took it to a local Vet who SPECIALIZES in dog wheel chairs!

And here is a video of the wheel chair in action:

Life as a family of four (or six): Part 2

We're getting more and more adjusted to life as a family of four. (As of Friday morning, the Grandparents DeJs have gone back to the States and we miss them already!)

While the Grandparents were here, Archie got to help feed Grace a bottle while Daddy took Mama out to dinner.

I love getting pictures of our two kids together, but it's a little tricky since Archie isn't much for posing for pictures and his interactions with Grace are pretty short and pretty guided.


We love you, Aunt Kay, and wish you could've come, too! (We think Grace looks a little like she's getting ready to head to the gym in her headband, booties and the stylish onesie you gave her.)

These next two are Grace taking a rest during one of our intensive family photo shoots.


Grace is already a pacifier girl and a thumb/finger sucker (when she's able to be coordinated enough to maneuver the wanted digit into her cute little mouth).


OK, here's some info about Grace before we move onto Archie news:
1. Grace is a great eater! (The doc even told us to cut back a little on length of feeding sessions after her 6-day checkup because she was gaining weight so quickly!)
2. Grace is a cuddly girl. She loves to be held (and Mama loves to oblige).
3. Grace is finally becoming more alert during the day. She is staying awake some after almost every daytime feeding cycle now. Maybe that will make night time sleep easier - YEA!!!
4. Grace is doing pretty well at night. She often hits one rough spot somewhere after one of her night time feedings where she cries for awhile and wants to be held rather than drifting back to sleep on her own. Sometimes she can put herself to sleep if she's swaddled with a pacifier. It takes practice.

What's up with Archie? He had fun eating ice cream at Swenson's. (Baby Grace just slept in her infant swing on the table.)

He also loves his Baby Genius Nursery Rhymes video. We have to limit his computer time.

He is getting to be quite helpful. Although sometimes his mopping job of the floor (which he LOVES to do) leaves something to be desired, he can bring me baby blankets upon request and throw dirty diapers away. Mama's so proud of her big boy!

Garden Portrait Fun!

Since Hunt's parents are only going to be here a few more days (and Grace will only be a newborn for a few more weeks), I have this incredible and near-constant urge to take pictures. Everyone has been a good sport by donning the proper, color-coordinated clothes around my photo frenzied whims. These pictures were made in the hospital roof garden on the same floor Grace and I stayed after she was released from the NICU. Making pics here has become a Thailand tradition as my friend made Archie's 3 week portraits here and we took some family photos here last time the DeJs were visiting.

She really is Daddy's little princess:

She's so beautiful I can't take my eyes off her!

We had fun doing the balancing act to take this one.

All eyes on Baby Grace!

Just the ladies:

We love our grandparents!

Here's a closeup with her big beautiful brown eyes open!