around here...

we love the weekend!

Friday was the third day in a row that Zara woke me up at 4am. I am not sure how, but I was still standing after work and went out with my little family for free burritos at Chipotle(we still love it there!) and to the grocery and I even stayed awake for a movie we rented. :::

Saturday was the best day! I had to wake up through the night, but went back to sleep until like 9 :) Zara was extra joyful and we just laughed together for a while. I deep cleaned our apartment, brought Jonas lunch and even had time for a good walk before I picked up my nieces for a play(&Mexican food and ice cream. yes!). We saw Peter and the Starcatcher at Actor's Theater. It was hilarious and we had great seats in the front row. The actors did a little improv involving the three girls. It was awesome:::

& Sunday was all church, yummy food, fat baby rolls, a stroll through the neighborhood and naps:::

a Valentine weekend.

Valentine's Day is just the best. I love all the sweet gestures, especially sending them out to those I love. We don't make a huge deal out of this day, but it is always a good excuse to go out to eat. We had Cuban food to kick off the weekend, which is always delicious with a coconut milkshake! We gave each other little treats and gave Zara a baby sized card. We cuddled with our smiley girl while it snowed and snowed outside:::

Z's second month.

Two whole months with Zara Charlize! She is so great & we love her so :) I am writing these monthly posts so that I can record her little milestones. But this quote by Uma Thurman will hopefully help you understand : "You know how parents rattle on to you about, 'Oh, you won't believe your life will never be the same,' and you think, why can't these people just get over it? All they're doing is yakking about their kids. It's such a bore. And then you have kids and you just want to do the same thing."

At her 2 month appointment, she weighed 11 pounds 12 ounces. Her jaundice is a- ok and Dr. Hawley said she looks great(I really like her pediatrician by the way. She is the sweetest). A few days before her 8 week mark, we moved from newborn diapers to size 1 & she is wearing 0-3 month clothes comfortably. This is bittersweet because I really do not want her to grow out of this size, but her wardrobe is limited- she has a lot more clothes in the next size. Still, she has excellent hats! This next photo is Zara at church, where she has been so good! She has slept through almost every Sunday on Mama:::

Love our little swaddled baby:::

A smiling moment! I was a little disappointed for most of the month that she was not smiling more, but it picked up in her 7th week. I know people say this a lot, but it makes me so happy when she smiles, like I am glowing inside. haha. & she has started "talking" a little more this month(towards the end). She still doesn't do it as much as I would like. Maybe she is just an observer like her mama. But if we talk back and stare at her, she tries.:::

Besides one bad week, nursing has gone well this month. During that week, my supply went down and I was barely making her happy and was afraid to use my frozen supply. It was rough but I started taking fenugreek and it was magical. I also made tons of lactation cookies. I am not sure they helped much.
She can switch easily to the bottle. One day at Target I happened to have pumped before the doctor while Z was still asleep and I knew she would wake up soon. So I leaned her against the cart while she ate. Easy. I have also nursed while walking though. Whatever works.:::

She is okay with tummy time for a little while, but I trick her sometimes by putting her on my chest instead of the floor. She can lift her head as much as she is supposed to at this point. I feel like she is getting more sturdy. She is definitely a healthy girl:::

Katze is still keeping her distance. & she will jump up on the changing pad, glare at my taking photos of her and then fall asleep. She glares at me a lot these days. I do feel bad for the cat. I know it has made her sad to see the baby have all of the attention. I want to get better about loving on her too:::

 I might have staged this:::

I was just having Zara sit in this while I cooked or while I was doing housework. Then she started sleeping in it most nights because she prefers it to her bassinet and will actually let me put her down without sleeping with me at night, which makes me so nervous. She is still sleeping in our room though, I am not sure when I will be ready to move her:::

 This was one of the last times she could wear newborn sized clothes, maybe I am still not ready to put them away:::

 Her first trip with mama and papa. We went to St. Louis:::

Also, her first time at Ikea:::

 Her first time in the pool(only toes). This bathing suit is too big, but that means we still get to use it later, when she will love the pool(I hope):::

She hates getting into the carseat, but then she falls asleep almost every time and sleeps so much longer in that thing. So I would say she likes it. But hungry or not, she wakes up by the time I get into the house from the car:::

Jonas seems to have a magic touch with her. He can calm her easily. I really appreciate this when I am trying to fall asleep and I can't go on with a crying baby:::

I love to watch them talk. Her little coos are the best sound. Jonas speaks German with her, goes through vowels and the German alphabet:::

Other things:
She has found her hands, but isn't that interested in chewing on them. She likes the pacifier & it cracks us up when we put it in her mouth and she chomps on it while talking! I love when she grabs my hair or my shirt while nursing, her plump hands are so sweet. She follows us around the room with her eyes. I especially like her to watch me cook so that she can follow me with her gaze. Her eyes are wide and she is alert when she is awake. One day she rolled twice(one way) and hasn't done it again- yet. She gets fussy at night before her longest sleep. Other than that, she is pretty chill.

This was my last month staying at home with Zara. I was really hurting for a while thinking of going back to work. I briefly considered giving it all up but I know it is not right for me and I would ultimately regret it. Truth be told, I love my job. I feel like it is the place to be and I ended up finding a daycare across the street. I feel much better about the situation, but I will miss our lazy days together. & we have absolutely no schedule, but hopefully we will get on one quickly:::

Overall, she has been content and hopefully happy. She is my little sidekick now, and she will be for a very, very long time. Me and Jonas are really excited to do lots of fun things with her and love having her in our lives. She gets lots of kisses because she is our favorite little lady!.:::

the past few days.

Saturday night we had Persian food and saw a musical. I had to spend much of the play in the lobby with a crying baby. I didn't mind though, it was still a lovely night out with my family and the food was great:::

& these are from a walk this Sunday with 60 degree weather. They are both OK with it:::

I had my first day of work on Monday. I prepared for hours, I really wanted it to be a smooth transition. & it actually was a success, we arrived at daycare & work on time. I didn't even cry or feel upset. Now we have three days down and I feel comfortable with our situation :) These photos of all this stuff makes me laugh:::

Tuesday we had a lovely brunch at our favorite place and cuddled for a large part of the day. I also bought the 1st season on Mr. Robot. Parts of that show annoy me, but some of the ideas are spot on.::

& because she is so very cute:::