Sitting like a big girl

She likes it.

The introduction of solids was a success! After dumping half the bowl of rice cereal on her tray (lesson learned: don't put the bowl within her reach), Anna really seemed to enjoy her first meal. She opened up wide and grabbed the spoon as if she were ready to feed herself! I think she swallowed quite a bit even though it looks like she was wearing most of it. Here's a little video clip. Enjoy!

Six Months!

I can't believe Anna is already six months! She had her checkup this morning and she's now up to 19lbs 4oz and 27 1/2 inches long. Our pediatrician said Anna was "solid, not fat." Gotta love that. Speaking of solid, we're introducing solid foods this weekend. I think we'll start her off with tasty mix of rice cereal and breast milk. Doesn't sound very solid to me! I can't wait to see her reaction. We'll be sure to have the camera ready.
Here's a video of Anna in her new jumperoo. The thing is pretty ridiculous but she loves it!

babies, babies, babies!

More friends with babies - YAY! Our friends Julie and Tyler welcomed their baby girl Natalie into the world last Saturday and Will and Sarah welcomed their little Alexander into the world on the 8th. Everyone is healthy and happy. I'm so excited for them!

Anna meets Grandpa Ed and Grandma Carol!

Last week Anna finally got to meet her Grandpa Ed and Grandma Carol! We met them up in Truckee and had a fun weekend with perfect weather, lots of good food, and a fantastic meteor shower to top it all off.

Grandpa Ed holding Anna while we made breakfast. She was very content.
 

Anna is already trying to figure out how she can get Carol's visor in her mouth!
 

Looking very serious at Donner Lake.
 

Watch out - she's mobile! Anna scooted all the way under the couch on her back.
 

5 Months

 

Anna will be five months old on Monday. I can't believe how fast the time is going by! She loves to laugh and look at herself in the mirror. She screams a lot which then makes her laugh some more (and us too!) She can roll over from her back to stomach but hasn't quite mastered the stomach to back. She wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. She's not a big fan of the nap but is a pretty good sleeper at night - usually going to bed around 7:00, up at 4:00 for a feeding, and back to sleep until about 6:30 or 7:00. I can deal with that.
The most exciting development this week is her first tooth! It's coming in on the lower left-hand side. I think it might be one of those pointy guys. Usually it's more common for the two bottom teeth to come in first but I guess our little girl likes to be different.
You might also notice I've resorted to a short "mommy" cut. Guaranteed to keep little hands from pulling out your hair!

Inca Anna (4 Months)

 

Here is a Anna wearing the adorable hat Emily brought back for her from Peru. So cute!

Last week Anna had her 4 month check up and she's now up to 17 lbs and 26 inches. Still going strong in the 95th percentile! At this rate she's probably going to be taller than me by the time she's in first grade.

Today she added these funny little raspberry noises to her repertoire of sounds. She even tries to do it with her pacifier in her mouth!

New House

Sorry I haven't posted in while - the past few weeks have been busy. We recently moved to a town just north of San Francisco called Mill Valley and so far we're loving it. It's still really convenient to the city but also close to some great hiking and outdoor recreation areas. Here are a few pictures of our cozy little house. See if you can locate Anna in her new Bumbo seat (it cracks me up for some reason!)

 

 

 

 

Anna's First Trip

We just got home from Anna's first trip to Wilmington to visit my parents. I was nervous about the flights but Anna was quite the little traveler and for the most part did really well. One of the highlights of the trip was that Anna got to meet my grandmother Joan who was visiting from New York. She also had her first dip in the pool! Anna was enamored with her Nana and Papa and was all smiles, all week.

 

11 Weeks

 

2 Months

This time last week it was 90 degrees in San Francisco. Today it's 58 degrees. Summer has arrived! I bundled up Anna and we headed out to the De Young Museum to meet up with a group of women I met through a breastfeeding support group at the hospital. It's fun to hang out with other moms and babies that are a similar age to Anna. We're learning from each other and no one ever gets tired of talking about baby stuff!

Summer clothes

 

 

Earlier this week Anna had her two-month check up. She's now 13 lbs and 24 inches long - still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Her head has a little catching up to do (65th percentile). If they measured hair growth she'd be in the negative percentile! Seriously...when does the hair start to grow?! She had four immunization shots which I think was much more traumatic for me and Todd. Poor baby. We've never heard her cry quite like that and the look on her face was absolutely heartbreaking.

Other than that she's smiling all the time now and we're just waiting for that first little giggle. I feel like it's going to be any day now.

Recent Photos

 

 

 

 

Grandparents

We're going into week 7 and Anna is up to 12 lbs and already fitting into some of her 3-6 month clothes! Another milestone happened last night - she slept from 8:00 pm to 3:30 am! I thought she was waking up around 11:30 so I changed her diaper and started getting ready to feed her. But she never woke up so I put her back down and didn't hear a peep until 3:30. I like where this is heading!

It's tough living so far away from our families but so far Anna has had the pleasure of meeting three of her grandparents. First came Nana (my mom Mary), who was with us both before and after the birth. At that point the simplest things seemed impossible (showering, eating, cleaning) so mom was a huge help. Anna was perfectly content sleeping in Nana's arms all day while Todd and I tried to catch up on sleep.

 

Next came Grandma J (Todd's mom Jeannette) who visited when Anna was about 2 weeks old and at her fussiest! Grandma J gave us a welcome break from the holding, walking, rocking, and shooshing. It was a lot of work but I don't think Jeannette minded one bit.

 

Most recently Anna got to meet her Papa (my dad Craig) who was in town for a quick one-night layover. I think Anna was fascinated by the mustache, which just goes to show how much more aware she has become. Dad got to see the smiles and hear the cute little sounds Anna makes now that she's discovered her own little voice. I have a feeling dad will start scheduling as many trips to San Francisco as possible!

 

Anna has changed so much these past seven weeks I can only imagine what she'll be like when Grandpa Ed and Carol come out to visit later this summer. Can't wait!

5 Weeks

 

Anna had her one month check-up this morning and Todd and I had bets on how much she was going to weigh - I said 10 lbs and he said 9 lbs 4 oz. Well, we were both way off! Our little baby is not so little anymore. She's 10 lbs 15 oz and 22.75 inches long. That puts her in the 90th percentile for both height and weight! As you can see in the latest picture I think it's all in her cheeks.

4 Weeks

Tomorrow Anna will be one month old. I can't believe how fast the time is going by... each day kind of blends into the next. Here's the routine: feed, burp, change diaper, try to get her to sleep, and repeat! For a while she was feeding every hour which was pretty exhausting. From what I've heard she was probably going through her first growth spurt. Luckily (for me) she's on more of an every 2-3 hour schedule now. I would say I'm getting a total of about 6 hours of sleep each night in 1-2 hour increments. If she weren't so darn cute I might be annoyed!
It took me a while to feel comfortable leaving the house with her but now we go for walks and run errands together in the neighborhood. Every so often we'll go out in the car but it all has to be timed just right. We're slowly figuring things out, one day at a time.
Last week we attempted some "tummy time" so she can practice lifting her head and strengthening her neck. Let's just say it didn't go too well, as shown below.

Looking a little frustrated

 

Too exhausting - time for a quick nap

 

Happy to be back on her back!

 

3 weeks!

Say what?

 

Hangin' with dad...

 

Sweet little hand...

 

Milk Drunk

 

 

 

Anna Grace Youngs 3.6.07

 

Finally! Our little Anna has arrived and everyday we're falling more and more in love with her.
She took her time coming into the world. I officially went into labor on Monday morning and we went to the hospital that afternoon. Although the contractions were coming regularly there wasn't enough progress and the nurses recommended I either go home and wait it out or stay and have the doctors try to speed it up. We decided to go home and they gave me a shot of morphine so I could get some rest until the real labor began. That was the best decision we could have made. I slept from about 5:00 pm to 3:00 am and woke up to some serious contractions! My water broke around 4:00 am and we left for the hospital at 6:00. I was feeling so many things - nervous, scared, excited...it was actually happening! I'm not going to lie. Giving birth was one of the most frightening and painful experiences I've ever had. But when Anna came into this world at 1:25 pm and I saw her sweet little face for the first time - I don't even know how to describe the feelings I had...
Todd was a rock throughout the whole process. I feel so lucky to have such a supportive husband, partner, and friend. He always seemed to know what to say or, more importantly, when to say nothing and just hold my hand. I know he's going to be the most amazing dad for our little girl.

And now we wait...

Well, my due date (2/27) has come and gone and still no baby Youngs. She must be pretty comfortable in there because she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to come out! As of today I'm about 90% effaced and over 1 cm dilated so there's definitely some progress. Overall I don't have too many complaints - I'm just moving very slowly.
That's the quick update - hopefully we'll have some more exciting news to announce in the next few days!