A quarter of a year

I know I've been warned, but man this is going fast. I cannot believe you are three months old today, and GIGANTIC (ok, maybe not, but I think you're huge). You weigh a whopping 10.11 lbs, which is just about double what you were when we left the hospital.



2 months

0 months

1 month



3 months!

 

 

 

You are such a smiley baby! Especially in the morning (being a morning person will serve you well). You're talking up a storm and getting much more fun to play with. Everyone has remarked on what a strong baby you are, Aunt T is taking it as a sign that you were born to do crossfit. You can hold your head up pretty well, and since I decided I didn't want you to suck your thumb you've taken it on yourself to suck on your entire hand instead.

 

Today is our flight to California to see your Nanna and Grandpa Larry, your Uncle David and Aunt Aurora, and your cousin Henri. I'm a bit nervous about how you'll do since you just got over your ear infection, but I'm sure you'll weather it like a champ.

 

This past week we (as usual) were out and about quite a bit. We went to a charity dinner for the Rocky Mountain Childhood Cancer Foundation where you very begrudgingly met the Broncos cheerleaders.

 

 

We went to see your Great Grandma Baba and then shot up to your Great Uncle Pooh's for a 4 Generation Photo shoot (photos to follow). You loved talking with your Cousin Ryan and you were AMAZING for a very long and somewhat cold series of photos.

 

On Monday night we went to your first Broncos game against the Raiders. You were the perfect fan, you even cried when the Raiders scored. We won 37-21, but even that score is closer than the game was in reality. You've picked a good season to come on board the Bronco bandwagon.

 

 

Well we'll have an update after our trip, Aunt T has warned me to make sure I don't accidentally put you through the xray machine (your Aunt T has some odd assumptions about what I might accidentally find myself doing with you). I adore you sweet pea!

 

Rest in peace Great Grandpa

Little bug,

A lot has gone on in the world in the past week or so, though you have remained blissfully unaware. We had what I'm sure will go down as one of the worst floods in your lifetime (hopefully) in our state, though south Denver was largely spared. When asked how big the floods were this was your response:

On a more personally tragic note, your Great Grandpa passed away. You met him a few times, and he came to the hospital when you were born. He was extremely excited to have a great granddaughter and we will miss him a lot. The first time he met you he inspected and declared you to have a perfectly shaped head :) He was a great doctor so I would take that as a compliment of the highest order. I am so glad you were able to meet him. He probably passed on to you a need to document everything (as I have clearly also inherited), a love for the beautiful Colorado scenery, and a love of all sorts of jokes. Fortunately he was never able to show you his fearless form of jeeping, your Aunt T and I are still traumatized by that particular experience. We'll try to tell you a few of his groan worthy jokes once you're a bit older (at least some of the rare Kaia appropriate ones). Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a picture of you 2 yet, but as soon as we find one we'll get it up here. We did get to go see Dedee so we'll get those pictures up shortly.

You got your first ear infection this week, but we caught it extremely early and got you on antibiotics so you should be back to normal in no time.We found out your are a whopping 10.5 lbs (11th percentile), so you're growing fantastically!

We FINALLY got you on camera smiling, it's my current favorite picture :)

We even got you on camera singing your very favorite song:

You are extremely interested in different sounds at the moment. You are babbling a lot as well, though we haven't heard a laugh yet. You seem to be very interested in football games, and you are a die hard Broncos fan (we can tell).

That's about all we got for now. Here are some other pictures that need to be shared:

Your Dad thinks he's funny: 

The little thinker:

 

The world's strangest sleeper:

 

 You flipping Aunt T off for making you do more tummy time:

I've also added a link to the many videos I take of you that don't have anything blog worthy (you have your own youtube channel), it's now on the right side of this blog. You're nothing if not well documented. Alright baby girl, I love you a ton.

Sporting it up

Little Bug,

You are getting to be so smiley! You smile at everything, you smile at all your relatives and you usually have a good smile for me when I get home (unless you're hungry, in which case there is not a lot of smiling going on). Despite my best attempts, you appear to hate the camera and are refusing to smile for a picture..this is the closest we've gotten...but I'm getting sneakier so we'll catch you one of these days.

You are still growing like a weed, you grew out of your newborn clothes finally, so we're in the 0-3 category at last. Since we expected you to be in this category all summer you have a lot of dresses we need to get you through before the cold comes. There might be more than a few fashion shows in your future. You can roll onto your side pretty effectively and you've been sleeping 6-8 hours a night so you're definitely maturing a bit.

We had quite the weekend (as usual). We started with your first (and maybe last) visit to Casa Bonita.

You were spared the horrors of their food, so you seemed to enjoy it enough.

The next day we hit Coors Field for your first Rockies game with my Kiwanis club. I didn't watch much of the game so I have no idea who won, but I think we did. You were pretty content there, except of course, when we took your picture.

And Sunday we had the big game, CU v CSU. You were pretty amped for it. You did great except for a minor incident at the tailgate where your grammy put you in a CSU sweatshirt (let the rivalry begin), you fussed about it appropriately. Your brothers took charge of giving a thumbs down to every "green shirt" that passed us so we're training you all well. 

The Buffs trounced the Rams, so you are undefeated little bug. Keep it up!

On Labor Day we saw all sorts of family and you made your first trip to Saucy Noodle. 

You also finally got to meet your Uncle Jeff. As usual, you seemed pretty happy with the whole experience. 

You're doing great Baby Girl! We have a trip to California planned for your 3 month birthday (more to go see your CA grandparents/uncle/aunt, but since it's on your 3 month bday we're going with that). I haven't been out there yet either so it'll be a first for both of us. You're getting much more interactive little one, I love you lots!

Happy 2 month bday to you...

Lil one,

Another eventful weekend, we have a one more to go and then things should slow down a bit. This weekend we did Relay for Life. In honor of my good friend Becki Werling (who you will unfortunately never get a chance to meet), we decked ourselves out Harley Davidson style. You were quite the adorable biker babe:

We walked 6 miles, you took a few breaks, but you were with us for most of them. Way to keep up sweet pea!

Yesterday was your 2 month birthday, here's your progress so far:

0 months

1 month

2 months

You're getting huge! I know you're still about the size of most newborns, but you seem pretty gigantic to me.

I do't have much to update, you slept I your own bed last night, and while you slept very well (5.5 hours straight), I was up every hour checking on you. As a result this post is a little lackluster. You're starting to smile a lot more and you love sticking your tongue out, but otherwise nothing new to report. I adore you baby girl!

The infamous 8 week checkup

We just had your 2 month check up, and you were about as pleased as expected. We started the event off right by waking you up and stripping you naked, it was all downhill from there. As expected, you're growing a ton, you're now at 8 lbs 13oz which puts you in the 6th percentile, we're calling it progress (baby steps little girl, I couldn't even lift you if you decided to by a 50th percentile kind of baby). You're 21.5 inches (17th percentile) and your head is 15.25 inches in diameter (69th percentile). The doctor was very pleased, as was I. We think you might have a high metabolism, which will serve you well if that continues to be true, and it also explains why you are CONSTANTLY eating. You cried the entire time these measurements were being taken, you must have known this was not going to be the pleasantest of appointments. Dr. DeSouza came in and did her checks (heart, lungs, looked at your progress, answered my questions, etc.) and gave you a clean bill of health. You do have an infection in association with your diaper rash so we got your first prescription, though it's just a cream so I'm not too nervous about giving it to you, but otherwise you are one healthy/happy baby. And then the infamous part of the infamous appointment...the vaccinations. I held you while you got them, I anted to make sure I was there to calm you down as much as I could following the pain that was imminent. Little girl...I didn't know humans were capable of turning that red, I was scared you were going to explode. You were one very upset little girl. You got shots in both thighs and I held you til you calmed down (just a few minutes), then you were fast asleep. Not my favorite appointment ever.

 

One very upset post doctor baby



In other news...

 

We had a pretty eventful week/weekend since we last posted. First, we had my birthday on Friday. You gave me a fantastic bday present...your first smile. You did it twice as we were getting ready for lunch, but I couldn't get a camera on you fast enough. You've been doing it randomly ever since, but you seem determined to keep me from capturing it. I can't wait until that's a more consistent expression of yours, it's adorable. We went to lunch with Popo and then headed up to Aunt T's to play at the pool with your Dad and brothers. You mostly stayed in Aunt T's arms (that's her favorite place for you), and we took it easy. That night we headed to a restaurant downtown, you slept the entire time. Overall, a great bday.

 

 

The next day we went to Elitches. As soon as we got in we hit the Ferris Wheel (or Paris Wheel if you listen to your brothers). They have some very odd rule where you're not allowed to go on a ride unless you can stand on your own, fortunately for us the operators were easily convinced that you could stand (which you can, if we're holding you), and they allowed us all on. That as the only ride we went on for the day, you mostly seemed unimpressed, but we did our best to pretend you were enjoying it for the photo op.

 

 

 

As if that weren't enough for one weekend, Saturday night we had your first wedding, that of Abby Waner and Jimmy Bartolotta. You'll be seeing more of them I'm sure, we need some of these friends of ours to start having friends for you. The wedding was beautiful, and besides the bride (I have to say that) you were the best looking one there:

 

 

 

You did well during the ceremony, made a little noise to announce your entrance, but otherwise you kept quiet. Well done baby girl, you are quite the socialite!

 

Sunday morning we redeemed part of your Dad's bday present to me, a photo shoot for you! You were pretty content for the beginning of the shoot, but your Diva personality came out once we performed a costume change, and you were sort of a wreck from there on out. Fortunately for us, you don't really scrunch up your face when you're throwing a fit so most of the pictures will probably turn out ok, only you and I will know you were crying in 75% of them. Here's my favorite of the many fantastic pictures:

 

Here's the link to all of the photos...http://www.angelakleinsasser.com/clients.html the access code is Kaia. I'll get them all on a flashdrive as well so I can order copies from anywhere so if anyone wants them and doesn't want to buy them through the site let me know and I can send the file.

 

Sunday night we had dinner with Popo and Grammy, part of my present was an adorable coat/onesie/pants ensemble and a bunch of leg warmers. You are quite the stylish baby:

 

 

 On Monday I had my first full day back at work, this was more painful than your shots (I think), I think I cried just as hard as you did. I took a picture before I left just so I had a "today" picture of you to look at:

 

 

You have a Nanny at your Dad's house, it's amazingly more affordable than putting 3 kids in daycare and she seems fantatic. Her name is Dayane and she's from Brazil. Dad checked in on you during the day and you were fast asleep. Her end of day report is the first time I've ever really quantified how much you eat, no wonder you're growing so fast little one!

Overall, we continue to do great. You're still the star attraction everywhere we go, and you LOVE being held. You're also a big plan of cuddling and being in the snuggli. This coming weekend is Aunt T's bday and Relay for Life, so it's another big one (we have quite the hectic August). Your Uncle and Cousin are also getting their blackbelts, though we won't be able to make it, we'll be supporting them in spirit.

I love you tons baby girl!

Let the firsts begin!

Little Pea,

The fun has just begun, we've started what will inevitably be a long parade of firsts for you. This past weekend we went with your dad and brothers on your first road trip (and first trip in general). You did fantastically well. As usual you relaxed calmly in back for most of the 4 hour drive. We stopped at a park along the way and you were quick to make a friend:

We got down to the Dunes around 6 and made our way to the teeniest of teeny tiny houses. This was a small upgrade from camping, but quite a bit warmer/dryer and more comfortable (our house was one bedroom, no bathroom) and I'm mostly convinced it was converted out of a storage shed.

  

We quickly unpacked and headed to the natural hot springs for another first...your first swim. With the 98 degree non-chemically treated water we decided this was a perfect place to introduce you to the pool. It wasn't a part of the original plan, so you got stuck with a much to large swim diaper (not your best look, but adorable in its own way I suppose)

Then we dove right in, your brothers were close by to keep tabs on you. You loved the water, it seemed to be as calming to you as the hair dryer, and that's pretty stiff competition. We swam every day we were down there, since we had no shower we decided this was an adequate replacement (though by the end of the trip you were one stinky baby).

After the pool we went to a barbecue with friends who happened to be down there at the same time, you were quickly kidnapped (as you tend to be) by adults who love to hold tiny infants. Again, you slept pretty much the whole time. 

The next day we got up and headed for the dunes. You weren't quite old enough to get much out of them, mostly you slept and got yourself completely covered in sand, but you were a good sport about the whole thing. 

After the dunes we went back to the pool. 

That night it rained non stop so we ordered a pizza and watched a movie in the room. The next day we drove back to Denver, on the way we stopped at the Alligator farm, you were kept as far from the gator mouths as possible since you're a little bit on the bite size of things:

We also stopped in Buena Vista to stretch our legs and go on a hike. You hike in style, food and a ride and you are one happy camper. 

You were a very good sport about the whole thing, I can't wait until your old enough to do this trip again (and maybe get a bit more out of it). It was a lot of fun for all of us and a perfect first trip.

In other news, you are generally extremely alert when you're awake, even Popo can't claim you're eyeless anymore, your eyes are typically wide open as you take everything in. 

Today I had to leave you for 5 hours with a babysitter, it was terrible. I worried about you the entire time, and it sounds like you weren't much happier. You cried for about 90 minutes off and on until your Daddy got home to rescue you. After refusing to set you down for a few hours I finally let you lay down for some sleep and you've been out ever since. You wore your self out little one. I think we would both be happier if you would just sleep while I was gone. Work on that.

I love you tons baby girl, we have a few more days of maternity leave and we will be living them up. We have a birthday to get through (the last of my 20's), a day at Elitches, and a wedding. It's going to be quite the epic week. Well, from the sounds of it you're finally waking up. MWAH!