Brynley- 1st Month

BRYNLEY'S 1st MONTH

12-30-10

12-31-10

NEW YEARS EVE

We went to Michelle's house to celebrate NYE. Brynley stayed awake to ring in the new year! Papa Jim holding B. Her umbilical cord fell off the next day....it was bleeding a bit in this picture.

1-1-11

Go Cowboys!!

1-2-11

Such a cutie!! Love this smile!

1-4-11

Tummy Time! Brynley doesn't really 'love' tummy time, but she can stand it for about 5-10 minutes. She gets better and better everytime. We perfer to just let her lay on our chests and try to hold her neck up, which she is getting very good at doing.

1-6-11

I took Brynley on her first walk outside in the stroller. She really enjoyed the walk; It was great weather! Just days later we had a huge snow storm....gotta Love Texas weather!

Pretty girl!


1-8-11
When Brynley was 3 weeks old, Aunt Jennifer offered to babysit Brynley for us. We had our first date night!! I was a nervous wreck but very excited. Jeff did a great job explaning everything to Jennifer before we left. We had Pappasito's for dinner and I enjoyed my first beer in a VERY long time. Then we went to see a movie. Aunt Jennifer said Brynley was great for her. Thanks Aunt Jennifer for babysitting!!!

Sleepy time!

She loves laying with Daddy.

1-9-11

Brynley's 1st snow!!
Brynley enjoying her 1st snow with Daddy.

All bundled up!

1-12-11

This was one of Brynley's firsts baths at home. She out grew the sling pretty quickly- around 1 month. At first she didn't really like bath time. Around 1 month, we took out the sling and she really started to like it more. It is my favortie time of day with her because Jeff and I always give her, her baths together and she always smiles and kicks with excitement.

1-14-11

Allyson just loves her niece Brynley, and always wants to hold her.

MILESTONES

Recognition

This month Brynley started to recognize our faces more (especially Mommy & Daddy). She also recognizes our voices.

Bath time

Brynley really started to love bath time around 2 weeks. It is our favorite time of day with her. She is always so happy, and has a gret time kicking her legs. We are definitely signing her up for swimming lessons when she is 6 months old. =)

Talking

Brynley really started to make a lot more noises and grunts around 3-4 weeks. She is also very noisey in her sleep, which makes it hard on me. I always thought she was waking up, but she was really just restling around in her bassinet.

Sleeping

Brynley started sleeping in our room, in her bassinet (Jeff's side of bed). The first week Jeff and I both got up during the night. After he went back to work, I took over all the nightly wake times. She would get up every 2-4 hours. It was so exhausting, and mentally draining. The first 3 weeks were the toughest. I don't know how I ever survived. We tried getting her on a better schedule at week 2 (Eat, Active Sleep You- method), which I think helped a lot. We also started a routine at bed time. We tried to keep her awake from 7-10pm each evening which was very tough, because she wanted to sleep. We would start bath time at 10pm, and change diaper, swaddle, bottle (Jeff feed her a bottle of formula each night with a pinch of cereal), then I would feed her, and then put her down. Some night were better then others.

MEMORIES FROM 1st MONTH:

Breastfeeding

The first 3 weeks of breastfeeding was really tough. I enjoyed the time with Brynley, but I experienced excruciating pain on my left side. There were many times I almost quit due to pain, but I was hoping they would heal quick enough to continue breast feeding. At around 3 1/2 weeks, I tried using nipple shells, which helped them heal pretty quickly. I really started to enjoy it so much more, and it became to easy and enjoyable. I even became brave enough to do it in public- covered of course. I fed her about every 2-3 hours for 20 minutes at a time. She gained weight really well, so I guess she getting enough to eat. =)

Bumps in the Road

Week 1, Brynley had developed crusty (sleep in her eyes). The pediatrician said it was due to under-developed tear ducts. after two weeks of massaging her ducts & carefully cleaning them daily, they cleared up.

Week 3, Brynley developed Baby acne. It was definitely harder on me than it was on her. After about two weeks, it finally went away. Then she developed vert dry skin, but Ibought California baby lotion, and it cleared up quick.

Out & About

I started taking Brynley out and about once I was able to drive- week 2. Jeff went back to work after staying home with us the first week. I often would run errands, take walks, or pick up mama to hang out a couple ties each week. I would go stir crazy if I stayed home. In the beginning, she did great in her carseat, and would typically fall asleep. However, around week 3, she started to cry when we would run errands. I found that if I sing to her, she would sometimes calm down. Or, I would give her a pacifier. This is really the only time she takes a pacifier.