Nicknames

Here is what Alice is called on a daily basis.....

Sweetie (dad and mom)
Baby (dad and mom)

Baby Girl (dad)

Pumpkin (dad)

Punkin Pie (dad)
Sweety Peety (mom)

Sweet Pea (mom)

Sugar (mom)
Booger Sugar (mom)
Munchkin (mom)
Sugar Plum (mom)

Sugar Bear (mom)

Wiggle Worm (mom)

I think I'm getting a cavity just writting down her nicknames!

Please add your nickname for Alice in the Comments so we can keep a record of them!

Precious Sleep...and precious little of it

Alice doesn't sleep through the night yet.

We live for that day...We look forward to that day...
But until then, all we can do is our best to survive on minimal sleep.

Always distrupted, always too light, always listening for our little one.

Alice falls asleep anywhere between 7:00pm-9:00pm.

A "good" night is when she can make it 4 hours in her own crib.

When she wakes for a bottle, even though she typically falls back asleep, she will fuss and fuss if I try and put her back in the crib. Our coping plan for now is to start her in her crib for as long as she will sleep, and then move her into our room after her first bottle. The most comfortable way for me to sleep with Alice is with her on my chest, and her little head below my chin. I can usually get 1-2 hours of consecutive sleep with her there. I don't know how long this sleep postition will last the bigger she gets. She has already almost doubled her weight from when we brought her home from the hospital.

Although I look forward to the days she will sleep through the night, and IN her crib...I will definately miss having my little sweety peety sleeping on my chest and soaking my shirt in baby sweat.

Yummy Yummy

The pediatrician said we could start giving Alice Rice Cereal. She had her first taste a few days after her 4 month check-up. She's not too sure what to do with it or what to think about it yet. She just kinda moves it around in her mouth with her tongue and then spits most of it out. I don't think she understand the concept of swallowing yet, but we will keep feeding her the cereal every few days and hopes she "gets it" soon!

I said I wanted a PONY

Alice in Dallas - part 2

Alice visited Dallas for the second time last weekend. Alice and I rode to Dallas with Kristin and Jackson. I sat on the console between the two car seats for the majority of the drive since Alice would get upset if she couldn't see her mommy. Both kids were pretty good, but neither of them slept on the drive to Dallas.

Alice and Pop

While in Dallas, Alice went on her first shopping spree with mom and grandma. Grandma bought her a stroller and we drove out to the outlet mall to shop. Alice did pretty good, but again...she did NOT sleep all day long. So - that was 2 days without naps. Grandma Bickel, Patra and Paul came over for dinner and to visit that evening. Alice was a sweetheart for the company even though she MUST have been tired.

Alice and Grandma Bickel

Saturday morning, Alice went to see her cousins, and meet Juliette for the first time. After our visit, we went and picked up Aunt Papa and the girls all went to lunch and then shopping at Marshalls. Alice was an angel on this shopping trip. She fell asleep before lunch and slept through part of the shopping spree.

Morning Coffee with Grandma Meadows

The Paci-girls Juliette and Alice

That evening, we went to our Aunts surprise party. Everyone got to see Alice. She loved all the attention.

At the Party

Patra and Alice

Before heading back to Austin on Sunday, we ate breakfast with Patra and Paul to say our good-byes. Next trip will be to visit the Lake House over 4th of July weekend!

Uncle Paul "pull my finger"

4 month Check-up

Alice had her 4 month appointment today.

The Pediatrican says Alice is very Healthy.
4 month stats....

Height - 25 1/2" (90th percentile)

Weight - 12 lbs 11 oz (25th percentile)

Head - 42.3 cm (45th percentile)

The Dr. Pertopolis said that she is the average height of a 6 month old...LOL

Of course we think she is smart, beautiful and perfect in every way

Mothers Day 2008

Alice and Mom on our First Mothers Day

Dad was sweet to get flowers - double

petaled tulips!

Mom, Grandma and Alice

"The Girls"

P.S. Alice has learned to roll over..kinda - that darned arm keeps getting in the way!

I'm feeling better now, I think I'll go for a walk

Alice has been sick for the past couple of weeks. First she had a small ear infection in the left... that went away when on its heels came a worse infection in the other ear... ouch. Anti-Biotic twice a day. She doesn't like the taste of it, spits it out. We have to sneak it in while she's taking her bottle: 1.) Start feeding baby, 2.) Wait until baby is in the feeding zone (eyes half closed, blissed out), 3.) remove bottle from mouth, 4.) administer medicine, 5.) replace bottle before she realizes what has happened. Repeat until the whole dose is taken.

She has started feeling better. Appetite is better and crying in pain is gone (thankfully). We're hoping we can return to non-sick Alice routines soon. This was the first Alice sickness that we all experienced... Wow, that was really hard, on all of us.

Alice Feeling Better and Looking at a Very Cute Baby in the Mirror:

Burgers and Sci-Fi Sunday

Sunday was awesome. We had lunch at Dan's burgers. The best greasy burgers in town. Mom had a medium cheeseburger and Dad had a large. Alice was chill the whole time, just soaking in the new scenery. We both got to eat all of our meal, uninterupted. It was very nice :-)

She was so good we ventured across the street to the best Half-Price book store in town. It has its own rare books room and an excellent science fiction section. Look how excited Alice is by the first huge bookstore she has ever experienced!

Daddy and Alice in the Sci-Fi Section: