14 weeks old

Reese has laughed a couple more times, but doesn't happen too often yet. We LOVE when she does and keep trying to sing and dance around to get her to giggle. The only times she has she has been on the activity mat or changing table.

We also noticed this week that she can see a farther distance than we thought. She was in the family room and Ty was up on the 2nd floor balcony and she followed him as he walked along. That was very cool to see. Also, she has started to watch her hands and feet as she moves them. I was washing bottles and doing laundry and for 20 or so minutes she occupied herself by watching her own limbs move, ha.  Even though they are small developments, they are awesome to witness.

14 week shots:

Lucy also visited this week:

During tummy time she can actually hold her head up for a bit now:

(13 weeks old here)

1st Easter; Browns' Visit

Reese's first Easter was fun. Terry and Earl came in on Friday morning and stayed until Sunday evening. On Friday we stayed in, Saturday we went to Gram's house and Sunday was Bonnie's. We were all worn out after the weekend, especially Reese. She slept 12.5 hours Sunday night and napped a lot on Monday. She actually had been napping a lot longer this week (in addition to her long nights), maybe she's going through a growth spurt! Alright by me...she is such a good girl!

 She fell asleep in Joe's arms right after this shot.

 Cousin Hollyn kissing baby Reese.

3 Months Old

On 4/20 Reese turned 3 months old. She is getting chubby!! :)

At about 12-13 weeks we found out she is ticklish! When you rub her ribs, or sometimes even her neck she makes this weird deep laugh that she can't help. It's funny! She doesn't like to be tickled for too long though.

The Thursday before Easter Reese and I took her first trip to the mall. She stayed in the Bjorn the whole time and was very good! We also visited the Easter Bunny.

She looks pretty unenthused, but sat there very nicely in her bunny outfit and skirt!

PS- Im blogging right now, as Im watching the Royal Wedding coverage from last night and Reese is sleeping in the Moby on my chest. Love it!

First Night Away from Mom and Dad

For our 3 year anniversary, Jen offered to keep Reese overnight so we could go to dinner and have a night to ourselves. It was wonderful. Reese was a little over 12 weeks old when she slept over night at Jen and Joe's - her first time away from mom and dad! We dropped her off at 7pm and she fell asleep at 7:05pm for the night. So they didnt get much awake Reese time until the morning. Jen told us she couldn't pick her up before noon the next day (we got her about 1pm). All went well and Reese slept for 11.5 hours in Jen's pack n play.

On our night out Ty and I went to The Summit (at Cinci State) and had a great dinner. They gave us a 'special table' and the chef sent out some complimentary dishes (bone marrow, foie gras). We weren't sure why, but enjoyed them. Then the chef came out and said "Hi Lauren"- but I still didnt know him. He thought I was another Lauren Brown. He seemed a little embarrassed, but we were thankful for the free food!

It was definitely weird to wake up and not have her here and not have anything to do. A nice little break, but we were happy to pick her up!

We plan to go out to a nice dinner (just the 2 of us) at least once a month. So far we're on track...hope we can keep it up!

(No photos of this event....sorry!)

Heather, Hollyn and Gram's Visit

The day after the photoshoot, Heather, Hollyn and Great Gram came to visit. This was the first time Hollyn met her cousin Reese. Hollyn ran around most of the time and said "dog," "baby," "ball" and other cute words. I think she liked Logan and was able to pet him a few times. Gram held Reese and got her to sleep. Before Hollyn fell on our coffee table and got a black eye (sorry Hollyn), we were able to get some pics of the 2 kids together. They are about 13 months apart. 

12 Week Photoshoot

On April 14th, we took Reese to the Photosmith studio for her 2nd photoshoot. They were my wedding photographers and I won a free session when I was pregnant, which was great.   Even though Reese didn't give us a full smile once that hour, we still got some cute shots, poses and a smirk or 2. They did a great job! Here are some of our favs:

Laughing out Loud

At 11 weeks Reese laughed for the first time. It was the best thing! Ty was playing peek a boo with her over her activity mat and making all kids of weird sounds, which made her laugh. It was short but so cute and I teared up a bit when I heard it. I wonder how I'll be when she starts to roll over, crawl, talk and walk. :) She has only laughed one other time since then (about a week later), but looks like she wants to a lot. Hopefully more laughs will start coming soon! She still smiles a lot, though you cant tell it from all her pictures. It's usually in the mornings, or right after naps.

I took Reese to Lisa Rose's baby shower at Jen's house on April 10th. It was her first baby shower (out of the womb). Kaia Fritz was also there who is just 6 weeks older. Everyone loved holding the babies. Here's Jen and I with Reese after the shower.

Also this week Reese received her NDA Panda Alum Cub bib in the mail from my alma mater. So here she is at 12 weeks old, with a matching bow, of course:

A FUTURE PANDA....I hope!

Sleeping Through the Night!

So at 10 weeks old, Reese began sleeping 8-9.5 hours straight through the night = a blessing. The first night it happened, as we'd been told we'd do, we both woke up suddenly about 6 am and asked each other if the other had fed her yet, but both replied no. So we went out and peeked at her and she was still sound asleep, it was amazing. This has continued this for the past 2 weeks now (knock on wood). Reese must get those good sleeping genes from her Auntie Jen and I. If she could only do 12 hours, then she'd be up to our caliber...or what I used to be able to do. Since Im nursing, my body no longer allows that much interrupted sleep at once. :(  Eight hours is good enough now though.

This was also Ty's first full week back to work, so the timing couldn't have been better.

She had been sleeping in the pack and play on the first floor (since that's closer to our bedroom), but once she started sleeping through the night we moved her up to her room and crib. The first night for that was Sat. April 9th, when we had the Gates and Steedmans over to hang out, and Ty and Gate tried to change burnt out ceiling lights in our over 20 foot ceilings. That is what our Saturday nights have come to. :) It was interesting (and scary) to watch and very fun to hang out with our friends nonetheless. Since she was now sleeping so far away from us, this was the first night we needed to use the video monitor. However we didn't know we had to plug it in and the battery died in the middle of the night. When we both woke up we she crying up there (we heard it faintly), and we felt so bad! We dont know how long she was up but hopefully not too long. Also, the night before I had placed her in her crib on the left side under her mobile and when I went up to get her, this is where she was:

Somehow, even in her Woombie (swaddler), she maneuvered her way to the opposite end of the bed overnight. At least she is utilizing the whole crib space. :) 

Here is Reese sleeping (partially) in her Woombie during the day. She loves this thing and so do we! She doesn't sleep well without it. She is still taking like 5 or so cat naps throughout the day, with the longest one usually being about an hour or so after she gets up.