Corinne's tree

This simple tree sits in our living room, between our fireplace and one couch. We have affectionately dubbed it "Corinne's tree" because for the last few weeks we have noticed her keen observation of the tree each time she is sitting with us on the couch. We quickly realized that this is because there is a vent in the floor, right next to the tree, and when our furnace kicks on the leaves on the tree are blown all around. Corinne started observing this phenomenon when she was about 7 weeks old and ever since then she will intently turn toward the tree to see the leaves and watch them blow. We think she's pretty smart...some might say "gifted":)

Books & Toys

There's nothing like a good book in the evening before winding down for bed--especially if it's being read by Daddy! Corinne is also getting to know a new friend named "Hugsby" (no, I did not come up with that...it's on his collar) the Teddy Bear, who may just be bigger than she is. And, of course, we have to practice holding onto our friend, Caterpillar, who is just the right size around for Corinne's little fingers.

President's Day Playdate

This photo was taken at a playdate we went to with some friends who teach (or used to teach) with me at Maddux Elementary. As you can see, all of the children are about the same age...except Corinne. That's because the kids in the photo represent some of the eight teachers who were pregnant all in the same school year! (Obviously, I steered clear of the water that year...) I am looking forward to when Corinne can "play" with the other kids. Right now she just gets propped up on the couch!

Four Generations

Today my Grandma came over to meet Corinne for the first time! That means that four generations are pictured here!!

Two Months Old

Above are a few pictures to show and tell about Corinne at two months old (actually, she is 9 weeks...) She is so much fun these days and I've included a short list of what she's been up to recently. Perhaps my most favorite milestone of hers is that she has been sleeping through the night for the last two weeks! Hooray for that one:) Currently we are working on a routine of "daytime naps" and soon I plan to revisit the task of moving up her bedtime. So, hopefully by the three month post I'll be able to report that we are doing well with those things, too!

Corinne is...

*sleeping 8.5 hours per night!

*sucking on her hands

*reading lots of books with us

*grasping Caterpillar in her hand for a few seconds before letting go

*smiling a TON

*mimicing our facial expressions and movements

*enjoying her new Rainforest bouncy seat

*napping with Daddy on weekends (see photo)

*going on various playdates -- though she's usually the youngest one! (photo coming soon!)

Corinne's World

Here are just a few recent pictures to give you a taste of life in Corinne's world...

*Also pictured: Corinne's friends, Caterpillar, Giraffe, and our own beloved Lilly

A Taste of Victory (?)

For those of you who read the previous post, "Setback Night", I would like to share a small victory:

Corinne slept from 10:45pm last night until 7 am this morning. (AND the best part is: I actually had to wake her up at 7 because she was still asleep!)

Setback Night

There are a lot of things I'm learning about our 7 1/2 week old daughter. One of them is that there will be setbacks from time to time. As frustrating as that is, I'm working hard not to let it stress me out or worry me. An example of what I'm talking about has to do with Corinne's sleeping schedule...

For over a week she had gotten to the point where she was giving us 6 hour stretches of sleep at night. She would eat around 10pmish and then we would put her to bed around 10:45pm, and she was sleeping until 4:30 or 5 am. This was heavenly!! I was getting super confident and things seemed to be getting easier!

Then a few days ago I was reading that around 7 or 8 weeks, babies develop an earlier bedtime. This "clicked" for us because we've been noticing that Corinne would get so so tired around 7 or 8 pm. No problem, I thought, we'll try the earlier bedtime idea. So last evening after an 8pm feeding we tried to put her to bed just before 9pm since she was looking really tired. Well...Corinne didn't really take to that idea even though we could tell how tired she was. She proceded to cry off and on, we proceded to check on her off and on, pick her up, soothe her, etc. until I finally ended up feeding an awake Corinne around 11pm. Ugh. We knew we might be in for a rough night since A) we had tried something new and B) she was now off her previous schedule of being fed and in bed before 11pm.

Sure enough, Corinne woke up at 2:30am. Whoa. I had already forgotten what that was like, since we had gotten spoiled with her 6 hour stretches! And then she woke again at 6am. What a night. We call these "Setback Nights". (Unfortunately, we have a name for them, which tells you it's happened before!)

So, the question becomes, do we go back to the old schedule which seemed to be working well (and will she even go back to that?) or do we try to work on that earlier bedtime? Hmm. We're not sure. But, at least it's the weekend. Another thing I've learned is that it's good to try new things on the weekend when things are a little easier with Brett around and there is a better possiblity of getting a nap. Perhaps you should check back in a day or two and we'll let you know how things turned out!

The Two Faces of Corinne

Check out these photos. Both were taken fairly recently, but in my opinion I think Corinne looks like a completely different person depending on if she is awake or asleep.

(Please note: Corinne posed for the top picture all on her own. I had no part--I promise!)

Doting Aunts

This past weekend my sisters, Laura and Marcey, were in town for a long weekend and Corinne basked in their attention and love the whole time. It was the first time Corinne met Aunt Laura and it was obvious that Corinne enjoyed it thoroughly! I am so glad that Corinne has such amazing aunts to look up to and I cannot wait for their relationships to grow and develop. During the weekend we started discussions about the next Sisters Trip and Corinne is, of course, going to get to be a part of our next excursion--an exception made for no one but her. (We just need her to sleep through the night first:)

Corinne's highlights of the weekend included (but were not limited to):
*shopping with Aunt Marcey and I at Kenwood Town Center
*sleeping in the Baby Bjorn while Aunt Marcey and I played Yahtzee
*dinner at Grandma Grigsby's house
*dinner at LaRosa's (a Grigsby tradition at each visit)
*spending time with Grandma Schatz while the Grigsby Girls went out to lunch downtown
*sleeping through church (again!)
* hanging out at home with Aunt Laura and watching the Superbowl

Corinne had a great weekend, and so did I! I love my sisters, and Corinne loves her doting aunts! We miss them already. When can we see you again?!