This video was taken last month. This is the first (and to date only) time that Torgo has let Ouida Mae touch him. Actually, it was the first time he voluntarily laid down near her, so the fact that he didn’t flinch when she reached out and grabbed his fur was a real surprise:
This is from the day we played with the toy on the deck. I was trying to get a video of her rolling over. I didn’t get the roll, but she did manage to scoot her body around 90 degrees. But look at the big grin she breaks out with every time she sees the dogs.
Saturday was a big day for Ouida Mae. Malachi took her walking at Radnor Lake during my massage therapy appointment. He took lots of pictures of snakes, squirrels, birds, and plants, but none of her since she was strapped to his chest in her carrier. Afterward we went to the Fresh Market for some groceries. I used to go there every Thursday after my massage therapy appointment to buy a cannoli and a dozen roses (best price on roses in Nashville). I didn’t realize how regular I had become, but now that I think about it I guess it’s not a surprise that the employees would recognize me; how many pregnant women come into the store the same day every week to buy one cannoli and a dozen roses? The lady who always checked me out said it was nice to see me again. Everyone came over to see Ouida and tell me how pretty she is.
By the time we got home we were very tired. Malachi snapped these photos of us while I grabbed a nap with Ouida Mae:
I have noticed Ouida Mae begin to grab for and grasp some things (namely, my hair). I thought it might be time to see what she did with a toy, and this is what ensued:
I just happened to be walking by with the camera so I seized the opportunity to take this. It features hits such as:
“Monkey Face”
“Bald Spot on the Back of My Head”
“Monkey Face Reprise/Lick the Pillow”
I also got some great pics from it (posted in the photo gallery).
Ouida Mae was three months old yesterday! Here’s what she’s been up to:
Malachi took a day off over the weekend of Valentine’s Day so we could take Ouida Mae to east Tennessee and Virginia to see our families. This was the first time Ouida met her grandmother, great grandfather, and Uncle Robby. We had a nice visit there and were all sad when it was time to leave. Later that evening Ouida Mae made her stage debut when we went to hear Malachi’s parents perform at a local restaurant. All of their friends were very excited to meet her and she spent hours being passed around and shown off without even a peep. She’s a very happy and social baby.
Ouida Mae meets her great grandfather.
This past Monday she went to the doctor for a checkup and her first shots (ouch!). She was cranky later, but nothing a little Tylenol didn’t fix. Ah, her first sugar… after all, who doesn’t like high fructose corn syrup? She weighs 12 pounds, 10 ounces and is now 26 inches long. Her weight was a bit lower than I expected and she actually has fallen a little on the growth chart but nothing to be concerned about. She’s just decided to be an average size now rather than the 75th percentile for her age. Developmentally she is a little head of schedule.
Speaking of developmental milestones, I suspected she was on the cusp of one as she has been sleeping and eating more this week than usual. Lo and behold, today she rolled over for the first time. She has also begun sleeping through the night! She has slept 6-7 hours each night this week and is beginning to have somewhat dependable nap times during the day.
Everyone says they can tell she is highly intelligent because she is so expressive and interactive at such a young age. Just like her furry sister Freya, Ouida Mae is a social butterfly. She loves to see the world and meet new people. She loves her mommy the best, but is never shy when it comes to being held by other people. Here she is peeking out of her new carrier:
Last week saw the end to my maternity leave, but the beauty of being self-employed (and the beauty of the nature of my work) means that Ouida Mae is with me in the office and accompanies me whenever I have outside appointments. I did not plan to go back to attending deliveries for another few months, but due to the tragic death of another local midwife I have found myself once again on-call, and Ouida is on-call too.
And as an added bonus, a “nothing special” video we took yesterday to commemorate her 3-month birthday:
Here is a new video of Ouida Mae’s bath time. You can see she’s quite a chunky little monkey. It’s been over 2 weeks since I last weighed her. She was pushing 12 pounds then; I’m sure she’s over 13 pounds now.
Sorry it’s been so long since I posted any updates. We’ve been working on ways to make it easier to maintain this journal and it looks like we’ve finally worked something out. There’s still some formatting to figure out but all the content is here.
I will be back soon to fill you in on all of Ouida Mae’s amazing accomplishments. For the time being you can check out all the new pictures in the photo gallery and see a few new videos:
I had to put away some of Ouida Mae’s little newborn onesies this morning because they are already too small. I weighed her on my newborn scale and holy cow! 9 pounds 12 ounces already. That’s over 2 pounds in a month!
