Roller Coaster

I got this roller coaster toy, along with a bunch of baby clothes, from a donation shower (aka: baby stuff swap) that the UC Davis Pregnant Student Support Group held a few months ago.  I love free baby stuff, Renee doesn't care if it's used, and we don't have to spend money on something she's only going to use for a few months.

She really likes this toy too.  She can't move the blocks around yet, but if she holds on just right it helps her balance so she can sit up, which she loves to do :D  She topples right over as soon as she lets go though!

She's getting better about doing "Tummy Time" these days also.  I can even make her laugh when she's on her tummy sometimes.  

But, it usually doesn't last long, and she starts to get upset.

Luckily that one is a quick fix, just turn her over, make a goofy face and Voilà!!, a happy baby again :D

Goofy Girl!!!

On another Renee note, she had her first real cold this week.  It started last Saturday with a runny nose and a fever, and it pretty much lasted all week long.  It was a good one too, complete with a trip to the doctor, two trips to the pharmacy, greenish snot, lots of coughing and, by far the most fun, throwing up... on me... several times.  At least she's not eating solid foods yet :D

Party Girl

On Friday Jeff, Renee and I went to a party in San Francisco.  Jeff's description of the party before we went was that it was hosted by one of his co-workers, the majority of the people there were going to be fellow emplyees, spouses were invited and that there would be a hired bartender.  So, I'm thinking work party, low key, boring. 

Well, it was more than a boring work party, let me tell you!!!  They were taking shots, playing pool, blasting music, dancing, and having a great time.  And Renee had a blast :D  She was very interested in watching what everyone was doing and even let total strangers pick her up and walk around the room with her.  We only stayed a few hours, since it's never fun for a sober person (namely me) to be around ever increasingly drunk people for very long :D  Plus, I was worried about the noise level and Renee's sensitive infant ears.

On our way home we stopped at a CPK in Emeryville for dinner and Renee was so tired from partying that she fell completely asleep while nursing and didn't even notice when I put her down on the booth seat next to me while Jeff and I finished our pizza.  She got lots of curious looks, and tons of awwws from surrounding diners! 

Here she is sound asleep on the booth at CPK.

Then yesterday, we had some great friends from San Mateo over.  And again Renee was very social.  I think everyone took a turn holding her and she didn't mind one bit, smiling and cooing while we chatted.  It looks like our fussy little baby has finally grown into the social butterfly we've always wanted her to be, or at least she's well on her way!

Renee Rolled Over!!!

It was not at all graceful, but she did it!!!  And she was really mad about not being able to get back over - she doesn't like being on her stomach :D

Here she is right after she rolled onto her stomach for the very first time!!!

Oh, and I finally put up the June pictures on her Gallery Page, go check it out if you want to see more of her cuteness!

Look How Big Renee is Getting!!!

Renee had her 4 month check up appointment yesterday.  Every time we go to the doctor they weigh her, measure how long she is and measure her head circumference to make sure that she is growing enough.  The doctor's have been concerned about her slow weight gain ever since she was 2 weeks old, but not any more :D  She is now in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for height of babies her age!  Yeahhh, no more weight checks every two weeks!!!

The doctor is always showing me a graph on where Renee fits in the growth categories as compared to all the other babies of the world, so I thought I'd make one that's just about her - no comparisons :D

(sub in famous boxing announcer voice here)  

"Weighing in at 13 pounds, 10.7 ounces, standing 2 feet and 3/4 inches tall, our very own Slobber Champion of the Woooooorld: Renee "Thunder Thighs" Truuuuunnellllllle!!!!"  (crowd cheers in the background)

                                    

Day Care

Renee has been going to day care for a little over a week now.  I wasn't sure how either one of us would do with the transition since we had been together all day, every day since she was born.  But, so far it's going great!

Her first day was rough.  Her primary teacher, Erika, noticed that whenever the room was quiet Renee was okay, but got very upset when there was a lot of noise from the other babies.  And as you can imagine, in an infant daycare with ~15 babies under the age of 1, the room is not quiet very often or for very long.  So, she did a lot of crying that day.  I almost cried leaving her there, but stayed strong, telling myself that she would be just fine, and I made it through the day without shedding a tear :D  I didn't even go and visit her, I didn't want to traumatize her (translation: myself) even more by leaving her twice in the same day.  Thankfully when I picked her up at the end of the day she was sound asleep in her crib (not screaming her head off like I imagined), which was very comforting for a worried mom who doesn't know how anyone else could possibly take care of her baby the way that she does!

Here's a picture of Renee and her primary teacher Erika on her first day.

Since then she has been doing great.  I drop her off every morning and hand her to one of the teachers, whoever is available to hold her at the moment, and give her a kiss goodbye.  And she looks completely relaxed with the situation, not caring at all that I am no longer holding her (something which was a major problem up to this point!).  She barely gives me a second glance as I leave; she is now much more interested in watching what the older, more mobile babies are doing.  I feel like if she could, she would say something like, "bye Mom, see you later!".
 
What's really great is that all the teachers love her (I mean, how could they not)!  They get a kick out of her silly baby babbling, goofy smiles and adorable laughing.  There is even a little friendly competition going on among them about who gets to take care of her more.

Other than day 1, her first week went great and when I picked her up on Friday, Erika handed me this:

Renee's 1st art project

(outside of the card)

 

 (inside of the card)

Renee "made" a Father's Day card for her Daddy, complete with orange construction paper and green baby hand and foot prints :D  It was so cute, I was jealous that I didn't get one!  Jeff will just have to share it with me!!!

First Post - A Better Blog

I have been struggling with the current design of Renee's web page for quite some time now.  Not that I think Jeff didn't do a great job building it, he did - it's awesome; especially the gallery page.  It's just that her main page is not a proper "blog", which is how I've been using it, and it's kind of a pain to update.  I could have had Jeff create some new blog-like page that would give me all the options I want, which he probably would have spent hours upon hours perfecting for me (thank you my love!).  Instead I am just going to stick with the principle that the simplest solution is often the best solution (Occam's razor, in case you were interested).

So, here it is: a user friendly blog to keep our friends, family and anyone else who stumbles across it, updated on the smiles, tears, drool and other interesting activities of our beautiful daughter Renee Marjorie Trunnelle.

We hope you enjoy and visit often!!!