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Piper- 4 Months Old

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Piper turns 4 months old today.
She…
• weighs about 16.6  pounds
• wears size 3 diapers
• wears size 3-6 months clothes
• smiles a lot and even laughs a little
• has discovered her feet
• likes: batting at objects, chewing on her hands, things that make rustling sounds, seeing everything that’s going on
• dislikes: being tired, being cradled like a baby, tummy time

Piper went to a birthday party for the first time yesterday (cousin Brody’s). Although she didn’t know what was going on and slept most of the time, she was super cute and Chad and I got to eat cupcakes.

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National Boards

I recently accomplished something very exciting that was quickly overshadowed by the birth of Piper. On November 17th (the day before Piper was born), I found out that I had become a National Board Certified teacher (NBCT). This certification was the end to a 2-year long process of videoing, documenting, and writing about my teaching. It was a lot of work that seemed overwhelming at times, but sometimes fun in a weird way. I really like having a finished product at the end of a long-term goal. It’s such a great feeling. To submit my entries for NB, I had to mail a box of several 12-page papers among other things by March 31st. It felt really good to put it all together and send off what I had been working on for so long… even though I knew it would be 7 1/2 months before I would find out if I passed.

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At the post office about to mail my National Board entries

On March 7th, they had a recognition ceremony for all Kentucky NBCTs who certified in 2012. I went and listened to the governor and many representatives offer congratulations. It probably wasn’t worth the 2 1/2-hour drive, but it still felt like an honor. I’m pretty proud to be one of only 102,237 NBCTs in the country and one of only 3,752 who share my same certification (Early Adolescence Math). I don’t set too many goals, but this was a big one for me and I’m happy to share that I reached it. I know I would not have been able to do it without Chad. He was a huge help and motivator the whole way!

Kentucky National Board Certified Teachers 2012
Kentucky National Board Certified Teachers 2012
Governor Steve Beshear
Governor Steve Beshear
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Piper Playing with a Balloon

A couple things to ignore.

  • That horrific hoodie. Rock Chalk YaLostLastYear. It was a 5 buck purchase last fall in Wisconsin because I was cold.
  • The child abuse at 1:21.

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Piper- 3 Months Old

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Piper turns 3 months old today.
She…
• weighs about 15.8 pounds
• was in the 99.78 %ile in height at her last check-up
• wears size 2 diapers
• wears size 3-6 months clothes
• coos a lot
• smiles more
• holds her head up well
• likes: chewing on her hands, licking things, baths, being carried in her Baby Bjorn, looking at the TV (noooo!)
• dislikes: being tired, getting her finger cut by nail clippers, tummy time, mommy going back to work (that might be my dislike)

Today will be her first full day at day care. She sleeps in the emergency crib. It’s like all the others except it’s by the door and has wheels. During drills and emergencies, they put all the babies in her crib and roll them out. I like to picture her motioning everyone over and standing at the front of the crib, pointing out the way as they are pushed to safety. She has no idea of the responsibility she has.

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Piper- 2 Months Old

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Piper turns 2 months old today.
She…
• weighs about 13.8 pounds
• no longer has her umbilical cord stump
• wears size 1 diapers (until we finish this box)
• wears size 0-3 months clothes
• sleeps in her crib
• smiles occasionally
• holds her head up well
• likes: chewing on her hands, her sleep sheep (set to ocean sounds), baths, being carried around, being swaddled, riding in her stroller, looking at everything (especially towards light)
• dislikes: gas, sitting in one place for too long, when caps fall over her eyes

She will go to her 2 month check-up on Monday, where I’m sure we will have to add “getting shots” to her dislikes list.

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Piper Smiles

I received a great Christmas present this December 25th. Piper (while awake) smiled a big smile at me. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Since then, Chad has been trying to get her to smile at him. She finally did the other day and he’s now hooked. He smiles and talks funny to her trying to get a little glimpse of that adorable grin. They don’t happen too often yet, but we were able to capture one the other day.

Piper Smiling

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Piper’s New Belly Button

A baby’s umbilical cord stump typically falls off sometime between 10 and 21 days. Piper held on to to hers until she was 43 days old. It finally fell off Sunday night and I noticed it while changing her diaper in the middle of the night.

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Piper- 1 Month Old

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Piper turns 1 month old today.
She…
• weighs about 11.8 pounds
• still has her umbilical cord stump
• wears size 1 diapers
• wears size 0-3 months (some newborn) clothes
• sleeps in the napper in the Pack n Play
• likes: her swing, burying her head in Mommy’s belly after eating, looking at the wall next to the changing table, chewing on her hands, being sung to
• dislikes: gas, hiccups

She plans to spend the day going to get her picture taken with Santa.IMG_0561

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Top 5 Newborn Essentials

Baby Piper is 1 month old, and I don’t think I could have made it through this first month without these things. Beside the basic crib, clothes, and car seat, here are some of what I would call must-haves for moms of newborns.

1) A swing. We have the Snug-a-Bunny and she loves it. Anytime we put her down, it’s usually in her swing. Sometimes we don’t even turn it on. She just stares at the mirror or birds above her. The first week she was home, there were several nights when we slept on the couch and she slept in the swing.

2) My Brest Friend. This is so helpful when nursing to support her weight without her sinking to the middle like she does in the Boppy. The My Brest Friend straps around me and always stays put. It also has a convenient pocket where I keep burp cloths, gas drops, and the TV remote. They are always at my fingertips so I don’t have to reach and risk breaking her latch.

3) Swaddles. Everyone told me to be sure that I had swaddling blankets, but the best are the SwaddleMe ones that have Velcro to tightly wrap her without her squirming loose. We had one SwaddleMe when she was born, but after using it, we immediately ordered 3 more that are now in constant rotation at bedtime.

4) Mittens. Part of why these are essential is because of my anxiety of cutting her nails, but even the nails that don’t look like they have anything to cut will still scratch the heck out of my little baby girl who doesn’t realize what her hands are doing.

5) Cloth diapers. But not for diapering. I use these as burp cloths because they are cheap and not like some that are too cute to spit up on. You can get a pack of these and have them placed all around the house, ready to grab. And if they get too dirty, I don’t feel bad about throwing them out.