My Little Baby Doll

I love making baby clothes! Granted I haven't made that many yet, but they are relatively easy to do and I have so much fun with the fabrics and with making little alterations as I see fit. This dress here I made with curtain fabric from our old apartment and a vintage tablecloth that had been all cut up. The little buttons up top are from my Grandma's collection that I inherited--she passed away about 10 years ago and must love seeing her great grand-daughter Greta get use out of these buttons! I really love this dress and would definitely wear it if I was able to make it my own size (actually, I can safely say that about all the clothes I've made Greta so far). She wore this to the shower the church threw for her a few weeks ago.





This dress also has curtain fabric from our old apartment, as well as my Grandma's buttons. And Grandma Judy, you will notice the bottom portion of the dress is the same fabric as the lining of the bag I made you for Christmas! Anyway, this is the first thing I made for Greta. She wore it to the shower my mom threw for her when she was 6 weeks old, and here she is wearing it at a little over 3 months. I think she looks especially beautiful in this dress as the color really brings out her eyes.









You may have noticed all these pieces of clothing are relatively similar...I basically used the same pattern with slight alterations each time. This is a little top I made her from the dress pattern. It too has my Grandma's old buttons and curtain fabric, as well as fabric from Grandma Kathy's Christmas bag! Greta is getting a little big for this top, so she's going to wear it a LOT in the next short while! It really brings out her eyes as well.










Some may gasp to see a baby in black, but I couldn't help myself! I saw a really cute black baby outfit at a great kids store awhile back and thought "Hmmm...a baby in black? Unusual...I like it!" Besides, every girl needs a little black dress. This one I've paired with a pink onesie underneath, to take the edge off. The stitching on the dress is bright pink, and I also stitched some diamonds on along the lower left side of the dress to give it some extra pizzaazz. I think Greta's skin really stands out in this dress.








I always loved dressing up my dolls when I was a kid, and now I have a real live doll all of my own to pretty up all the time (until she doesn't let me anymore!) Every time I make something new for Greta it's almost like she delights in trying it on for me. She never ever fusses when it's time to get dressed or undressed--in fact I think she enjoys it--either that or she just senses how much I enjoy it and oblidges happily. What fun it is to be a mom! I love it all.

Happy 3 Month Birthday!

Today Greta and Mama finally had their first photo shoot--and here is one of the photos from it. As you can see, she is holding her head up and standing really well. She is full of smiles, and this morning even laughed a few times!! Her laugh sounds kind of like a little cough...but once I got this reaction out of her I kept trying (successfully!) again and again to hear it. How great! After this photo shoot today she did some spitting up, had a mini crying fit--which is rare--and then crashed for a nap IN HER CRIB. Yes, I think she's finally made daytime peace with her crib. On her 3 month birthday yesterday she actually took two naps in it! I darken the room completely, turn on the fan for some white noise, and for the finishing touch that works like magic: turn on soothing nap music! Yipee!

Here is Greta on her birthday having some tummy time and pushing herself up with her arms. She absolutely loves to roll herself over onto her tummy but unfortunately has a little trouble rolling back onto her back. She CAN do it, but it's a lot of work and so she often tires out and gets stuck. Poor thing! But she simply cannot resist the urge to roll herself over anyway, over and over--she loves it.





One of her other best favorite places to be now that she holds her head up so well is face out in the Baby Bjorn carrier. Here she is on her birthday with Papa. The two of them went for a walk while I had a jog. Greta loves to go around like this and doesn't fuss at all while in it! Take note how you cannot see her mouth in this photo--that is because the loves to suck on the Baby Bjorn!
Happy Birthday Greta!

Happy Canada Day!

Here is our little Canadian resting up the night before the big day. She has certainly gotten herself comfortable!!
We can often get her to sleep in her crib when it is night-time bedtime...but during the day it's still another story indeed. She seems to need to sleep in the sling during the day, otherwise she only takes half hour naps, which leave her a Grumpy Greta.











After an early morning feed Greta joined us in our bed. Matthew snapped this picture when he got up--he always gets up before us girls!

Even though she's still purely Canadian at this point she still bears a strong resemblance to her American Mama :-)







Having a jolly jumping time in her new rig! Greta received this as a gift from the church, which threw us a baby shower over the weekend. She doesn't do big jumps in her Jolly Jumper yet, but she seems to love hobbling and twirling around in it. Shortly after this picture was taken Greta made a serious mess in her Canada Day themed bloomers, which Mama promptly washed so she could still wear them to our festive BBQ later in the day.










And one final salute to Canada before bed. Greta spent a lot of time awake today. At the BBQ she was very observant and quiet--she barely made a peep--but stayed quite awake (she only slept for about an hour and a half today!) By the evening she was very tired and ready to retire in her crib. Night Night Greta.

Father's Day

Today is my first father's day. I am thrilled to be Greta's father. She is a very sweet and beautiful person, I am so proud of her. It seems incredible to me that I had any part in her being. She is an amazing person, and I am humbled by the privilege and responsibility of being her father.

I have noticed that whenever I have to leave for school or work, I inevitably start to think of her and miss her as soon as I have left. After a short time I start longing to be back home and be with her. I can't think of another time when I have grown to love someone so thoroughly and so fervently, in such a short time. She really is special.

I wish there were ways to express what it is like to love your child, because it is so good that everyone should know it.

Here are a few pictures we took just a few minutes ago. Notice the beautiful dress Greta is wearing: her Grandma Judy made it for her!

Swinging and Sleeping

Here is Greta in her new swing from Great Grandpa Ronnie! Supposedly babies fall asleep in these things, but Greta has yet to do so. She does enjoy riding in it while listening to the music and nature sounds it can make, or watching her Mama and Papa be busy or eat dinner. The first time she was on a swing was at my dad's house. He has a deck swing and I took her on it and she LOVED it!! She looked all around and seemed to love the feel of the wind and sun on her as we slowly swung (swinged? swang?) on it. I will always remember that :-)
















And here we have Greta peacefully sleeping in her crib. Matthew set it up a couple weeks ago because Greta is so active...she kept banging up against the sides of her bassinet! Now she has a nice big comfy crib to get crazy (and sleep) in. She doesn't usually get her limbs stuck between the slats, but one night she couldn't get her arm out and cried for help! Poor thing. She hasn't done that since.

Greta is such a sweet baby. She is so smiley! I never knew something could melt my heart as much as her smiles do. They're addictive; once I get one I keep trying and trying for another!

Just a Little Person

Relaxing on the couch after a long day's work...The family I worked for gave Greta this outfit and it is the most expensive outfit she will EVER own! She will wear it often :-) Good thing it's so cute on her!











Hanging out with Mama is so fun, isn't it Greta?

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

Well it's officially Greta's 2 month birthday today. I'm especially aware of that since I spent 10 minutes singing about it while I tried to keep her from crying so I could take a shower this morning!! Greta has increased her crying output lately. Supposedly this is normal. We got a booklet and video about the "period of purple crying" when we left the hospital after she was born. Inconsolable, unexplainable baby crying peaks at about 2 months and then settles down by 5 months. But I really can't complain much, because she is still a pretty content and easy going little girl. It's mostly the evenings when she gets so wired she can't settle herself down! I've taken to going for walks with her or just keeping her in the baby sling during these times. I figure it won't last forever, and the most important thing right now is for her to learn to trust...not for her to learn to go to sleep by herself. Fortunately she does sleep well at night, though. By midnight, when Matthew and I are going to bed, she usually falls asleep in her crib on her own and then sleeps for 5-7 hours straight! She then wakes up to feed and goes back to sleep easily for another 3-5 hours--and even though we put her to sleep on her back, she usually switches to her side. Greta is a very active baby and tires herself out during the day. At 7.5 weeks she rolled over for the first time all on her own!! I love to talk about this and am a very proud mama. The average baby doesn't roll over until 5 months of age, so Greta is quite the little acrobat. Greta can also climb over the U-shaped nursing pillow I prop her on. One day I left her propped on it while I went to the bathroom and when I came back she had hoisted herself over it and then I got to watch her shimmy her way down onto the ground--all without a fuss! She's slim and trim but oh so strong. Matthew and I have so much fun with her. We have discovered little things that make her smile, and we see lots of smiles now. Also, she can be quite talkative and especially loves when we copy the sounds she makes. She really gets on a roll and tells us lots of stories!