Beach Baby

All dressed up and ready for the beach!

This past Tuesday, June 21st, marked L'ie Bear's first beach trip...and it was a great one!  The Bear, her grandmothers and I headed to Rehobeth Beach and after a few stops, we had lunch at Dogfish Head Pub and then carried ALL of our stuff down to the beach!  

I always used to laugh at those families who pulled a bunch of gear onto the beach and set up an entire living area on the sand.  And while, I do not think we were quite that bad, it did feel like we had a lot of gear with us.  We had the Bear's stroller/carseat, one good beach chair, one broken beach chair (we did not realize it was broken until my mom went to sit in it), beach bags, towels, and our family beach blanket, which still smelled like all of the beach trips taken during my childhood.  

Our area on the beach!

Also, since L'ie Bear is too young for sunscreen, we made sure we had plenty of protective clothing and an umbrella for shade.  The umbrella was quite a challenge!  It did not want to stay upright and poor Charlene suffered the brunt of those windy assualts.  But overall, it did provide a nice spot for L'ie.

The weather was beautiful and there was a nice breeze coming off the water.  Although it was quite comfortable on the blanket, we decided to head down to the water for some photos.  I expected a major freak out when I placed L'ie in the water, but she did not seem to mind it at all!  I think we may have another beach lover in our family and I cannot wait for many future beach trips to come!!  

The grandmothers pause for a photo before L'ie Bear's first dip in the water!

  

Heading closer to the water!

Feeling the wet sand and waiting for the water to arrive!  

Here it comes....

Wow, that is cold!!

Still no tears!!

Quite a successful first beach experience!!!

3 Months Old

Yesterday was June 15th, and it is hard to believe that the Bear is already 3 months old!  So many things have changed for L'ie in such a short amount of time...

1.  She now focuses on objects and turns her head to look for people when she hears them enter the room.

2.  She is now sleeping through the night.  Lately, she has been going to bed around 9 pm, I wake her up before I go to bed at 11 pm for a late night feeding, and then she goes back to sleep until 7 am.  I hope to be able to skip the 11 pm feeding soon!

3.  She has begun to show the beginnings of her father's sense of humor.  She likes to blow spit bubbles and then smile.  If she knew how to laugh, I have no doubt she would follow up the spit bubbles with a sweet giggle!

4.  She now loves to stand up (assisted of course).  She enjoys keeping her legs locked in a standing position so much, that you actually have to make her bend her legs to sit down.  I am curious to see how this works when it comes time for her to crawl...maybe she will skip the crawling stage and go directly to walking!

5.  When we do manage to bend her legs into a sitting position, L'ie has begun to sit in her Bumpo seat.  It is quite fun to see her sitting there on her own and she seems to enjoy it, which is always a plus!  

6.  She now eats 7-8 times a day instead of the 10-12 times when she first came home!

7.  She now loves music and enjoys it when someone moves her arms and legs in rhythm to help her "dance".

8.  And of course she has changed in appearance quite a bit these past few months..........

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old
(Please take note of the slight smile in this photo)

I wish I could say that the only thing that has NOT changed over the past 3 months is our love for L'ie Bear.  But even that has changed, because we have discovered that we fall in love with her more and more every day.  

HAPPY 3 MONTHS L'IE!!!!!

Yum My Thumb!!

Well it has been a few weeks since my last post and I have only been able to catch one picture of L'ie smiling and my inlaws/parents have only been able to get a few as well.  For those of you who know my dad, you now understand what a triumph it must be to catch a smile on film, since he only caught one or two smiles out of ALL of the photos he took!!  My photo was a lucky shot.  Chad was holding L'ie over his head and making funny faces.  It worked, she smiled and I happened to have a camera ready.  So behold my only photo, so far, of smiling L'ie Bear!!!

Despite the sad display of photographic evidence, L'ie Bear is still a very happy baby.  We believe her happiness is partly due to the fact that she has finally discovered her thumb!  Before this life changing discovery, she had to make use of a pacifier to sooth herself.  Without fail, she would yank the pacifier out of her mouth during a stretch and would cry when she was unable to put the pacifier back in her mouth. Now she just shoves her thumb in her mouth and hugs her pacifier (glad to see the pacifier still has a use).

  

This new found talent brings feelings of both dread and relief.  Relief that I do not have to get up every time L'ie pulls a pacifier out of her mouth and starts to cry.  Dread that we are going to have to break a thumb sucking habit down the road, which I know will not be easy!  But the worries over this habit and future orthodontist bills probably do not matter, since Chad has begun grooming L'ie...The first female to play in the NHL does not need to worry about having perfect teeth!!

  

I guess we will just have to take it one milestone at a time and deal with our little thumb sucker when we are all ready.  Until then, we are more than happy to give our legs a break from getting up every time L'ie Bear loses her pacifier!!