10 Weeks

Matilda's 10th week got off to a rough start as she received her first dose of shots at the doctor's office. I will never forget her little face when she got the first prick. It was a heart-breaking mix of sadness and "why are you being so mean, I was being so good..." But, she pretty much slept all day (a special treat for me), and was her old self the next day.

She got her 'digits' at this appointment and as predicted we learned that she is a LONG thing.
11 lb, 12 oz     (50th percentile)
24.5" long        (off the charts-->95%)
14" head           (25th percentile)

She attended her first block party with the Schuster's, and managed to sleep through most of it--loud band playing and all. Which continues to baffle me as the smallest noise at home seems to startle her awake.

She attended her first wedding where she promptly enjoyed her first polka with Mama! She seemed to enjoy the dance floor with the bright lights and music pumping. I foresee many dance parties in our future.

Matilda also got her first bug bite which was right on her face, and made her look like she was going through early puberty. :)

Other than that, Matilda continues to munch those little hands, is working on 'talking' to us, and trying to grab more and more objects. She is full of smiles, and quite the squirmy worm. She doesn't like to be held 'like a baby' but either up over the shoulder or facing out.

We are still working on tummy time too. As you can see she is more interested in munching on her hands then lifting that noggin of hers!

Family Fun

This weekend was a weekend filled with celebration as my cousin Paul got married in La Crosse to his beautiful girlfriend, Sara! Welcome to the fam! The wedding was gorgeous, as was the couple.

The 'other Ekern' clan descended upon WI as well, which ALWAYS makes for a good time. Needless to say all of the children were spoiled with lots of snuggles and kisses. Looking at my pictures, I think Emily was the true baby hog...because in all of them she has one of the babes.

And, there was more celebrating to be done as it is Leo's 1st birthday next week!

All of this celebrating really tuckered the little guy out, as he fell asleep in his high chair mid-Cheerio:

It was super fun to spend so much time with everyone, enjoy good food, good company,and  a mean game of bags.

It's weekends like these that make me sad that we don't all live closer to one another, but thankful that when we do get together we always have a good time.

Munchie

When Nate and I were discussing baby names, we had very few criteria (if you can even call it that).

1) We wanted something unique, and not a name our baby would share with 1 million other kids in their class.

2) Nate really wanted the name to be 'nicknamable'. He is a huge fan of nicknames, and gives them out whenever they come to him. I'm pretty sure he has at least a dozen names for me.

So, we decided on Matilda for our girl name. Unique? Check. Nicknamable?

Hmm..well there is Tillie (which we LOVE), Tilda, Til, Mattie (which is strictly off-limits unless Matilda decides for herself she wants to be called that since it is grossly overused these days..), Matilda Mae, M&M, and more.

But no one could have predicted the number one nickname of affection we tend to call our babe:

Munchie.

Because this kid is ALWAYS munchin' on her hands. And now she has started munching on blankets, toys, anything she has in her hands. And so, Munchie is seemingly a nickname that has stuck for now. And I have to say I think it fits her perfect.

Well, that an "Tootin' Tillie" which Finn named her. Also appropriate because she does toot a lot.

But for now she is Munchie. She is Tillie. She is Til. She is Matilda Mae, and Matilda. She is stealing our hearts every day, with every little smile...and munch.

2 Months

We're back!

We had an AMAZING time up North with my parents. I am feeling rested, refreshed and ready for the next 10 weeks of maternity leave. While we were up there Matilda had her 2 month birthday. We didn't do much to celebrate since Matilda and I were the queen supreme party poopers--sleeping by 8:30 almost every night.

Tillie has had some great milestones these last few weeks.

8 weeks: 11 pounds 1 oz

We discovered her first allergy: soy, which is surprisingly in everything.

She has started to grab for objects a little more, which makes Daddy's morning cup of coffee a little more dangerous.

First Packer game! (which she was decked out for by Aunt Marna!)

Lots and lots of smiles these days, and the beginnings of what I am sure will be a slay-your-heart-cute giggle.

9 Weeks

First Boat Ride and trip up North! It was a quick ride, but she didn't cry once!

Matilda has really found her hands  this week and spends lots of time checking them out. We were adamant before having children that we wouldn't allow thumb-sucking, but this girl LOVES her hands, and is about 2 weeks from finding it, and I don't think Nate or I would even consider stopping her at this point.

She gave us our first 9 hour sleep, which was AMAZING. I'm not sure if it was the fresh air up north, the cool babysitter that came to hang with her, or the fact that she didn't sleep all afternoon, but either way I'll take it.

Matilda is 'talking' a lot more and when she gets on a roll with her cooing it is pretty hilarious. She gets a very serious look on her face.

We have her two month appointment tomorrow. I already told Nate he has to hold her while she gets the shots because I know I won't be able to stand it!

Guess Who's Getting a Pony?

Last night, we attended my friend's son's 2nd birthday party, and there were pony rides (what a lucky 2 year old right?). We got Matilda her party-wear:

As, I stared hazily off at the kids on the ponies (and I say hazily because Matilda hasbeen not great at sleeping this week), and say to her: "Matilda, if you sleep 6 hours in a row tonight I will buy you a pony."'

Well, unfortunately for Matilda, she missed it by 30 minutes. i think she WOULD have made it but a storm came through and I'm fairly certain the loud cracks of thunder woke her up.

And so a few more lesson's of motherhood came my way yesterday:
1) She is her mother's daughter. Just give the girl a goal.....
2) Don't offer up bribe's you aren't willing to follow through on, although I feel like a miniature pony would totally fit in our backyard and maybe alleviate the lawn-mowing duties.

And as an added bonus, Matilda got her first pony ride:

I am headed north with Matilda to spend a week with my parents so there will be air silence for the next week, but  I promise lots of cute out-doorsy pictures of Matilda when I return!

7 Weeks

This week Matilda weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds, 4 oz. And I am proud to say that at 7 weeks, she has finally caught up to what I weighed at birth. Whoa.
 This week started a little rocky, with Matilda continuing her war on sleep, but by the end of the week (and our new "babies only should be awake for 2 hours max" schedule) things started to look up (also, Super Grandma was in town....always keep this in mind).

Every week brings new fun milestones now.


Matilda started blowing bubbles (and drooling)


We spent our first night apart, with Matilda transitioned to the nursery and her crib. She did great! Slept for 5 hours straight which was a huge win from the previous nights of only 2 hours at a time.


Matilda had her first night of being babysat by Grandma! Nate and I went to a movie, where Nate enjoyed the movie and I checked my phone every 10 minutes hoping everything was alright (but I also enjoyed the movie)


And in general, there are more smiles, more coos, and more activity. She is really liking some of her 'toys' now, and likes to spend a few minutes under a mobile, or her activity mat. She likes to listen to you read books, and still LOVES her changing table (which continues to baffle Nate and I--but we don't ask questions).

Feats of Strength

Watching Survivor, Amazing Race, or any other reality show that required people to hold onto a bar  for a long period of time, balance a bucket on their head for a long time, etc I knew I could never be on those shows for those challenges alone.

I simply did not believe that I would ever be able to endure something like that for that long without just giving up.

Enter my appointment at the VW dealership yesterday. It was an 8:15 appointment. I went in early hoping to beat teh other 8:15 appointments as Matilda would need to eat and get back to sleep by 10 in order for our day to go alright. It had already been a weird morning from a feed/sleep perspective.

We got to the waiting room at 8:04, and by 8:09 Tillie started fussing. So I snuggled her into a blanket and started the sway, shush, paci move.

And I did it for 90 minutes. And she slept.

My left arm had ZERO feeling left in it (in fact I am surprised I still have use of my hand). And I made a lot of promises to a lot of people that if this child would just keep sleeping until they called my name I would....(fill in the blank). And she woke up, but I got her back down (a major accomplishment in my book).

The main takeaway for me was that now I can apply to be on reality tv, because all I have to do when I am standing above a mud pit balanced on a little log holding onto water buckets trying to do it the longest...is envision that my daughter sleeping depended on me continuing to do this task.

Because I would honestly do anything to get this one, and keep this one, sleeping. :