In honor of Josh's birthday, Mackenzie slept NINE straight hours last night. The amazing thing is that she went ten hours without eating and then ate normally (there was no voracious, "I'm about to die if I don't eat" kind of activity). It was an awesome night, as Josh and I were able to get eight hours of sleep and then all have some fun together this morning at 5:00 when Mackenzie got up.

Clearly she knows her parents love sleep and wanted to give her daddy the best birthday present of all!

Mackenzie's 2 month checkup is now in the books. She did great. The doctor and nurses were very impressed that she was only 2 months old with how observant and attentive she was.

She is now an "average" child. She has gotten to the 50th percentile on all of the measurements that they take.

Weight: 10lbs 10oz (49th percentile)
Height/Length: 22.5in (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 38.5cm (49th percentile)

For the most part she was a good baby while at the doctors office. The timing of the visit was actually during her feeding time so she ended up eating while at the doctors office. When it was time for her first vaccine she was starting to get fussy. When the nurse stuck her with the needle in the thigh she instantly got quiet, her eyes went as big as they could, and then she let out a blood curdling scream. It was hard to watch, but after a few minutes of holding she calmed down and actually fell asleep before I left the office.

I learned that Lindsay and I need to be better about going 3 hours between feedings. The doctor was surprised that Mack wasn't sleeping at least 6 hours in a row each night by now. She thinks that we just haven't gotten her on a good enough schedule yet. And I also learned that it's not uncommon for breastmilk babies to go days without pooping, that is a revelation that I can very much live with.

Those are the basics of Macks doctor visit.

Josh

Good morning everyone! I'm taking advantage of this rare morning nap to update you all on Mackenzie. She is eating a lot these days, and seems to be growing (though we won't know how much until her two-month appt on the 26th). Here are some fun facts as we reach that seventh week of life:

- She will now sleep during the day if you let her sleep on her stomach. We let her, but we check on her constantly. She still won't sleep on her back if she isn't swaddled, so if we want her to sleep on her back we have to swaddle her (which we still do at night).
- The car still holds magical powers to combat crying, but it does not override hunger.
- She likes to rub her head and almost dig it into things when she's sleeping on her stomach (whether that be the bed, her playmat, or your chest).
- She likes to lick her hands like popsicles since she hasn't yet opened them long enough to figure out how to suck them.
- Gas is still a big issue for her, so Mylicon is one of our friends.
- It's possible she does not appreciate it when I eat Kung Pao beef, but we only have a sample of one so more research will have to be conducted on that front.
- She doesn't like those headband bows on her head - but that's a great thing because Josh and I dislike them greatly so we have two reasons not to put them on her.
- I'm not entirely convinced she knows Keyne exists. Keyne can bark in her ear, lick her hands or face (when we don't get there soon enough to prevent it) or whine at her feet and she makes no indications of awareness.
- She really likes to pull Josh's shirt down at the neck but she likes to pull my hair.

We'll post more pictures soon...we definitely have them, but they are all in very similar positions to what you've already seen so we need to stock up on some new ones. :)

Well, she's been alive almost three weeks now and that means we've learned a lot about our new addition in that short period of time. Here are some of the nuggets of wisdom as they pertain to Mackenzie:

- Premature swaddling often leads to unnecessary crying.
- Over-stimulation is easy to achieve...especially if the television is on and you want her to go to sleep.
- Strollers = nap time.
- She doesn't like to sleep much during the day. Many people say this is a good thing, but it really isn't. It doesn't make her sleep any more or less at night, and just makes it hard to get her down during the day because she works herself up into a frenzy.
- She likes to eat every two hours during the day and every three hours at night, which is definitely better than the opposite.
- No hats fit newborn heads adequately.
- She seems to be less fussy in public than she is at home (with the exception of mass after half an hour and JoAnn Fabric when she wants to snack).
- Pacifiers only pacify every now and then.
- She is indifferent to Keyne.
- You could set her on fire when she's in deep sleep but if she's just in early sleep you'd better tip-toe!
- She likes the "Ants Go Marching" and whatever the drinking song is in "Jaws" that Josh likes to sing to her.
- She likes to flail her legs directly into her own poop when being changed. This means NO SOCKS when changing her...just in case.

Well, we've hit the two-week mark so I thought I'd re-post some of the previous FAQs and add a couple more to keep you all in the loop:

- Q: How much weight have you gained?
- A: At this point I've gained about 21 pounds. Supposedly I won't gain much more at this point.

- Q: How big is Mackenzie?
- A: We still have no idea. My guess is she'll come out around 6-7 pounds ultimately, but who knows...she could turn out to be a heffer. :)

- Q: Is Mackenzie moving around a lot? What makes her move more?
- A: She is moving less than she used to be (most likely due to the lack of space), but she does enjoy kicking right after I get to work and then around 9:00 at night.

- Q: How are you feeling?
- A: I still feel great. I still don't have any weird cravings, my feet haven't expanded, and I can still ride my bike and do yoga without falling over. My back hurts if I stand for too long (like when I choose to spend an entire afternoon making jam), and I am having occasional acid reflux but otherwise I'm still pretty golden.

- Q: Are you exercising?
- A: I do yoga at least once a week (though I really try to go twice), I walk the dog with Josh or ride my bike along side them, and Josh and I occasionally go on a long bike ride (admittedly this one hasn't happened in a while).

- Q: How long are you going to work?
- A: I am still in the office for most of this week, but next week I'll be working from home. The three days before Thanksgiving I'm taking as vacation, so regardless of when I deliver my last day of actual work will be next Friday.

- Q: When will you go back to work?
- A: If I deliver on time, then I'll go back to work on January 18th. Josh will be taking that week off, so Mack will officially go to Pat's house starting the week of the 25th.

- Q: What else do you need to do/prepare before Mack arrives?
- A: At this point nothing; we've been ready for a while now.

- Q: Are you still planning to decorate the house for Christmas?
- A: That's a silly question! Of course we'll still be decorating for Christmas. I've already got a lot of presents wrapped already so we've got a good head-start on that too.

- Q: How soon after Mack is born will you be traveling?
- A: We are going to try to avoid travel with Mack for quite a while - at least air travel. We don't go on a lot of car trips, but should any come up we will wait until she's at least three months old or so.

- Q: If people want to visit you, how long should they wait?
- A: Good question. If you are local, feel free to come by whenever (though it would probably be good to call first). If you'd be coming from out of town (and you aren't already slotted to come over the holidays), January is probably the earliest for people to come stay with us. I know a few of you are interested in visiting from up north, so just let me know if you already have ideas for dates that work for you.

Let me know if there are questions that you have that I didn't answer, and thank you all for the well-wishes! Josh will be sending out posts and text messages when we go to the hospital and deliver, so make sure to check the blog (and/or your cell phone) often once we get to the 25th!

Lindsay