A milestone always hoped for - Jenny's first Mother's Day...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  2 months and 3 days

Family,

And a good afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the Bull and Striker are currently surrounded by the sound of silence as the munchkin sleeps.  Let me state for the record that this has been a RARE occurrence lately, as the rug rat (whom I've taken to calling "Rally," named after the Anaheim Angels Rally Monkey - she is "our little monkey," after all... :-)) has done pretty much ANYTHING but sleep as of late.  She actually sleeps GREAT from 7-9 and from 10-12, but after that, it's a COMPLETE

Two months old and LOVING the Boppy!

CRAP SHOOT trying to keep her on a schedule (I'm hearing noise from the nursery as I type this!).  However, she's having no trouble feeding, and I'm VERY happy to report that, as of yesterday, our little munchkin crossed the 11 pound mark!  She's now graduated to the 50th percentile in weight (VERY exciting), although she's only in the 10th percentile for height (21 inches as of yesterday) and in the THIRD percentile for head circumference.  As I told my buddy Matt, at least we won't have to worry about anyone calling her a "pumpkin on a toothpick."  Don't worry, little one, mommy and daddy think you have the cutest little "bone head" EVER!

I'm rattling off all this information because K had her 2 month appointment with the pediatrician yesterday.  Everything went well, and K was brave as could be when she received her 2 DTaP vaccinations.  I wasn't there (horrible father), as I was "supervising" some tile and wall patchwork at our condo.  Jenny relayed that the Dr. was well pleased with Kaitlyn's ability to keep her head up, which is good to hear because it validates our belief that she's done great work in that regard (and not just biased parents :-)).  I'm also happy to report that she's been tracking us with her eyes a lot better lately.  In fact, K's level of alertness over the past week seems to have increased by several orders of magnitude, and within the last 96 hours I've found her much more responsive to both Muffin and myself.  She's having much better (and longer) wake time, which we're hoping will pave the way for better sleeping patterns.  In terms of eating, she's vacillating anywhere from 90-150 ml's per feed, which our pediatrician said is spot on (the target is 120 ml's per feed).  She definitely cluster feeds in the evening at this point (read:  EATS CONSTANTLY FROM 6-11:30 AND NEVER SLEEPS), but as that's translating to steady and healthy weight gain, no complaints from this guy!  K might have a complaint however, as her cheap bastard father is trying to use up all the newborn diapers even though she's 3 pounds over the suggested weight limit.  Only 12 more to go, munchkin!

The last 3-4 days really have been filled with big moments - the 2 month photo shoot (and she was ADORABLE) for the record), the 2 month doctor's appointment, and most importantly - JENNY'S

Wife Muffin with the smorgasbord of treats - most of which have already evaporated.

FIRST MOTHER'S DAY!!!!  Jenny admitted that it was a surreal experience to be "in the column" now, and I must confess it was odd to buy more than one Mother's Day card this year!  We spent it with Jenny's parents down in South Carolina, where her mom made us a DELICIOUS turkey breast with all the trimmings (I ate until near bursting).  It was great to watch "three generations of Tacy women" interact, especially with Kaitlyn all over the play mat (and Bob - Jenny's father - couldn't have

Gratuitous Vol shot! :-)

been cuter down on the mat with her).  The funniest anecdote from "our" first Mother's Day was that, not only did my mother send Jenny a gift - she also sent ME something for Mother's Day!  Love me some Harry & David strawberries - thanks, mom!  Jenny's comment after I opened them:  "Does this mean I get a Father's Day present?"  Too cute.

Observations of Kaitlyn at 2 months:

Sooo guuuuuud...peppy cheekies.

1.  Great strength in her neck and back - she will be rolling over VERY soon and earlier than most I would expect.

2.  She really is a good kid - only cries when she's hungry (which just happens to be all the time).

3.  There are few things more precious in life than your daughter asleep on your chest making little cooing noises as she breathes.  I get teary-eyed every time I think about how precious few hours of her "sleeping on daddy" are left to me.

4.  She remains the absolute noisiest child in the history of children.

5.  I think (and I do emphasize THINK) she enjoys my singing.  So far I'm sticking to either Mumford and Sons, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" - the IZ version, or Les Miserables (particularly "Stars" - she seems to love that one).

6.  Names for her at present are:  Rally, Munchkin, Munchies, and Little Creature (not the Pale Ale).

7.  When we know she's full, dry, and clean, we're letting her cry for 20 minutes at a clip.  The pediatrician says we can let her go longer if we know she's full, so look out, little one!

8.  We are FINALLY starting to dress her in all of her CUTE clothes, and below are a few shots of "Kaitlyn in Vogue" - seriously:  CUTEST.  THING.  EVER.  I must confess I'm quite enjoying all the pink and all the dresses in my house.

Pura Vida, baby!  LOVE the hat from the Puma...

K's discovered sitting on the Boppy is the way forward - all the elevation, none of the exertion...

One of the first shots of K in a dress (courtesy of the Parkhouse clan) - clearly the excitement was more than our little munchkin could bear...

Wish she was up on 'ole Rocky Top, down in the Tennessee Hills...

9.  We are learning that it really is more fun to be home with our munchkin in our house cooking at our leisure than it is to go out for dinner.  In truth, JT and I can't imagine trying anything fancier than a pizza joint, as Kaitlyn has this UNCANNY ability to wake up and instantly start screaming bloody murder the second we both pick up our forks at the same time.  We haven't eaten together in over a week (yes, yes, veteran parents - we know this is just the start)...

10.  Every day I fall more and more in love with my little girl.

The Bull's got less than 3 weeks of Paternity leave left, and I can already tell it will be a heartbreaking experience to leave my girls the morning of June 3rd.  However, it will make it that much sweeter when I see them again, and regardless how on earth can a man possibly complain after he's had 12 weeks of dedicated time with his wife and daughter.  As Jenny says, "right now every day feels like the weekend."  Now that's living... :-)

Okay, that'll do us for this week's post.  Chat next week, when we go remote to the Mountain Fortress in Tennessee!

Love,

Sam and Jenny