Caroline: 4 weeks old today!

Caroline gets her own "crib"

To commemorate being 4 weeks old, Caroline moved to her own room this week. Translation: Mom and Dad have enjoyed two nights of sleep, glorious sleep!!

We employed a dual-pronged strategy to achieve this newfound status:

1) swaddle with Kiddopotamus "straight jacket"

2) only feed breastmilk at night to avoid gas

The result: she slept through most of the night, waking only twice at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. for feeding. To accommodate her aggressive appetite, we increased breastmilk intake from 2 oz. to 4 oz.

By sticking primarily to bottle feeding, we have been able to reduce feeding time from 45 minutes to an hour to less than 20 minutes. This allows us to get back to sleep much faster and feel more refreshed in the morning - and puts Caroline in much better spirits, too!

She seems to sleep better in her crib than she did in the portable bassinet in our room, which may be a contributing factor to her recent extended slumber.

Caroline also isn't so much of a bobblehead that she once was a few weeks ago. When propped up, she turns her head from side to side, taking in the entire view. While she stills sleeps a lot, she is very alert and attentive when awake.

Mary visits from California

Mary became a real, bonafide aunt last week when her niece, Presley Claire (photo below), was born July 24 weighing in at 6 lbs, measuring 20.5 inches. Aunt Mary came to town to meet Presley and Caroline.

Fun times at the pool

Caroline experienced her first pool party and her first day at the YMCA pool this week.

She is quite the water baby!

Aslan's encounter with a squirrel

With all the attention towards Caroline these days, it seems our feline friends have resorted to reaching out to others in the neighborhood for company. Poor Aslan and Venus. Maybe we'll have to devote a blog to them in the future.