Due Date

Well, today is my due date...Hannah is 10 weeks old today and has been home with us for almost 5 weeks. It is so weird to think that she is just now a "newborn" (and that we still have another month of the "newborn phase," despite her age).

Today is the day where we start marking her developmental age for purposes of talking, walking, crawling, etc. So from now on she has a "chronological age" and an "adjusted age." For some things (like vaccinations), they use the chronological age, while others (like developmental goals) use the adjusted age. By the time she is 3, they should line up and she should be caught up with her peers.

Hannah is starting to act like a newborn and is starting to be a little more awake and alert. She has also "found" her lungs and is a quite capable crier (as you can see in the picture below). Although we haven't been to the doctor recently, we think she is about 7 pounds. She has really started to fill out and is eating like a champ.

Beautiful Hannah

"Ain't I Cute"
(taken seconds before she spit up all over her dress)

Proud Papa with his little girl

Hannah was not really into the picture taking today.
Here is proof that our little girl isn't all smiles all the time. This is the face you get if you don't feed her fast enough when she wakes up. After nursing for a while we were able to get the good pictures above.

Family Time

We had Easter dinner last week with my extended family....and in the process Hannah got to meet her cousin Michael, cousin-in-law Gary, Great Uncle John, and Great Grandma Catney. Great Aunt Patty also got to hold Hannah for the first time.

The Whole Gang (minus Jon)

Great Grandma Catney LOVED getting to hold Hannah....and was overheard telling Daniel that I'd agreed to let her take Hannah home with her to keep her company (um, really?). She kept saying what a sweet baby we had. My Grandma is the only great-grandparent that is still around, so we're very glad she got to meet Hannah.

Great Grandma and Hannah

Grandma Folger loved getting to hold both of her grandbabies. She is in heaven with them around, that's for sure.

Cousins!

Hannah Marie & Liam Hall

Julie & Hannah with Karen & Liam

Hannah finally got to meet her cousin Liam last week. My sister and I went a little crazy with the cameras while the babies were together. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Liam was born 11 days before Hannah, so you can see the size compairson between a 2-month old preemie and a 2-month old full term baby. It's amazing. I just wish my cutie pie of a nephew (and his parents, of course) didn't live so far away.

First Easter

Hannah celebrated her first Easter this year....and the Easter Bunny brought her a basket full of goodies. She got her first swimsuit for the summer, an Easter dress, and some candy to share with Mom & Dad. Dad seems to think the Easter Bunny over-did it on Easter for a 2-month old!

Hannah doesn't seem to care about the basket.

Here is a close-up of the goodies.

Checking it out....

"Mom, enough pictures - I'm ready to eat!"

Happy Easter!

Although we aren't allowed to take Hannah to church just yet, we went ahead and dressed her in her "Sunday Best" for Easter. We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday and are able to enjoy the day that the Lord has made.

Happy Easter and Many Blessings to Everyone!

Aunts & Uncles

Hannah has lots of aunts and uncles to love on her. Most of them weren't able to meet her until she came home from the hospital. Here are pictures of all of the doting aunts and uncles -- ready to spoil our little one!

Aunt Rachel & Uncle Ryan

Uncle Josh & Aunt Danila Aunt Karen & Uncle Brian
Uncle Daniel
"Aunt" Susan*

*Although Susan is technically Julie's cousin, she gets "aunt" status by (1) driving from PA while Julie was in the hospital to visit for an afternoon and give her a wheelchair ride & foot massage; (2) driving straight to the hospital from a 14-hour workday to be there for the delivery to provide support for Julie and then staying the night at the hospital with Julie; (3) taking care of Julie in the hospital after Hannah was born so Jon could do 6 weeks of lesson plans for work (including helping give Julie a bath after the long time on bedrest had her too weak to stand, helping Julie learn to pump and helping her relax while pumping, screening phone calls when Julie didn't feel like talking to people, and driving a crying Julie home when she was discharged without the baby); and (4) taking a week off work to help take care of Hannah when she came home from the hospital.

2 Months Old!

Hannah is two months old today.

She celebrated by watching lots of basketball on TV with Daddy, playing with her cousin Liam, taking lots of naps, having some tummy time, being held by just about everyone, and getting a bath. She also got to meet her Uncle Daniel for the first time. It was a very busy day for a little girl.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Could she be any cuter?

We had a bit of a photo shoot.....

Hannah's Grandma Folger LOVES St. Patrick's Day, so we made sure to celebrate and take lots of pictures in her cute "Kiss Me I'm Irish" onesie. Trust me, Hannah got LOTS of kisses!!

6 Pounds!

Hannah and I just got back from a visit with the pediatrician...and our little girl now weighs 6 lbs., 3 oz. She's growing so fast. If I were still pregnant, today would mark the start of week 38, so my due date is approaching! It is hard to believe she is almost 8 weeks old. In some ways it seems like she just arrived, since she's only been home for a little over 2 weeks....but I don't think we remember much about life before her arrival.

What a cute little girl!

Mommy & Hannah

Here are some random "Hannah Faces" pictures. She is a very expressive little girl and she makes all sorts of funny faces and is constantly on the move! (I won't post the 20 pictures my mom took last week trying to catch her "smiling"....she never did get one.)

Swinging Good Times...

Here are some pictures from Hannah's first time in her swing. She was very alert yesterday afternoon, so I put her in the swing and although she didn't know what to think, she didn't seem to mind it.

Some recent visitors have commented that they thought Hannah would be bigger in person based on the pictures on the website....so if you want a size comparison to a "normal" baby, Hannah's cousin Liam has swing pictures posted on the Cassidy Family Blog (there is a link to the right), and Liam is only 11 days older than Hannah.

Updates Galore

We've had a number of doctor's visits and development/post-discharge appointments at home....Here is the brief run-down of what has gone on since we've been home (other than the typical eat/sleep/poop stuff):

• Hannah's home visit with the home nurse went well and she is gaining weight at a good rate and is healthy.
• Hannah's first doctor's visit went well and he was impressed at how much our little piggy eats and didn't have any real concerns.
• Hannah had her first home developmental assessment and we were told that she is doing great and has good color (like a term baby) and is "ahead of herself" with her ability to pick up her head. She is also doing a good job at "tracking" objects with her eyes.
• Hannah's follow-up eye appointment at Children's hospital went well and she doesn't have to go back for 3 years (they were checking the blood vessel formation in her eyes, since she was born before they had developed and they still weren't developed when they did the test in the hospital 3 weeks ago).
• Hannah had an extra doctor's visit for "gunk" in her eyes, which we have been told isn't the first signs of a cold (I was a little worried because we were also suctioning stuff from her nose), but is only a blocked tear duct. It should resolve on its own...and now cleaning her eyes is just an extra step to pretty her up for pictures.
• Hannah's "Help Me Grow" assessment went well, and they will monitor her growth and development until she is 3 to make sure she is on track, but so far there are no concerns -- just the normal delays since she was 10 weeks early.
  

Believe it or not, this is the first family photo we've taken since the night Hannah was born....She is 7 weeks old in this picture and a full 2 pounds (and then some) heavier than when she was born. Plus, we were able to include Abby in this picture, so it is the entire family!

Hannah sleeping...she loves to be held when she's snoozing.
Today Hannah was very alert this afternoon...she's becoming quite the wiggle worm.