Noelle

Friday, April 13, 2012

4 Months!

Noelle is 4 months old today!  I can't believe it.  Here's the stats:

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz....76th%
Length: 24 in.  41st%
Head circumference: 15 3/4 in. 23%

The doctor was a little confused by the lower head circ. measurement, but said she looks perfectly proportional to the eye so she is not concerned.  She did great with her shots.  She cried for about a second. 

I was hoping to snap her 4 month pictures today, but she was too sleepy.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get some good shots.

First Vacation!

Last spring, Phil had wanted to take a weekend trip to his alma mater-Indiana University.  The only weekend we were available to go, a friend of mine was having a baby shower which I didn't want to miss.  A few weeks ago I suggested that we should go this year instead! I also thought "why not lump a trip to Chicago with a 3 month old in there too!"

Overall, it went very, very well.  We headed out mid morning on Monday, and drove the 3 hours to IU.  Once we were on the campus Phil was instantly nostalgic and we walked and walked and walked around the campus.  We had lunch at Mama Bear's pizza-a fave of his.  We had Noelle in the Ergo and backpack filled to the brim as a diaper bag.  Phil and I traded off carrying the baby vs. backpack.  The backpack was a monster to carry.  Luckily, the next day we wised up a bit and used our city mini also.  We stayed in the Student Union which is the hotel that the university owns and runs.  It was quite a nice hotel, and a far cry above the Super 8 which was where we stayed on our last road trip.

Then we headed to a suburb of Chicago to visit Phil's grandpa and step-grandmother.  We headed in to the city one day.  It was a blast!  We took the Metra train in, then the L, and then a city bus!  Noelle did great all day.  We had our handy dandy Ergo with us, and the City Mini.  I'm always amazed at how easy mass transit is in Chicago.  Totally love it! We wanted to go to the aquarium, but it was a 2 hour wait.  Then we tried to go to the art museum, but it was free admission, spring break, and another very long line.  We decided strolling through Millenium Park would be a better use of time.  Noelle loved her stroller ride over the bumpy bridge in the park and loved looking at her reflection in "the cloud gate" The next day we had lunch with a friend and former coworker at Lou Malnatti's....delish!!!  After lunch, we headed to a local park to visit some elk.  Yep.  Elk.  No, they are not indigenous to Illinois.  Two words.  Roadside America.  Then Phil's aunt, uncle, and a whole bunch of cousins came to his grandparents for dinner.  We had such a nice time and it was great to catch up.  On Friday, the day we left, we swung by Phil's long time BFF from elementary school.  He and is wife had a one week old baby!

The drive home was absolutely miserable.  It took us 9 hours as opposed to 6.  Noelle was super fussy and inconsolable.  We just had to keep stopping to calm her down.  It was quite the ordeal.  Needless to say, we were relieved when we got home.  The trip was so worth it though!  It was a great time! I feel very accomplished by being able to pull this off.  We were even able to cloth diaper for the whole trip! Here's a bit of a photo dump from the vacay.