I can't believe this is only my 4th post of October! I really need to update more often. So, here's what's new:

• I did a quick weight check on Annika today and she was roughly 12.5 pounds! Wow - she's huge! Her doctor's appointment is coming up in 2 weeks (her 2 month!) so we'll see what the official weigh in is. I wouldn't be surprised if she's 13 pounds by then! I think we'll have to buy a new car seat earlier than expected! Our current seat only goes to 22 pounds!
• Last Thursday, Annika and Kris went to work with me. They threw us a baby shower. It was so nice! Not many people could be there because of MEA (in which all Minnesota state schools have off so many people were home with their children) and various Really Important Business Things, one of which I was supposed to be at if I were not on maternity leave. As it was, we received some really nice gifts and Annika was a perfect angel - which she always is anyways. :)
• Last weekend, Kris had to leave us for the Vixen's last regular season game, which was in Toledo, Ohio. I was very sad but made sure I had plans for each day he was gone. I needed adult interaction and going 3 days without it would not have been good. So, Saturday, I spent the day at my Dad's house with him, my brother, my sister and her boyfriend. It was wonderful! We just sat around and visited, ate a very nice dinner and played dominoes. Unfortunately my mom (who lives in the same town) was at her cabin, otherwise Annika could have seen her Grandma Pat too. I'm sure we'll be back soon so that can happen.

Not much else is new. The only other thing is I received Annika's Christmas stocking kit in the mail today and I've started on it already. I'm cross-stitching one for her. I'd really like it to be done by this Christmas so I have to work hard. I'm not very fast at these things. Anyone want to volunteer to come do my routine housework for me so I can concentrate on the stocking when Annika is napping? Thanks in advance! :)

Annika is growing so quickly! This week I had to put away some of her 0-3 month clothes. She's outgrown about half of them by just getting too long for them. Today is her first day wearing a 3-6 month outfit. It's a little big but not too bad.

Annika has so many nicknames. Here are just those that I can remember off the top of my head:
Nika
Princess
My Precious (said in Gollum's voice sometimes :) )
Crabby Face
Cutie Patootie
Punky
Punky Noodle
Honey
Pumpkin
Pookie
Pookie Bear
And there's more but I can't remember them right now.

I put up some more pictures this week. Check those out!

Pictures! I've added 10 new pictures to the Annika May photo album. I've also added a Baptism album and added 10 pictures to that. Enjoy! (Click the bunny to see them.)

Today was Annika's Baptism. It was such a nice service and day. She made a little fuss while being baptized but nothing too bad. She was calm as could be while having the water poured on her head. And she loved being held up by Pastor David and being introduced to the crowd. What a good little baby. We then had a reception for our family at the church. It was basically a big old game of "Pass The Baby." Annika is loved by so many people.

Annika has really blossomed lately. She's so alert when she's awake. And she coos and gurgles and talks to us all the time. And I can make her smile! Yeah, she still smiles when she poops (which is still like 8 times a day!) but I can make her smile just by talking to her too! Whoa - is that ever cool! Of course then I just want to smother her with hugs and kisses. She still sleeps really well at night, sticking with the 10:30 to 8:30 schedule. Yeah Baby!

She has also found her hands. She first put her thumb in her mouth at 3 weeks old. Now, she can get her hands to her mouth and get a finger or thumb in her mouth pretty much whenever she wants. She seems to get her left hand up there more than her right. We'll see if that means anything in the future.

I can't remember if there was more I wanted to write about or not. So, I'll stop here and come back if I think of anything else.

Happy 1 month birthday Baby Girl! Can you believe she's one month old already! She's such a good little girl. She's sleeping in her pack 'n play right now, resting up for her first trip to Mommy's work. :) So, I thought I'd write down what a typical day is like for Annika. It pretty much runs like this:

8:30 AM - Wake up happy and smiling
8:30-9:30 - Play with Mommy, Read Books
9:30 AM - Eat Breakfast - Take Morning Nap
12:30 PM - Eat Lunch - Take Afternoon Nap
3:00 PM - Eat 2nd Lunch - Maybe stay up to play - Otherwise Take 2nd Afternoon Nap
6:00 PM - Eat Dinner - Play with Mommy & Daddy
8:00 PM - Eat Snack - Continue Playing - Or Snooze
10:30 PM - Eat 2nd Dinner - Fall Asleep for the night
2:30 AM - Wake to Eat - Go right back to sleep
5:30 AM - Wake to Eat - Go right back to sleep
7:30 AM - Wake for Snack - Go back to sleep
8:30 AM - Wake up for another day!

This is pretty much her schedule. She sleeps really well at night and I stay in bed with her until that 8:30 AM time and I go down with her at 10:30 PM so we're both definitely getting enough sleep. A few times a week I'll also take a nap with her in the afternoons. She's never really fussy unless she wants something like her diaper changed, to eat or to just change positions. She likes to bounce and loves her bouncy seat that vibrates.

She also loves her daddy. Last night we're all laying in bed, Annika's eating and falling asleep. Daddy's watching the Twins playoff game. Every time he'd say something her eyes would pop open and she'd start looking for him. Then she'd drift off again, he'd say something, she'd pop open, step, repeat. I finally had to tell Daddy to be quiet so little girl could fall asleep. Once she did, he could talk again. :) She's such a sweet, darling baby. We are so very lucky.