Month 4 :)

Torrance celebrated her 4 month birthday on Friday by going to the pediatrician for her check up.  She had to get 4 vaccinations and handled the needles like a champ!  She's in the 97th percentile for height and weight.  We were told we could introduce cereal into her diet; we bought baby oatmeal.  We gave it to her on Friday for the first time, but she didn't like it too much.  Most of it ended up on her bib!  We'll try it once a day and hopefully she'll get used to it.  The oatmeal doesn't smell the greatest, so I don't blame Tori for not being a huge fan.  In a month or so she'll be able to eat baby food.  

Trying oatmeal for the first time

Kind of messy!!

  

3 months old!

Torrance turned 3 months old on January 8. Time is definitely flying by.  I went back to work on January 2 and have definitely missed being at home.  Scott's home with the baby which made going back to work a lot easier.  Torrance is still growing like a weed and is a super healthy baby.  In her third month she had her first play date with Kade (Scott's friends son).  Kade is a month older than Torrance.  They weren't able to do much, but they enjoyed looking at each other.  It'll be fun watching them play together as they get older.  Torrance also started rolling over on her side this month.  She likes to hang out on her side while on her play mat and look at and play with her toys.  She's rolled from her back to her stomach once; I'm glad I was home to see it.  Tori's also able to fully hold her head up and is working on sitting by herself.  She's still pretty wobbly, but she's getting stronger every day.

Play date with Kade

Torrance got tuckered out!

Rolling on her side

SLC Christmas

Since we weren't going to be in SLC for Christmas, Scott, Torrance, Milo and I had our own Christmas before we headed to Canada.  I've always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it was more special since we now have Torrance.  Although she doesn't understand Christmas yet, it was still fun opening her gifts and watching her reactions.  Torrance got lots of great gifts and fun toys that will help her grow and develop.  We look forward to next Christmas when Torrance will be one year old!  

Christmas outfit from Grandma Gretchen

Looking at herself in her new tummy time mirror

Torrance's jumper for when she gets bigger...she loved it!

Christmas in Canada

It's official, Torrance is now a world traveler.  All three of us (Milo had to stay behind) made the trip to Guelph for Christmas this year.  Scott and I were unsure of how she'd do on the plane rides, but Torrance was a champ!  She slept most of the way up to Toronto and when she was awake, she was just looking around at her new surroundings.  A few people on the plane even commented on how well she did - that's our girl!  We did run into a slight problem while waiting in the security line at the SLC airport.  Torrance decided that she didn't like the clothes she was wearing and ended up soiling them pretty good.  Needless to say, we cleaned her up and had to throw out her outfit.  I'm just glad that we had a change of clothes in her diaper bag.  We now make sure there's a couple changes of clothes, just in case.  Grandpa Larry came to get us from the airport and was very excited to see his granddaughter.  Neither my mom or dad had seen Torrance since she was born, so they couldn't believe how big she had gotten.

Torrance's first plane ride

On Christmas, we went over to my Aunt's house to spend the day with the rest of my mom's family.  Torrance got to meet her great grandpa, great aunt and uncle, and her second cousins.  Scott and I also got to meet my twin cousins, Mya and Heleena, for the first time.  They're two and a half and absolutely LOVED Torrance.  Mya was particularly enamored with her and was constantly touching her and giving Torrance her binkie when she got sad.  It was really cute to see the twins interact with her.  Scott and I are definitely looking forward to the day when Tori can walk and talk.

Scott, Torrance, and Grandma Heli

Christmas Eve at my parent's house

Teddy bear from Grandma Heli

Torrance and Scott with great Uncle Olev and Heleena

Scott, Mya, me, Torrance, Heleena, and great Aunt Silvia

On Boxing day, my friends from Guelph came over for our annual potluck.  It was great to see them all again.  I hadn't seen any of them since mine and Scott's wedding.  I was also glad they got to meet Torrance.  Overall, we had a great trip!

Month 2

Time is FLYING by.  I can't believe that Torrance is already two months old (almost three now).  She had her two month check up earlier this month and has grown tremendously.  She's in the 97th percentile for height and weight, coming in at a whopping 13 lbs 15 oz and 23.5" long.  There's no doubt about it; Torrance is one healthy baby!  She's able to hold up her head all by herself, which we were told was advanced for her age; yay Torrance!!  Before we know it she'll be sitting up on her own. She's started smiling a lot and is making more noises.  Scott and I love listening to her talk (in her own way).  We love watching her develop, but it's also sad how big she's getting.  It seemed just like yesterday she was a tiny little thing.

Tori Meets Santa

Today we took Torrance to get her picture taken with Santa.  We went to the same studio that did her newborn pictures since they did a great job.  The studio allowed parents to dress up as Santa and to be in the picture with their children, or, we could use their Santa.  Scott jumped at the opportunity to be Santa for a few minutes.  Tori was a very good girl and we got some great shots!  Just a few more weeks to go until Christmas and Tori's first plane ride.  Fingers crossed she does well on the plane!!

Gobble, Gobble!

Scott and I were very thankful to have Torrance with us this Thanksgiving!  Even though she didn't get to eat any turkey this year, she still had fun spending the holiday with her family (the Cooley side).  Like every year, we went over to Scott's parents house for dinner.  We ended up celebrating Thanksgiving a day late because Scott's older brother, Jack, had to work on the actual holiday.  Since we didn't get to celebrate on Thanksgiving, Scott and I invited his mom, dad, and younger brother, Matt, over for dinner.

Tori on her first turkey day!

 

Torrance with her Grandma and Grandpa Cooley

At Thanksgiving dinner, Torrance had fun playing with some toys Grandma Gretchen has at her house for her cousin Jaycee.  Once Tori gets older she'll be able to play with them too.

 

Next up is Christmas!!  Scott and I look forward to enjoying the Holiday season with our little girl.  We'll be spending Christmas up in Canada with my family this year.  

 

One month already!

On Monday, our little Torrance turned 4 weeks old.  I cannot believe how fast this first month has gone!  I've enjoyed being home with her and watching her grow.  She's quite the animated little girl and pulls lots of funny faces.  Scott and I will be taking a picture of her as each month passes to document her growth.  Here she is at month #1.

Photo Shoot

We took Torrance to get newborn pictures taken when she was 10 days old.  We tried a new place called Foto Fly and they did a great job.  Here are some of our favorites!

New Baby at Home

Scott and I were glad to finally be home from the hospital.  My parents were still in town so they were able to help around the house, which was really nice!!  It took a little while for Scott and I to grasp the fact that we were parents.  It was such a sudden, but wonderful change.  Here are some pictures from Torrance's first few days at home.

We just LOVE having her and cannot believe how much we absolutely love her.  She eats about every 3-4 hours and will sometimes even go 5-6 at night.  So far she's a pretty good baby!  Scott was home for three weeks with us and went back to work last week.  He's been so great with her.  It'll be fun for us to watch how she changes over the next few months.

Yikes!!!

Well, it has been a LONG time since I've updated the blog - sorry!  There are lots of new updates, but I'll start with the most important one.  After 9 months of waiting, our little one is finally here!  Torrance Elyse Cooley was born on October 8, 2012 at 1:07 am.  She weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5"long.  My labor was pretty long, but after 18 hours, Torrance was finally here.  I delivered one week ahead of my due date as I was induced.  During the last couple of months during my pregnancy I was battling high blood pressure.  One day it would be elevated, and the next, normal.  Because my BP was all over the place, my OB decided that once I got to 39 weeks, he was going to induce me.  Scott and I went to the hospital at 6 am on October 7 for the induction.  The nurse started me on pitocin around 7am and I was given an epidural about 3 hours later.  After that was all said and done, there was a lot of waiting around.  I had some company though.  Scott was there the entire time and his mom and my parents were also in the room.  Scott was the only one in the room during the delivery, which lasted 3 hours.  Once Torrance was born, the nurse whisked her off pretty quickly because the cord was around her neck during delivery.  It took the nurse some time before Torrance let out her first cry.  I have to admit that I was pretty nervous watching the nurse handle my baby girl as I wasn't sure what was going on.  Once they checked her vitals I was finally able to hold my baby.

Once we all got a chance to hold the little one, Scott accompanied the nurse to the nursery where he got to give Tori her first bath.  Before they bathed her they checked her vitals again and put her under a heat lamp to warm her up.  After my epidural wore off,  I was moved to a recovery room and was able to join Scott in the nursery.  

Once her bath was finished we were able to get settled in our recovery room, in which we lived for 3 days.  The rooms at the hospital were pretty nice.  All of the nurses that took care of me and Tori was very helpful and caring.  Despite being in a hospital our stay wasn't that bad.  We kept the baby in our room most of the time but put her in the nursery for a bit at night time so Scott and I could get some sleep.  On day 3, we were finally cleared to go home.  We were shown how to put Tori in her car seat and make sure she was in securely.  Scott and I were both nervous on the drive home as we've never had a newborn in the car before.  Scott drove while I sat in the back seat of the car.