Traded Her In For a New Model
Week 7-Month 3

So somewhere along the line, our little 5 lb. baby became a chubby little girl. It's interesting how weight works with kids, because somehow the chubbiness increases the cuteness by some sort of exponential relationship. Anyhow, on Thanksgiving Day, here are a few new pics of our little girl, for whom we are very, very thankful.

R: We're trying very hard to limit how much TV she watches. But just turn your back and she hops up on the couch, turns on the TV, and starts watching CNN. She's got a lot to catch up on.

R: First beach day ever.

R: Post-bath curly hair. So far she hasn't seen a light she doesn't love to stare at.

Cosi went to a friend's birthday party. We dressed her as a fairy, but she wanted to be a dragon. (yawn)

R: For Halloween, we dressed up with some of the members of our Small Group as the characters of Peter Pan. Cosi was Tinkerbell, Sarah was Tiger Lily, and I was Captain Hook.

R: Bored of the party.

R: The Crocodile and Wendy (Alan and Cat). I like the Cosette looks like she's in on the photo gag. "Oh no! Look he's eating me - ahhhh!"

Weeks 3-6

Crazy huh?? She turns 6 weeks old tomorrow. Yikes! And since we haven't been consistent with blogging, there is a surplus of photos to share. Let's get down to business...

R: This is at 2 weeks. She still fits inside a book. Dante's Divine Comedy to be specific.

S: That super cute "dress" is actually a shirt...at this point, she still wasn't really fitting into clothes.

R: Spa Dobson features deep tissue massages, mani/pedis, and tummy time.

S: The glare from Mad Eye was telling me to go a little to the left.

R: This is not her first bath. The photos of the first bath are... well... there was a fairly catastrophic meltdown. This bath was more pleasant.

R: Little monkey

S: I think this looks like she's in the middle of telling Ryan an amazing story. "Dad, you would NOT believe it!!"

R: She doesn't have enough control of her arms for this to be voluntary. But it sure is cute.

S: I disagree. I think that they instantly bonded because of the matching brown spots.

R: What I have in size, she beats with cute.

R: So this is her nursery, pre-design.

R: Thanks to the gifted Mia Viljoen, Cosette's got playful bunnies and a tree on her wall. The white text is a quote from Les Miserables that says: "When she entered the old place, she filled it with paradise. The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity that far from being diminished, like every other reflection, it returns to us more radiant than ever."

R: She hasn't figured out how to laugh yet. But if she had, she would be here.

R: Grandpa and Grandma Dobson (Gramps and Nana) came and visited. More of those photos soon.

Hurry up and weight.

Cosi lost a fair amount of weight after the first couple of days in the hospital (from 5 lbs 12 oz, to 5 lbs, 2 oz), and the doctors were a little worried about jaundice, so we had to take her in to have her weight checked every two days for the first week. She was completely fine, though. We knew she was gaining weight because of her increasingly chubby cheeks, which eventually turned into her nickname/Swing Band, of which, she is the lead singer --"Mad-eye Moody (see first post) and the Increasingly Chubby Cheeks".

We wanted to take a photo of her next to something to show her relative size. And she's (was) sleeping a lot... so it's a loaf.


R: Crawford Grandparents came into town for a week and loved on her. Plus cooked tons of great food.
S: Mmmmm...lemon bars.

R: First walk. Is that annoying that we're going to do all the "firsts"??

There is a baby inside of that super-fashionable stroller, purchased for her by a collective group of the best friends a baby (or parents) could ask for. Thank you guys so much!!

R: When we took her in for one of her weight/jaundice checkups, the technician taking her blood (young guy with two kids), told us: "Don't believe what anyone tells you. The first time she smiles, it's not gas. It is an authentic smile meant just for you. She's knows who you are, and she's smiling to tell you she loves you." That afternoon we came home and she was sitting on my lap. She started grinning this huge smile and I shouted at Sarah to come over. Just as Sar got there, Cosi let out a huge fart.

We love you too.

R: We took her up to the Pasadena Flea Market. Gotta teach them to be thrifty early.

S: Grandma Crawford and Sarah also went to Old Navy to try to find some small newborn or preemie sized clothing for tiny Cosette without much luck. As a result, she was in a diaper and a blanket most of the time.

R: She looks worried like this a lot. I think here she's concerned that I may roll over on her.

R: Gotta do the whole foot-print thing for the baby book. What else traditionally goes in there? Birth certificate copy? Baby's first haircut?

S: Clearly, she is very excited about all of this.

R: Family balcony time.

Ok - we're going to try to start blogging photos every week. As Cosette is almost 3 weeks old already (what??), we're obviously behind. So we're going to play a little catch up first.

B Day:

R - I'm going to choose not to go into too many details on the semantics of this period of time. Sarah can do so, if she so pleases. Suffice my experience to be summarized this way, "It did?? Already?? Are you ok?" -- *rushed packing * -- "Are you ok?" -- *angry driving, annoyance with the 3 other drivers on Beverly Blvd at 1am -- "Are you ok?" -- *checking in, meet reassuring nurse and explain that we think this baby will come fast, spend time with nurse who under estimates how quickly this baby is coming, meet reassuring anesthesiologist, reassuring anesthesiologist makes jokes and leaves, reassuring nurse is shocked at speed baby is coming, calls doctor, talks to reassuring doctor, reassuring doctor takes her time showing up because she underestimates how quickly this baby is coming, reassuring doctor arrives aaaaannnnnnddddd, BABY.*

S - Ummm...did my...nah, surely not. I'll just go get in bed and pretend...oh oops, nevermind-it's for real. 15 minutes later, at the hospital, I'm 4cm upon arrival. 1 hour of discomfort, then more discomfort, then pain, then more pain, all of which the staff prefer to discuss on a pain scale from 1-10. At that point I'm 6cm, and I opt for the epidural. We're then told to get some rest, because it might be awhile. 1.5 hours later the nurses come in, and it's time to push.

R - Oh yeah, that pain scale is awesome. Ask Sarah to show you here #7 Grimace some time.

R: There were 5 people in the room. Then there were 6.

R: We call this "The Mad-Eye Moody"

S: Opening both eyes is overrated.

R: Melt you.

R: Despite our numerous conversations prior to Cosette's birth, Owen was still confused that babies are not food.

R: True Cali-girl. Born and introduced to In and Out on the same day.

R: The last cookie cake I will not have to share with her. Thanks Shifletts!

R: Uncle Donny and Aunt Lauren (Our Small Group)

R: Lauren is practicing. Cosette is keeping tabs on her soon-to-arrive partner-in-crime.

R: Aunt Catherine and Uncle Alan (Not pictured, Our Small Group)

R: In retrospect, I wonder if we could have asked for a bigger room based on the size of our small group?

R: Uncle Jay and Aunt Katherine (Our Small Group)

R: Uncle Brian and Aunt Suzanne (Yep, Small Group)

S: With their upcoming addition, in two years our small group will have gone from zero babies (one in belly) to 6 babies.

R: Mia and Francois (And Anabelle) came, but I was so distracted by the celebratory Cuban that Francois brought for us to share, that I forgot to take photos of them. They will be featured in upcoming posts. (note: Originally that first sentence said "...by the celebratory Cuban Francois..." man, I'd sure love to meet a Cuban version of Francois who just loves to celebrate).

R: I love this photo. After the guests leave - mom time.

R: Aunt Kelli and Uncle Matt (not pictured)

R: We needed to take a photo with the swaddle off to really show how tiny she is! Little, little thing.

R: The nurses don't mess around. This swaddle is perfect in 7 different ways - Cosette was out in just under 30 seconds. Afterwards I talked the nurse into swaddling me (not pictured).

S: These hospital blankets truly make the best swaddlers. In retrospect, we should have stolen more than one.

More to come!