No Screaming During the Bath, But Then Came the Shots

Last Sunday, Keelie hit the two month mark.

This week was the first time we were able to give Keelie a bath without her screaming her head off. Progress! I’m also enjoying the “Daddy & Keelie” time I get with her after working.

Changes have been afoot while we have been recuperating at home. We really enjoyed our friends from church that would meet as a group called Homecoming. The situation settled into six regular couples, three of us having young kids, and we’d meet weekly in homes. However, the group decided to go in a new direction and was basically absorbed into a larger group that meets on the church campus. One of the Homecoming families is about to move “permanently” to Africa, and they are expecting their second child. We're going to miss them.

Here's Keelie sleeping hard in a "nest" of pillows, Kori couldn't resist taking a picture!

Kori took these shots below when she noticed Keelie rising up off me during Daddy & Keelie time. Shelby couldn’t resist getting into the shots.

A kiss from Shelby?

"More pictures, Mommie?"

"Daddy, why does Mommie take so many pictures?"

Here’s Keelie reaching nine weeks of age on Tuesday, and raising her arms in victory.

Kori, Keelie, and I checked in with the lactation consultants again. Well, I didn’t need to be there, but I was. Things are looking good. Kori is doing a very good job and is producing a lot.

Yesterday, Keelie went to the doctor again so she could get her first shots. Four times, she had to endure needles being stuck into her thighs. Even though it was done as quickly as possible, Keelie was not happy about it. However, she’s doing well at gaining weight and getting longer. For her age, she’s at the 20th percentile for weight (as she was at birth), and 50th percentile for height. For hair, she’s off the charts. And she seemed to be in a good mood for most of the rest of the day. She was probably hoping that she could avoid more shots that way!

Kori ventured out for the first time without Keelie. She ran some errands while I stayed home and had some Daddy & Keelie time. Kori was happy to be fitting back into her “ultra-skinny” jeans. But then, she was looking like her pre-pregnancy self very soon after giving birth.

As you can see below, we’ve started to try out putting things in Keelie’s hair. You know - to get people to notice it. They seem not to see it, otherwise.

For dinner, we met up with Bob and Julie at the PCH Grill, located inside the Paradise Pier Hotel at the Disneyland Resort. They brought a present for Keelie - so nice! We hadn’t seen them in the longest time. The PCH Grill is where Kori and I ate on our first date, and look what happened to us! (Of course, we did go into Disneyland Park, too, on that date).

Finally, I’ll end this post with a picture of a gift that arrived this week for Keelie, sent by Adam, whom I consider a professional and creative mentor (even though he was never a PIO for a County of Los Angeles Department).

Meet Moxy. Now that’s a “stuffed animal”. Thank you, Adam.

As always, you can e-mail us at KEPellman at Yahoo dot com. A note to our less tech-savvy friends and family: By clicking on most of these pictures, you will see a larger version of the same picture.

Eight Weeks Plus

Okay, it has been a little long since our last family update – almost two weeks. So we have a lot of baby pictures to show you.

Like her father, Keelie was born with a lot of hair. It is usually the first thing people notice about her. It’s thick and getting longer, of course.

She still hates taking a bath. Hmph. She’ll never become an Olympic Gold Medalist in Swimming if that keeps up. She does, however, love being in this bouncer, which vibrates.

Changing her diaper is no longer guaranteed to make her scream and kick. Quite often, she will quietly look around and cooperate. Kori pointed out that it could be because she is usually fed right after a changing, and she definitely likes being fed!

She usually has a quieter overnight schedule, but there are nights where she’ll want to eat more often.

Kori stays busy taking care of Keelie around the clock.

Last Friday, our friends True and Erick came over to meet Keelie, and they brought sandwiches - bless them!

Keelie had a busy day on Sunday, as we dropped in on her Nanny, Aunt Binky, and Uncle Chris, then went to see my dad, his wife Kathleen, her niece Tammy, Tammy’s husband Jeff, and Jeff’s daughter Marissa.

Here she is with her Aunt Binky, who is telling everyone that Keelie is #1.

Keelie turns away from the cell phone camera as Nanny holds her. Notice that gate, which holds back Nanny’s meddlesome dog.

Keelie is with her Uncle Chris, but someone else wants to hold her, too.

Grandma Kathleen posing with Keelie.

Here she is with Grampa Pellman. Notice the view. In the background, there’s also a table with a mosaic that they made.

My dad and Kathleen love to try new recipes, and they did so with a fish Jeff caught. The original plan was to eat outside, but flies started swarming the table area, which I hadn’t seen there before. We moved inside, where the flies followed us. The food was great. That could have been why there were so many flies.

I was able to snap this picture of the two ladies enjoying a nap.

Monday, Keelie’s Aunt Kendra came over.

Tuesday, Keelie reached 8 weeks! I like the pictures her mother takes.

I told you she likes this thing.

Keelie and I taking it easy last night. I try to take Keelie completely off of Kori’s hands for at least an hour each day.

Here she is early today. Adorable!

Tonight, we were able to get out to see the “Friday night gang” we were hanging out with many of the weeks leading up to the birth. It was the first time we’ve seen them since Keelie was born.

Stacia was kind enough to snap this picture while we were all out eating Chinese food. We don’t have a lot of pictures of the three of us, and this is a nice one, even if it just shows Keelie’s hair.

Pam with Kori and Keelie.
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Keelie started to get fussy, but we just had to snap this picture of her with Tony before we bailed out early and came home.

Keelie is getting bigger and thicker. Yay!

Thanks for stopping by. You can always write us - KEPellman[at[yahoo[dot]com.

Ken's Latest Column Now Online

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here!

The latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com.

In this column, Ken laments the closure of the Disney Gallery by sharing his Disney Gallery memories from the past 20 years.

Check out the column and tell Ken what you think by using the feedback form at the end of the column. You can also talk about the column with others by following the link at the end of the column to the discussion boards.

Remember - Ken also contributes to The Disney Blog at http://www.TheDisneyBlog.com

Keelie's First Disneyland Trip Since Birth!

Okay, so that piciture is blurry, but it is the best I can do. I will tell you why I took it at the end of this post.

My Disneyland trip frequency has plummeted to lows I haven't experienced since 1985, when my family first started getting annual passes. We've been a little busy, what with the pregnancy and birth and recovery and dealing with our first baby.

Well, today we made a short visit to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Here's Kori and Keelie riding the tram on the way from the Mickey & Friends parking structure to the Entrance Plaza. It's Keelie's first Disneyland ride since emerging from the womb!


Can't you just see Keelie's excitement about her first Disneyland picture? No? Hmm, well, I guess not, given how she's in the snuggly.

As you can see, the view didn't change much for Keelie. It's a good view, though.

We dropped into the park briefly to see the Disney Gallery before it closes, and get some pictures and video. Yeah, the Disney Gallery is closing. Bummer. I'm writing a lot more about it because I have lots of memories from the gallery, and so my thoughts and some pictures will be up as my next KenversationsTM column on LaughingPlace.com soon.

I've come up with a new theory about Keelie and her being fussy. She's most fussy when she's with Kori and I in familiar surroundings, like home. She's a lot less fussy with new people and new places. My theory is that she's a supergenius and finds the same faces and places unstimulating, and thus upsettingly boring to her. She wants to absorb new faces and places. Because she is a supermegaultragenius. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

She was quiet in the snuggly for the entire short visit.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, here are three pictures of Keelie from when we got home and she was still in her car seat.



I may be a little biased, but I think she's adorable.

NEWS FLASH - I was just about to post this entry when Kori called me into the bedroom because Keelie has found her thumb! After weeks of trying to stick her fists in her mouth and getting frustrated when they wouldn't stay here, Keelie stuck her thumb in her mouth and started sucking. That's what the picture at the top of this post is - Keelie sucking her thumb.

I was a die-hard thumb sucker as a child. I think I stopped in 11th grade. Seriously - I know I stopped before sixth grade, but it may not have been too much earlier.

-Ken

Six Weeks Plus For Keelie

Kori snapped this picture this past Tuesday, right about the time Keelie turned six weeks old.

As you can see, she has the pacifier in her mouth. She still usually rejects pacifiers, but from time to time, she will tolerate one for a while.

This past Wednesday, Keelie's Auntie Kendra, back from Hawaii, came over to help out - bless her! Kori has been working so hard on taking care of our demanding little fussy baby. I'm glad that the sisters were able to spend some time together and that Kori had some help while I was out.

Thursday, we took Keelie for a follow-up with the pediatrician. She's gaining weight and growing, so that is good! Yesterday, we had a follow-up with the breastfeeding/lactation specialist, and everything is going well.

Kori and I are still in the adapting mode, and haven't been able to do much other than run some errands, most of them related to Keelie. I know, I know... welcome to parenthood! By the time we get the hang of Keelie as an infant, she'll be a toddler!

Here's another picture of Keelie from just a few minutes ago.

A Bump in the Road

Keelie has been a lean baby since we brought her home - not a chubby baby at all. She’s always had plenty of energy and has been feisty and strong. Remember from our previous entries that she’s been really fussy? Well, she might have been burning up too many calories with her crying and kicking and yells.

We discovered this past Thursday that little Keelie had lost weight when she should have been gaining it. After a visit to her pediatrician, we took her in to a hospital. She was admitted to the hospital and all sorts of tests were done, and lots of questions were asked. Her feeding schedule was normal. She was getting her nutrients. Yet, she had lost weight.

Kori stayed with Keelie in the hospital, and I would run errands and otherwise be there all day, but go home overnight. People Kori used to work with and someone she went to school with stopped by as part of their jobs. That was the silver lining to being in the hospital.

Grampa Pellman came down to hold Keelie on Saturday, and Nanny came down to hold her yesterday. Keelie really liked being held by them. Puma and Granddaddy Keel would have been there, too, but they were out of the state when all of this went down. We kept in contact via phone calls.

There has been no definitive conclusion about Keelie’s condition. It could simply be a matter of Keelie burning up too many calories. That's would probably be the "best" cause.

Keelie was given a new feeding regimen and we brought her home yesterday. Hopefully, this new feeding schedule will be enough to put Keelie on the right track. If she fails to gain the right amount of weight, it could be an indication of something more serious. We have lots of follow-up appointments scheduled.

Poor Kori, who had been in the hospital the whole time with Keelie, is running on very little sleep. I am exhausted, but I’ve had a lot more sleep than her! I took the day off so I could catch up on sleep, and make phone calls, and run errands related to keeping Keelie healthy.

There have been a couple of changes for Keelie along with the new feeding frequency. She’s not as fussy, though it hasn’t gone away completely. And - she’s finally started to send some of the milk back up. She had never done that before.

Thanks for reading, thanks for checking in with us, and thanks for all of your advice, prayers, and encouragement. Oh- and if you want to send us a message instead of leaving a comment here, you can do so at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Here are a couple of cell phone pictures. One is in the hospital and the other is from when we got back home and I was holding her while she slept.

Keelie is Five Weeks Old

We continue to get acquainted with our little bundle of joy, who hit five weeks old today. Keelie often tries to stick her fist in her mouth to suck on, but her arms don’t cooperate for long and she gets frustrated when her hands move away from her mouth.

This is Keelie at exaclty four weeks old.


Keelie likes being the the snuggly, as long as Kori keeps moving around. While she is still fussing and crying most of the time she is awake and not eating, there are some moments now when she will quietly look around. We also received our first order of Gripewater. That seems to help Keelie to sleep most of the night, waking up only for feedings. She’s surprisingly strong with her grasping, pushing, and kicking.

When I can, I will take Keelie into another room when she is full-but-fussy, and Kori needs sleep. If I recline with Keelie on my chest, she will lift her head and maneuver around – the precursor to crawling. The best is when she simply rests her head against my chest and falls asleep.

She still doesn’t like pacifiers most of the time, but there is a different one we’ve tried that she will accept on some occasions. She still prefers one of Mommie’s fingers or Daddy’s pinky knuckle, as you see above.

We went to Pasadena on Friday so I could have my typical doctor visit and we could take Keelie to see her Nanny, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The scale, surprisingly, said I’d lost two pounds since my visit to the doctor four months ago. Woo-hoo! I celebrated with a combo burrito, chili cheese fries, and a chocolate shake from Hi-Life Burgers. Just kidding. We went to Nanny’s and ate by her pool.

Below you can see a rare moment where the pacifier is working for Keelie.

Saturday, we went to get a professional picture of Keelie and she was her usual fussy self. They did manage to get an okay photo of her where you can't tell she is crying. It took a long time, though.

From there, we went to a Mongolian BBQ place that Craig & Kristen like (we like it too) so we could meet up with them and their two girls and introduce them all to Keelie. Craig & Kristen picked up the check – bless them!

There's that pacifier again.

There’s not much else to report these days. We’re tired and spending most of our time at home. Although I enjoy my job, I miss my ladies terribly when I am in the office.

Alison (Kori's half sister) & Steve sent this great contraption pictured below. I put it together. I made the plastic and painted it and everything. Okay, not really. Like I said... they sent it to us and it was easy to assemble. It enthralled Keelie for fifteen minutes straight, which is hard to do.

Yes, Shelby is still handling things well. She has accepted Keelie as part of the family all along, even though she is confused as to why we get on her case for barking even as Keelie wails away.

Here is a picture I took of Mommie and baby earlier tonight, after Keelie passed her five-week birthday! As you can see, the excitement wore her out.

I've made another heartfelt comment on fatherhood over at the other blog right here.

Mid-July Update From the Pellmans

Wow, it has gotten harder to provide updates now that I’m back to work. The last entry was from July 3. Keelie will be a month old in just a few days, and thus, officially no longer a newborn. Considering how fast my nephews grew up - one just turned 15, the other will be turning 17 next month – I believe people when they tell us that time will fly by.

The evening of July 3, we discovered that Keelie doesn’t like taking a bath. Then again, she cries almost all of the time she is awake anyway. She must be working on her lungs - she does have singers in her family, after all. She’s quiet once she’s settled in to eating, riding in the minivan, and being held by a “new” person (usually), and when sleeping. Dirty diapers don’t bother her. Hiccups don’t bother her. She cries most of the rest of the time, including when those diapers are being changed.


That's Keelie on her first Independence Day.

Being the wild and crazy bunch we are, we stayed home July 4th and watched KCAL 9's fireworks show. They were 13 minutes into it before someone figured out that the sound (music, narration) wasn't hooked into the broadcast. It was also odd that the spectators interviewed to fill time talked about "HD" being one of the reasons they were happy to be there. Uh, they were in person. Only the audience at home would care about KCAL's HD capabilities.

Below you can see Keelie in her bassinet.

She likes the one side for some reason. Notice the pacifiers. She almost invariably hates them. She tries to stick her own hands in her mouth, but that hasn't quite worked out yet. She prefers one of Kori's fingers, or a knuckle of my pinky, or she'll pretend to be hungry, only to fall asleep when in position to eat.

On Thursday, July 5th, Jenn & Dave brought over dinner - bless them!

We drove up to have lunch with my mother (Nanny) and sister (Aunt Binky) on Friday the 6th. Aunt Binky is especially ga-ga over Keelie.


My mother likes to share meals with us - bless her! I pack on the pounds, Vicky has done a good job of dopping pounds and keeping them off.

Speaking of dropping pounds, Kori is has been doing very well and is pleased with herself (I'm pleased, too!) with the progess she's been making in losing the prengancy weight. She fits into almost all of her tight clothes now. We'll have to get a good picture and upload it soon.

Also on Friday the 6th, James & Chrissy brought over dinner - bless them!

On Sunday the 8th, we drove up to Glendora for Homecoming and another couple got to meet Keelie for the first time - Aaron and Cherise.

This past week, I went back to work on a regular basis. It was hard to peel myself away from the two ladies. I didn’t use Family Leave for my time off, so I still have that to fall back on if needed.

Aaron and Cherise brought over lots of yummy food this past Tuesday – bless them!

Wednesday evening was Kendra’s birthday dinner, so all of us were at Puma and Granddaddy’s. Puma and Granddady sure love having the gang over and feeding us all - bless them!

This past Friday, I made a run for Costco. Going alone is a little dangerous, because I can spend forever in the media section looking books, CDs, and DVDs. In the evening we went to introduce Keelie to everyone at Donna B’s monthly Hometown Buffet get-together of current and former cast members. Keelie showed off her crying skills. A lot of people assume that a crying baby means hunger, a dirty diaper, or being too hot or cold. That isn't always the case. There are babies that simply cry a lot, often to release energy, and only so much a parent can do to quiet the crying.

So, things are not so exciting right now, other than enjoying the new, noisy life we get to hold in our arms. There are some movies I’ve wanted to see, but those will have to wait. Heck, we weren’t getting to the cinema before the birth, either.

I’m also going to miss going to see “Weird Al” Yankovic and his White and Nerdy Band at the Orange County Fair this week. But... that's life. Kori has been doing a wonderful job mothering Keelie and withstanding the lack of sleep. Eventually, a new normal will set in. We'll have to give Keelie her first Disneyland visit before too long. We can keep it nice and short. Unless the place stops her from crying.

Thank you all for your ongoing advice, assistance, and prayers. We're working on "thank yous" for all of you who have given gifts, but let us also say here... THANK YOU!