Punk Rock Stella

One of the great things about being a parent, at least so far, is that you can do funny stuff to your kid for your own amusement, and there's not much they can do about it... A mohawk, for example.

In other news, we took Stella in to the doctor today (to investigate a persistent and rather nasty diaper rash) and she weighed in at 8 lbs 2.2 ounces. 9 ounces in a week is pretty great - they expect to see 1/2 - 1 ounce per day at this point. So go Stella, and go Chris! (We got a couple of new butt ointments for the rash, by the way - hopefully it will clear up in the next few days)

As always, click the photo to see our latest photo album.

Big Weekend!

It was a big weekend all around:



Stella got to meet her Aunt Sarah for the first time. Sarah came down for the weekend from Maryland, where she attends the University of Maryland, studying Kinesiology. This summer she'll be winging her way to London to study and to visit some of the cities famed sporting locations - Old Trafford, where Manchester United play; Wimbledon; and probably some other cool stuff that I'm forgetting. Her niece loves her very much!



Stella also lost her umbilical cord! For now she has an outy...

Finally, Maryland beat North Carolina 89-87, soldifying their bid for the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years! I believe Uncle Nick was at the game - he is currently visiting friends in Maryland. Stella is quite jealous that he got to see this awesome game in person, and wishes that Nick would come back to NC soon and tell her all about it...

Click on either of the above photos to see an album of the weekend's snapshots.

7 lbs 9 ounces

We went to the doctor today for Stella's two week checkup, which is when the doctors want to see her back at her birth weight. Apparently babies (especially breastfed ones) start losing weight right when they are born, and don't start gaining it back for a few days. Stella went from 7 lbs 1 ounce at birth to 6 lbs 8 ounces when she was discharged from the hospital. Two days later, at her first doctors appointment, she was down to 6 lbs 6 ounces... A couple days after that, however, after some intense feeding, she was back up to 6 lbs 11 ounces, and today at her checkup she was back up to 7 lbs 9 ounces! Way to go, baby Stella!

She also grew about 3/4 of an inch, although that may have just been because I didn't hold her in place against the top of the measuring table...

Grandparent's Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa Hallberg were in town for the weekend to meet Stella and help out her sleep-deprived parents. To see a full gallery of photos, click the picture to the left...

We had a most excellent weekend, with many of the highlights being of the culinary variety. Grandma and Grandpa Yakubik came over on Friday evening with a bottle of champagne and a box of amazing truffles from a little cafe/bakery down in Apex - yummy! Grandpa Hallberg cooked some truly excellent meals, highlighted by Sundays pork chops in a fabulous sauce (too many flavors to attempt to list here), carrots and red grapes in a Grand Marnier glaze, and mashed potatoes w/bacon and other assortied yummies. That same night Grandma Hallberg made an amazing carrot cake that we are still eating (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner I might add!). She also made her famous Swedish pancakes on Sunday morning - delicious!



Stella also got to wear a couple of beautiful sweaters this weekend - one new one made by Grandma Hallberg (shown in the picture, here, along with matching booties), and one 30-year-old one originally worn by Stella's daddy way back in the last century. To see that one, check out the linked gallery!

Stella is quite lucky, as are her parents, to have four wonderful grandparents who love her very much! Our thanks go out to Grandma and Grandpa Hallberg for a wonderful weekend.

What a Life

I have the great luxury of four weeks paternity leave, so the three NC Hallbergs have been spending a lot of time together since coming home from the hospital. The schedule of a new parent is completely insane, let me tell you - and we've had tons of help (dinners from the ladies at our church, lots of help from Grandma Yakubik, etc.).

Essentially, we have about eight three hour windows during each day. In each of these, we spend about 40 minutes or so feding the baby, 10 burping the baby, and another 10 or so changing diapers, etc. This leaves eight two hour windows for everything else, including sleep! Needless to say, this schedule doesn't leave much room for anything other than eating, sleeping, and the occasional blog post...




-Aaron

Stella Madeline Hallberg

After nine long months...



...Stella was born at 3:41 PM on February 6th, 2007. She weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz, and measured 19 3/4 inches long.




Mama and papa were extremely excited and proud after their long ordeal!




At three days old, Stella has a full head of hair and beautiful blue eyes!