2 Weeks

Two weeks have passed since your birthday.

You've only been here two weeks, yet I am finding it hard to remember a time that you weren't here. It's bizarre.

You are such a tremendous blessing to your daddy and me. We are loving watching you learn and grow.

And grow, you have.

Your two week check up was Tuesday morning. You've grown from 20.5 inches to 22 inches (95th percentile) and from 6 pounds, 2 ounces, to 7 pounds and a half ounce (25th percentile). You are tall and skinny, but that is obvious from your gene pool.

Sorry, baby girl, you are destined to play basketball, which makes your daddy VERY happy.

You are absolutely beautiful and I love looking in your big blue eyes. They're still very dark blue, and I'm interested to see how they'll change since you're opening your eyes a lot more now.

You are starting to be more alert during the day. You really like the night time hours. You're usually awake from 6pm to 9pm. We play and talk and read, plus watch our favorite tv shows. I just make sure we get a good nap during the day.

You're also following sounds now. Your daddy was moving around in the kitchen and your eyes swapped to that side, and then Charlotte barked, and you quickly moved your eyes to the other side. It was fun to watch your first real reactions.

You giggled for the first time today. It was little, and you were asleep, but it was a definite giggle. I'm so glad I was right next to you to hear it. We've got to figure out how to make you do it on command so your daddy can hear it!

You are STRONG. You're holding your head up on your own for 3 or 4 seconds at a time. Unfortunately, you usually crash it back down. You whacked your nose on my collarbone once which really upset you. We also have to be careful holding you because you throw yourself from side to side, and I've almost lost you off the side of the couch a few times.

You've also rolled over on your side. This, my girl, breaks my heart. You are far too young to be doing this rolling thing. The funny thing is, you'll roll to your side, and then you get mad because you can't roll back. So I have to come rescue you.

I've figured out that your sleeping issue was not from the quiet or from sleeping too much during the day.

It's me. You want me.

You can sleep in the pack and play in the living room all day because you know I'm in there. You can hear me talking and moving around the house. If you cry, I'm right there to pick you up and make you feel better.

But at night, we calm down. You have your last bottle, I rock you in your rocking chair and read you a Bible story. I say my prayers for you as you drift to sleep. I know you're asleep because you make great faces. But as soon as I put you in your crib and back away, you wake right up and scream until I pick you up again.

Sigh. It's made for some long evenings and nights spent on the couch holding you.

So last night, I put your pack and play right up next to my side of the bed. You can see me, smell me, and hear me, and if you start to cry, I just put my hand on your chest and you calm down.

Yes, I slept with my arm in the pack and play last night, but I slept, you slept, your daddy slept, and Charlotte slept.

And most importantly, I slept in the same bed as your daddy. :)

If it takes us a few weeks to get to the crib, that's ok. We'll figure it out. Parenting is quite the trial and error experiment. At least we're going to bed at a decent hour now without tears from me or you.

Other happenings this week:

We moved you from 2 ounces to 3 ounces of formula, which you're eating every two hours like clockwork. You also have clockwork diapers as well. Some I've thought about stepping out of the room for a minute to get some fresh air. Can you believe your daddy actually abandoned me with one that was really bad?

You took your first real bath in the tub because your cord stump fell off and your belly button has healed. You like it waaaaay more than a washcloth bath beside the sink. You then proceeded to pee on me as soon as I picked you up from the tub and wrapped you in towel before I could get a diaper on you. Oh well. It won't be the first time.

Dr. Stone cleared you to go out in public, as long as people wash their hands before they touch you. Trust me, mommy has no problems asking people to wash their hands or squirting out the hand sanitizer. I was DYING to get out of the house, so I took you to the Shops where I used to work and let the office staff meet you. They loved passing you around and you were such a doll!

Then we walked around the mall because we are going to church for the first time Sunday since you were born, and I needed an Easter dress since none of my clothes really fit right now. So you had your first shopping trip! I got a dress and I bought your daddy a tie so that we'll all color coordinate on Sunday. I successfully avoided buying anything in the baby stores. We also went to Sam's. Whoo hoo! You slept the whole time. Very successful trip.

And I can't WAIT to take you to church on Sunday. And EASTER Sunday, of all Sundays! We are going to celebrate our risen Savior holding our baby girl. How amazing!

You've met all your great grandparents now. Nanny and Daddy John visited Sunday morning, and my Grandmother visited Sunday afternoon. Muma and Mimi visited last weekend. You still have a few more relatives planning to visit this week, and I am planning a trip to Dothan next weekend to meet GiGi's friends and my friends. Yes, we love to show you off.

Saturday, you had your newborn pictures made with T2 Photography. I can't WAIT to see how they turned out. These are a few I snapped with my phone. You were so adorable in all the precious little things we dressed you up in. Your tutu almost swallowed you whole, but it made it that much cuter.

I am loving every minute of being your mommy. Even the hard times when you cry for no reason or the 50th time you've spit your pacifier out because you're not quite strong enough to hold it in for long periods of time. You are an amazing little person and I love you with my whole heart.