Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I've put up a few posts originally posted on my private family blog (the one where James and I are free to rant or gush about the baby without fear of judgement or "helpful advice" from friends and family) but that I thought loved ones might want to read. Look back to December 3rd and after and enjoy.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Sleep


I've got a sweet child sleeping in my arms, necessitating one-handed typing, but it's worth it. I always loved holding sleeping babies and now find the joy of holding my own child as she sleeps to be all the more wonderful and fulfilling. She's wearing pink fleece footie pajamas and little mittens to keep he from a) scratching her face, and b) sucking her thumb. (B) turned out to be futile, as she managed to get the left mitten off twice over the night-time and thereby acquire the coveted left thumb. I did some research today and it basically said babies will suck their thumbs and the more you fight them, the longer they persist in the habit, so just roll with it and try to distract or comfort them in other ways once they're a little older and can be reasoned with. I sucked my thumb until age 7 and ended up with two bouts of orthodontia. I hope I don't end up eating my words when Gwen is older and needs braces. Of course, her Aunt Diana never sucked anything and she had to have pretty extensive ortho as a kid. Maybe it's just genetic and I should start saving now.

Gwen is two months old today. She smiles and laughs, says "goo" and "ga" and tries to mimic us when we say "I love you." She almost always smiles when we tell her we love her. She'll stick her tongue out at us - it's a little game we play. She's somewhat more tolerant of tummy-time and James saw her roll from front to back the other day, although she has yet to repeat the performance.

She's slept through the night the last two nights. We put her in her crib all night for the first time three nights ago. The first night, she woke up at 2:30, and again at 5:30. The second night, she slept through to 5:30 straight. Last night, she went down at 9 pm and finally started asking for breakfast at 7:30. And now she's taking a nap. This kid is definitely her mother's daughter!

She's still a really "good" baby - rarely cries, eats well from both breast and bottle (even cold milk!), laughs and gives other forms of reciprocal affection. She even tolerates baths and diaper changes with minimal fussing. And she's a good sleeper. Even James has stopped googling "vasectomy" since she started smiling.

I've been posting more about our little family on our private website, but I'll try and transfer some of the less sensitive articles here for my adoring fans (i.e. my family). Feel free to yell at me if I don't get around to it. I'm easily distracted these days.