7 Weeks

It's amazing to think it's been seven weeks already. Miss M. Is developing more and more with every passing day, and it is a joy to watch.

She had a growth spurt over the last week, and all of a sudden, her newborn clothes are almost too small. She doesn't fill them out, but rather she is very long. We think she is going to be long and lean like her mommy. I talked to my mother, lamenting the fact that she is right at the end of the newborn sleepers, yet would swim in the 0-3 months clothing. My mother said that I was a very long and lean baby, too.

All of a sudden, Miss M. can also hold her head up all by herself. Not only can she hold it up, but she WANTS to hold it up and look around. She no longer wants to be cradled when she's held. She has a very firm preference for wanting to be held upright so that she can look over your shoulder. She also holds onto your clothing while she is upright.

When she's awake, she vigorously kicks her legs and pumps her arms. As I type this, she is leaning against my bent knees in our bed, kicking my chest so hard that it actually kind of hurts! Soon, I will move her exercise mat next to me on the bed, and put her under it. She is particularly enamored with the giraffe these days, and will lay and talk to him. While I shower, I often put her in her vibrating seat, which has a little mini-aquarium that lights up and has moving fish. I peak out of the shower periodically to make sure she is okay, and the other day I caught her smiling up at the fish. Another day, she started fussing when the timer went off and the fish stopped moving. She was quite indignant about it, but a press of the button made her happy again. It makes me laugh to watch her.

We lost power for two days this week in a big wind and rain storm that hit New England. Since we have no heat when we have no power, we stayed with my aunt. Miss M. Was completely spoiled by my many aunts while we were there, and was rarely put down. Now, she only wants to be held, upright against my chest of course. She cries when I try to put her down. Spoiled baby! It's lovely to have her fall asleep on me, but a bit of a problem when trying to get things done. The Baby B.jorn worked well yesterday, thankfully. Hopefully, this needs-to-be-held-all-the-time phase will be short-lived! She's still just fabulous, even when demanding.

The pacifier attempts continue. She's taken it here and there, but mostly refuses it. She clearly prefers her mama. As for the bottle. . .well, I haven't been able to bring myself to pump yet, but I'm set to make my first attempt today. I sterilized everything yesterday, charged the pump, and read the directions. I am prepared to start, although not emotionally ready, but that's the subject of another post.

I still have weeks left before I return to work, but had to take care of something, so I took the baby in on Monday. She was a big hit, and got one offer to babysit and one arranged marriage proposal from the father of a two year old.