Today we went to the post office to buy stamps for her birth announcements/our holiday cards. She slept the whole time, and since she was so out, I decided to walk through the mall, which is next door. Didn't buy anything (I was hoping to find a good baby's first Christmas ornament and was disappointed with the selection available) but we walked up and down and looked at stuff. Even when she's asleep, I talk to her basically the whole time, just narrating what we're seeing (or what she'd be seeing if she opened up her eyes.) Basically, having a baby gives me someone to chat with other than myself.
We're getting into a good routine. Our evenings are still tough and fussy. She'll spend about an hour eating from maybe 8-9, and then I hand her off to Tim and race to bed as fast as possible. He sits with her during what we call "fuss hour" where she basically cries, sucks on his finger and fusses until she falls asleep. She doesn't want to eat, she doesn't want to be rocked, she just wants to FUSS. Whether or not this is colic I don't know, but it is what it is. She wakes up between 2-3 to eat, and that's when Tim goes into our bed and I take over in the nursery. It's not an ideal system, but it means that one of us gets to go and crash hard and get a 5 hour stretch of solid sleep every night. Whoever is in the master bedroom doesn't have to worry about the baby, or a baby monitor, or being disturbed. Ellie then usually gets up between 6-7 for the day. Tim's up at 7 and will hold her for me or do the first diaper change so that I can use the bathroom without worrying about whether Ellie is upset (the only time I get to do that in a 12 hour stretch!)
She's so much more alert now! She'll sleep for a two to three hour stretch. Wake up, demand to eat for a half hour or so, and then we'll just spend some time talking and singing (my favorite thing is to bounce her in my lap and made up songs to the melody of popular showtunes, such as Bloody Mary from South Pacific, only it goes "Ellie Ellie is the girl I love (boom boom boom boom!)" or Everybody Ought to have a Maid from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, "everybody like to change their diap. Nobody likes to have a poopy diap!") She also really seems to like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. We'll read for a little bit, or just walk around the house and look at things, like ceiling fans and flowers. She also usually gets a case of the hiccups. It is so great when she sits there and smiles at me. She'll be up for maybe two hours total and then I'll feed her again and she's back to snoozing.
The awake times are really fun! When she's not crying, she's delightfully bright eyed and bushy tailed. She's also getting better control of her little body - she has great head control and will stand herself up on your lap if you hold her under her armpits. Still waiting for her to figure out her hands. I love when she sort of wrings them together because she doesn't know that those are her hands yet. When I change her, she has one leg that she sort of kicks back and forth like she's trying to batter down a door. Also, I think it's funny that when she yawns, it makes me yawn, but she doesn't have whatever that instinct is so when I yawn, it has no effect on her. I'll be interested to see when that reaction changes.
Tomorrow she and I both have our six week checkups. I don't know what I was thinking, scheduling my doctor's appointment at 8am. We are NOT ready by that time of the morning, but we'll do our best. I'm excited for her to meet all of the folks in the office who took such good care of me while I was pregnant. I'd planned to bake cookies to bring in, but then I had a newborn. And we know how that goes. They will just have to get my eternal gratitude.
Here's my six week old darling!
FYI, those are my feet. She has not sprouted head appendages.
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