Peep has been changing so much lately.  She has started babbling and cooing and motorboating her lips a ton more.  Just today she talked most of the day!  She was totally wound up last night and wouldn't go to sleep, perhaps because she wanted to socialize.

She's been grabbing things and putting them in her mouth.  She'll spend time entertaining herself in her play yard or with toys on a blanket (which is new, before she needed constant attention or yelling ensued).  She's gotten to where not every time she cries is an all out meltdown of sobbing like it was there for a while.  Sometimes it's a little gurgly/talking cry and other times it's a yell.  :D

She was yelling the other evening when I was trying to feed her.  Hubs gets home from work and walks up and says hi to her.  She immediately stops yelling and beams him a big smile.  The little imp!  She sure loves the dad.

Tonight I rolled her over onto her stomach and she landed with her elbows bent by her side propping her head up!  Then I helped her roll back over.  I rolled her back onto her stomach and she rolled onto her back all by herself!!  What a little smarty.  It's amazing to watch her grow and change.

The Evolution of a Mother

A week or so after giving birth I started wondering what the heck I'd gotten myself into... Peep's a bit colicky.  I wanted to go out to the movies and out to dinner and go to China and Belize and go get chai tea whenever I wanted.  But then at some point along the way I quit worrying about what I was missing and started enjoying my new responsibilities, started enjoying Peep's smiles and quit minding so much when she cried and just focused on making her happy again.  I started feeling like a mom.

This Monday Hubs watched Peep while I went to get a pedicure.  I had a terrible time getting out the door.  I said goodbye and kissed her little chubby cheeks several times before I FINALLY left.

I'm making sure to enjoy cuddling her and take time to rub my cheek on her fuzzy, lovely smelling little head.  She's not going to be little for very long, she weighed 11 lbs. 11 oz. yesterday and she's already 11 weeks old!

According to baby books, Peep's been sleeping through the night since she was about 3 weeks old, which means sleeping 4-6 hours at a time.  So not my idea of "through the night"!!  She was going to sleep at 7 or 8 and then eating between 12 - 2 a.m.  then going a couple hours before eating again. Last week she slept from 8pm to 5am several times, but she's reverted back to the old schedule... Before I know it she will be sleeping through the night by regular definition and I bet I will miss our sleepy middle of the night feedings.

We went to  see Hubs's family last week.  Peep was a gem on the trip out and was good throughout the week, napping better in the truck (diesel, very loud and vibrate-y) and at the cabin than she ever does here at home!  

Here was the highlight of the trip for me...  Peach cream cheese pie with fresh peaches (be still my heart) from Tiffany's, a little Amish restaurant...  No offense family, it was REALLY GOOD PIE!!

6 weeks old...

So 6 weeks old is supposed to be the peak of fussiness for babies and today Peep is 6 weeks old...  Already I'm noticing that she's a bit easier to soothe, fussy periods do not last as long and for the most part today had a reason (wet diaper, hungry, etc.).  Everyone kept telling me it would get easier and it looks like perhaps they were right.  ;)

Peep smiled at me yesterday morning when I was changing her diaper.  She has a cute little dimply grin and she scrunches up her shoulders when she smiles really big.  It was so adorable and made my day.  She smiled at me today after I told her I had no idea what I was doing.  Then she promptly started wailing.  A test?  I got a couple smiles from her this evening.  Things are definitely looking up!

And here's a cool pic C took of his '62 Galaxie...  

Motherhood - One month in...

So far motherhood has been much tougher than I had even anticipated.  The first nights in the hospital I thought I was being so smart by feeding Peep and then letting her go to the nursery. I would be refreshed and ready to take on anything when I got home.  HA! 

I hadn't anticipated recovery from birth, a fussy baby who did not go to sleep at night, and a lot of difficulties nursing that resulted in anxiety and stress...  

But at Peep's two week check up her doctor recommended the book, Happiest Baby on the Block and I just happened to have the DVD from a friend.  We watched that and with swaddling we now had a method for soothing a fussy girl.  I recovered from childbirth and started getting out exercising (with my lovely supportive family) and my energy started to return.  And I'd love to say that nursing became easy for us, but that is just not the case, however, we are coping with that...

Still it's not easy...  I find myself tensing at the slightest peep afraid that she'll wake up.  At which I wonder, why am I afraid?  I know what to do to calm her (feed, burp, change, bounce, repeat, repeat in reverse order, feed, change and so on and so forth!)....

Right now the little angel is napping...  Who knows what the day will bring.  I just hope that I'm up for the challenge.

Peep

2 weeks - "Ohhhhh nooo..."

2 weeks, lookin' at the blue fish on her bouncy seat...

Peep at 1 month - Polka dots...

1 month - Pooh outfit...

1 month - Serious face...