Two Things

1. Baby hates Target. No kidding, every time we step foot in that store she starts screaming. Today I walked in, changed her diaper, sat in the little cafe and fed her, so I knew she was set...and she cried anyway.

2. People, especially old ladies, see any kind of blue on your baby, and automatically call it a boy. Ezra will have on a pink onesie, and pink socks...but if she's got a blue pacifier in her mouth, people ask: "He's precious, how old is he?" Here's a scene from our trip to the mall a couple of weeks ago:

[Grandad rests with Ezra on a bench in the mall concourse. Ezra wears a patchwork summer dress with some pink floral, some white eyelet, and some blue stripes. Enter old lady...]

Lady: Oh, how precious! It's a boy?

Grandad: Well, let me put it to you this way, I wouldn't let my grandson wear a dress.

Birds!

Hello everybody! My mom and I have been busy at work making Ezra her very own bird mobile. She sewed the birds and I assembled the mobile. We got the idea from spoolsewing.com where you can print out the pattern and make your very own! http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/2008/05/16/bird-mobile/

New Pictures!

Ezra and Great Grandma

Ezra and Grandad

It's funny lookin' but it keeps her warm

Bouncy chair!

Not exciting, but pretty darn cute.

What do Babies Dream?

At our two week checkup our pediatrician asked us if the baby's been smiling for us. Our answer was no, but I immediately thought, "What? At two weeks? The baby should be smiling? Maybe I haven't been working it like I should." Now I know that every baby progresses differently, but I don't think a little smile is too much to ask. Since that appointment I have admittedly been acting a damn fool for this kid. I dance like a monkey, I sing, I coo, I make little motor sounds with my mouth...for nothing. I usually just get a funny "What the heck?" look from her. She has recently smiled for I think all three of her grandmothers and I got nothin'.

I have, however, noticed that she puts on quite a show in the mornings. The last few days have gone like this: I wake up at a ridiculous hour for nighttime (or early morning, rather) feeding number two, sometime between four and five o'clock; she's usually a little more difficult to coerce back into sleep at that time, so once Dad gets up for work I place her in her boppy in bed with me and we nap the morning away. A little while later I wake up to her smiling and lauging in her sleep. I mean like real giggling, not gas. Like "tee-hee-hee...BIG SMILE". I love it! It's absolutely delicious and it completely fills my heart with warmth.

But what could a four-week-old possibly be dreaming of that is so funny? What could she have taken in during her life so far that could show up in her dreams? I wish I knew so that I could have some idea how to get this reaction out of her myself. For now, I'll selfishly hope that she's dreaming of me.

Sympathy for the Dairy Cow

As soon as our little bundle of joy came into this world she took right to nursing...didn't have any problems or complaints really. She fed every three hours or so and would sleep four hours at a time each night. Not so bad, I thought, I can deal with this. For the first two weeks. Since then it seems like she wants the boob more often, like every two hours. And according to all of my nursing resources, you start timing from the beginning of each feeding session...and each session takes about 30 minutes usually. Which translates into incessant nursing. I'm seriously considering duct taping the child to my chest. And god forbid you try to push the time between feedings by fifteen minutes! She turns into a little baby zombie, clawing and sucking at your neck, chest or face, whatever's closest. All the books say that this can happen with babies having growth spurts around 2 and 3 weeks old, that it's just a phase and the baby will eventually feed more efficiently with a little more time between each session. Let's hope so, I hear duct tape can cause a nasty skin rash.

No, but seriously, I am enjoying nursing all in all. The closeness and the bonding really is a beautiful thing. It forces me to stop everything that I'm doing, and hold my little girl close for several hours out of the day which would honestly be spent doing mundane household chores and pointles errands otherwise, things that certainly won't be missed.

Watch this Video.

Two Weeks!

Our little girl is two weeks old now! She's gained a half pound since coming in to the world and she's doing great. Our pediatrician is very pleased. Travis and I are doing well too, adjusting to our new sleep schedules or lack thereof. Our friends and family have been taking excellent care of the three of us, bringing us dinner and offering to watch Ezra when we have somewhere we have to be. We are so incredibly fortunate to have such a great support system, and are eternally grateful.

Enjoy the latest pictures:

Grams preps Ezra for bathtime.

Nonnie loves on Ezra.

Daddy and baby.

Minnie guards.

Cacooned.

Monkey sheet!

Tummy time with Minnie.

Ten full minutes! Yay!

Ezra screams in Mommy's ear.