Six Weeks Old

Natalie just celebrated six weeks of life. It's amazing how quickly things change with her. We've had so much fun watching her grow and watching her new tricks (as if she were a cocker spaniel?).

Smiles are the most exciting of the development....real smiles too. She's got the most beautiful smile I have ever seen in my entire life.

We're also spending more time on the tummy. She can hold her own pretty well. I'm amazed at how strong her upper body and neck are! She moves her legs like she wants to crawl or scoot - - but I remind her she's still too little to be growing up so fast! She's also hinting that she's trying to turn from her tummy to her back. As soon as the upper body and lower body start working together, we'll have a flapjack on our hands!!!

Other cool things - she's letting us swaddle her now. In the beginning, she wanted her arms flying free and there was little we could do to stop it. Now, we're able to coax her arms down, and she immediately calms herself. The arms don't always stay put, but Brad and I are starting to figure out when she needs the swaddle and when the swaddle is just out of the question.

Same goes for the pacifier. In the beginning, she wanted NOTHING to do with any pacifier - but she was content to use our fingers for the same purpose. Now, she uses the hospital soothie for sucking, but she's not interested enough to hold it in on her own. The hospital soothie is the ONLY one she will take. We're trying not to make it a habit - more of a last resort - but I'm glad only because it will strengthen her sucking muscles.

The bottle is new as well. Last week we started replacing a nursing session with a bottle of expressed milk. Brad has been administering these feedings exclusively (well..>Grandma Mary got one feeding). I was worried she would fight it or have confusion issues, but she proved me wrong! She took right to it and has been going back and forth without any issues whatsoever! She'll even take a bottle from Brad if I'm in the room. I haven't tried giving her a bottle myself, but there's not been a reason to do so.

Nursing is going extremely well. I'm so proud of how she has done with it. I can go back to work knowing that my supply is strong and my daughter is a fantastic eater (like her momma).

We had our first night out as a couple leaving Natalie with Grandma Mary Saturday night. We went out for a meal then to watch Colonel Angus play. I was proud of myself - I only called once on our way home to see if Grandma wanted a snack, and I didn't fret too much about how Natalie was handling the absense of her parents (apparently she didn't care - she slept most of the time!).

I've decided to try and see if I can get some baby weight off. I've been "sorta" doing the Weight Watchers thing for the last two weeks...but I haven't been incredibly faithful to it. This week I'm making a valid attempt, so we'll see how that goes. But the deal I have made with myself is to stick with it unless I see a significant decrease in my milk supply. I spoke with Dr. K about it, and she said as long as I'm not significantly slashing calories and working out 3-5 hours a day every day (as if I had the time to do that!) I shouldn't see a difference in my supply. I'm hoping that's the case. I'm on Day 2 right now, and so far so good!

I will try to be better about updating this blog for the few who read it - I would have thought once Brad's school was done for the summer I would have more time to get online, but that hasn't really proved to be the case.

There just aren't enough words to express how hard Brad and I have fallen in love with this little girl. I'm so excited to share her with the world!!!