Samantha Smiles

Just a quick update: Samantha is now smiling. And not just because she has gas. Here are a few shots of her adorable little grins. It's so fun to see her get more alert and aware of her surroundings. And whose heart doesn't melt when a baby aims a toothless grin their way. She's also started making the funniest noises. Bryan and I lie in bed laughing at her grunts and snorts. She's also got some more kitty cat noises that we need to capture on video so that we don't forget how fun she is at this age.

We don't have a doctor's appointment until 8 weeks (she's only 5 weeks 3 days today) so I don't know how much she weighs but she's started to outgrow some of her newborn clothes and her face has definitely filled out. She's looking more like herself and less like all other newborns. She is still having trouble with gas but she doesn't scream for hours at a time any more so no colic I guess. Just typical baby cries.

She's still not sleeping in her crib. Part of that is my fault. I like having her by the bed at night. Plus the transition seems like it will be so difficult, though it will probably only take a couple of nights. I need to just accept that fact and buckle down to it. She's just still so little but I know that it will be easier on all of us if we do it sooner rather than later. Maybe next week...

She's gaining weight but she's still a little skinny girl.

Hangin' with daddy.

She loves bath time.

Her first visit to Pizza Port and definitely not her last. She loved the noise and slept throuugh it all.

The Many Faces of Sammy

Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry it's been so long since I updated the blog but newborns are a lot of work...surprise, surprise. She seems to sense it every time I get on the computer and starts to cry. But now that Bryan is home I've got the time to get on here for some updates. This picture is my Valentine's present from Bryan. I woke up this morning and he had changed her into these "love" jammies as a surprise. Sooooo cute! What a sweet daddy she has.

We're all doing really well...now. We had some issues with gas a couple of weeks ago but we switched to a different formula and added some Mylicon drops and things seem to be better this week. We were afraid it might be colick. She was crying every night from about 5-8, just as Bryan got home. She still has her moments where she screams in pain but they are fewer and farther in between. It's so hard to hear those screams without crying myself.

On Monday she had her 3-week check-up. She now weighs 7 pounds, 9 ounces, up 1.2 pounds from her first appointment. Her belly button fell off this week too so we were able to give her her first real baths. She hated the first one but the second one was much better. She realized that being immersed in warm water feels really good.

We've also taken her on a few outings. We went to the Fish Market for lunch last weekend and she slept the whole time. I was even able to have a glass of wine, something I hadn't had in a very long time. I also took her to visit my office. She was, of course, a big hit.

Bryan and I are settling into parenthood. We've had quite a few sleepless nights but she is starting to give us at least 4 hours of sleep at a time so we're feeling lucky. We haven't had much luck transferring her into her crib at night (she still sleeps next to our bed) but we plan to start the transition pretty soon since she'll be one-month old next week! I can't believe it's already been a month.

Here are some pictures of the many faces of Sammy for your enjoyment:

Pacifier view.

First smile recorded on camera.

Her sleeping baby zombie hands.

Victory!

So tired her tongue hangs out.

Her first mail. Why we recorded this and not her first bath is a mystery.

7-mile stare...

Funny faces.

Crying.

Popeye.