6 Weeks

OOOH! That HAIR!
Some might say that six weeks marks the beginning of the end of the newborn phase. I'm more of a "three month" person. I subscribe to the theory that the newborn phase is the "fourth trimester" of pregnancy, it just happens to take place outside the womb. The theory being human babies are born about 3 months too early (in terms of biological development and survival in the outside world) because if they stayed in the womb longer, they would rip their Mommas apart trying to pass through a birth canal that's too narrow (thanks to the hips changing position as we started to walk more upright). This is the period where you cannot spoil a baby. She came into this world early to spare me injury and death; I can at least pick her up when she cries and feed her when she's hungry. ;)

What has Amelia been up to these last few weeks? We survived the 10 days with my sister's clan in from Iowa (sister, hubby, 4-YO Anna, 3-YO Ashley and 1-YO Adam)! It was actually a very enjoyable stay--in retrospect. My sister has a problem allowing herself down-time, so we compromised and filled our days with one activity away from the house and a lot of backyard pool time here at home (the small, portable pool--we're not "movin' on up" in our residential status!) Mia had her first outing to the zoo. She got to hear the lions roar, have a picnic and watch the hippos swim. She slept through the rest of it. She saw Shamu's show at Sea World and watched us feed the dolphins. The cousins had picnics, went on nature hikes and played on the "rainbow toys" at several parks around town. And for those who know my sister, it goes without saying that Amelia also had her first photo shoot while Aunt Ju-Ju was in town (see some sample photos below).

"THE THINKER"

"THE SCOWL"

"THE BOBBLEHEAD"

"THE YAWN"

"THE ANGEL"

Since the last entry, we celebrated Mia's first Mother's Day, too. Amelia gave me a wonderful present...she slept for 6.5 hours straight! Well, it was from 9:00 PM to 3:30 AM, so it wasn't like I slept through the night; but it's a start! Her brother, Nate, made three Mother's Day presents in Sunday School (a relaxing tea-time poem with tea, a flower with his cute photo in the middle and a version of the handprint poem). Jason made a fancy-shmancy dinner with macadamia nut-oatmeal-crusted mahi-mahi; wilted chard, garlic and red pepper salad; rutabaga-pear puree (rutabagas are my favorite veggie) and banana's foster shortcake! Yummy. The kids gave me a CHI hair straightener, too (maybe they're sick of my morning bed head!)




Last Tuesday, Mia caught her first cold. We've been busy trying to help her breath through the congestion, using the nasal aspirator ("bugger sucker"), soothing, wiping her goopy eyes and just trying to make her as comfortable as possible until the bug passes. We realized that Nate did not have a cold as a newborn--we never had to use the aspirator with him. Amelia also started her social smiles on Tuesday (just shy of her 6-week birthday). I think she'll be as smiley as Nate was. She always seems to be smiling at something now (unless she's giving me her other look--"the scowl of concentration"). I hope it says something about her personality that she started smiling the day she got sick!

"CHEESE!"

On the parenting front, life here is in transition. Amelia's waking up from her newborn slumber (not sleeping 23 hours a day) but still not on a schedule--so life is reactive (rather than the proactive position we Type A personalities prefer). I'm finally having to deal with the challenges of two kids vs one--"OK there's only one of me and two kids are screaming. How do I divide me up? Do I go for 50-50% Or opt for a 30-70%? Does this call for a 0-100%?" Hmmmm. Since the cousins left, Nate's new phrase around the house is "I'm in charge!" (long story); so, he's spending a lot of time going to and from the time out step. Jason just started his last clinical rotation of third year (family practice), yah! Me? I'm driving to doctor appts, feeding Mia, cleaning poopy diapers, feeding Mia, cleaning poopy toilet training potties, feeding Mia, and otherwise walking around in a sleep-deprived state. That's the good life. ;)

Nate trying to help Sister, "She's fussin'!"

Nate's Hand-me-downs on Amelia!