Adjusting to Domestic Life

Now that Emily is over a month old, and has gotten over her minor cold, she seems to be adapting well to life outside the womb, and as a result is happier more often. She contentedly sits in her swing or bouncy chair for longer periods of time now, and has learned to put herself to sleep on occasion. What's more, she has even made her first attempt at household chores, as she helped Sarah with the laundry the other day.

Shaq Goes Southwest

In case you haven't heard the latest NBA news already, the Miami Heat unexpectedly traded Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I know, I was surprised too. Most folks see this move as crazy, thinking Shaq will slow down the run and gun Suns. I am not one of them. The Suns don't need a five man fast break, and Shaq has more vim and vigor left in him than he gets credit for. I believe we'll see that this trade helps the Suns delve further into the playoffs, either this season or next. You heard it here first.

Bath Time

Every couple days we try to give Emily a bath, to keep her smelling fresh as a daisy and give her hair another opportunity to show us a style other than stick-straight-up-all-the-time. Emily does not like these baths one bit, and makes sure the whole house knows it. Fortunately, she really enjoys the post-bath routine of drying off and warming up, and always calms down quickly.

One month old!

Emily was one month old yesterday! In some ways, the past month has flown by, but in other ways, it feels like Emily has been a part of our family for a lot longer. She is getting bigger every day, and we notice new things about her all the time. She loves to focus on things, especially light. She makes LOTS of faces, and is getting really close to smiling back at us when we smile at her. She is getting really good at sleeping during the night, and normally wakes up only to eat and then goes right back to sleep. That is a really big blessing for Eric and me.

But, she also caught her first cold last week, and that has made her a little more grumpy than usual. At least, I'm hoping that the cold is the cause for her crankiness! Her poor little nose is all stuffy making it harder for her to eat and even sleep sometimes. The doctor says that colds in newborns usually last one to two weeks, so we're hoping that we are at the tail end of this one.

Enjoy some of her latest photos!

Another Homecoming for Emily

For the most part, Emily has been adjusting quite nicely to life at home, and has been eating and sleeping well. However, as some of you already know, we had an unexpected trip back to the hospital this past Thursday. During a long night of fussiness, we noticed that Emily's left arm was strangely limp, especially compared to her right. Concerned about this and her unusually high crankiness, we took her in to the pediatrician early Thursday morning. Two pediatricians quickly became concerned about her arm, since this was a new condition, and were worried about possible central nervous system problems or bleeding in the brain. We burned rubber to the hospital downtown and quickly got a CT of her head. After some very anxious waiting and praying, we learned that it was negative (praise the Lord!). The rest of the day and part of the next was spent ruling out arm or clavicle fractures and any central nervous system problems. Fortunately, Emily's arm function began to improve dramatically around midday (almost like she had been playing possum), and the pediatric neurologist eventually decided that based on Emily's arm function and the normal MRI results, she probably just had an unusual presentation of Erb's palsy, and would likely return to normal over the next few weeks. Exhausted but greatly relieved and in good spirits, we left the hospital for Emily's second homecoming, exactly two weeks after her first. Since then, she has been busy eating, sleeping, staring at various objects (new!), and of course being cute.

Wunderkind

Breaking news on the baby front: at 1 week of age, Emily can...wait for it...hold her own bottle while eating! Yes, it's true, and she did so for such a long period of time that I was able to produce compelling video evidence. Seen here with her special Pittsburghian trainer, Emily's abilities are undeniable.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/1170604]
I know, we were as surprised as you are. Where she got this ability is a mystery, but one thing is clear: Emily is headed straight for the 2026 Olympics.

6 days old

Emily is almost a week old already, which is hard to believe!  So far, this parenting thing is both the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done.  Emily's entrance into this world was rather traumatic, as I pushed for almost two and a half hours before having a c-section, but since then she has been a rather good baby.  She likes to sleep a lot more during the day than she does at night, and that is my biggest complaint thus far.  Luckily, I have a very, very supportive husband.  Plus, my mom and sister have been staying with us since Emily was born.  Between all of us, we are pretty good at getting just enough sleep, but I do worry about how things will go when my mother and sister leave in a few days.  So far, here are some of Emily's likes and dislikes:

Likes:

her hands, music, rocking and bouncing, being held, eating, sleeping on her side (she can already get from her back to her side by herself!)

Dislikes:

diaper changes, baths, getting undressed, and being woken up to eat when she doesn't want to