Happy Little Baby

Emily has been a model baby recently. Her biggest accomplishment has been sleeping through the night, with a current streak of more than ten days without waking up in the middle of the night! Of course Sarah and I are thrilled about this, and Emily seems to like it too. She sticks to her schedule quite well, and is happy the majority of the time she's awake. When she does cry, it's usually for predictable reasons like she's been awake too long and needs a nap, she's hungry, or needs her diaper changed. Thanks to this newfound happiness, she has enjoyed showing off her smile and funny faces much more often:

Keeping Busy

It has been two and a half weeks since our last post, a sure sign that we have been busy. While Sarah and I have been going to class and clinical, resuming work, getting a job (woohoo!), and of course taking care of the little peanut, Emily has not remained idle. Here are just a few of the things that have been keeping her busy recently:

Helping Momma in the kitchen:


Making funny faces:


Discovering (to her apparent surprise) that she has a fist:


And most exciting of all, smiling:


Emily is growing and changing fast, so stay tuned for more updates.

Bundle of Joy

Lately we have been swaddling Emily more frequently to help keep her happy, and as a result we have witnessed first-hand what is meant by "bundle of joy".

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!