First Laugh!

B has been talking up a storm lately. We spend lots of time partaking in "changing table chit chat" which entails conversation, song and dance, typically following a diaper change. B has some great stories to tell and loves to coo and kick her legs while we chat.

She's been pretty camera shy, meaning that every time I try to capture one of her stories on film she becomes mesmerized by this silver object in front of her face and goes radio silent. I thought I would try again today to see if she'd cooperate.

As a disclaimer, I absolutely do not have what it takes to post a video of myself chatting in "baby talk" to my child. I respect others who choose to share this online, but personally just cannot bring myself to do it - hence the silence in the background in the video below. If you listen carefully, there is a small gasp after what I believe to be B's first laugh, and I almost - ALMOST - busted out with high-pitched praise to her for giggling right there on camera (don't worry - the moment I stopped recording my voice escalated 10 octaves and I was a baby-praising Mama). It happens right after the first hiccup. Wait for it, wait fooorrr it....

Correction

So did anyone notice that I called B's new paci an orthopedic paci in the previous post? By orthopedic, I mean orthodontic. And the "something different" that I thought was a great lifesaver has become much more work than anticipated. It's required a grand total of about 20,001 trips back and forth to B's crib in order to re-insert paci after she spits it out repeatedly and starts whining. That being said, it's hard not to melt when she gives me a huge smile from her crib and looks at me with those big blue eyes after I sweetly chastise her for not sleeping. What a little stink pot!

8 Weeks Old

Ta daa!! The last of the weekly updates is here! I will certainly continue to post pictures of B, but have decided to switch to monthly updates from here on out. Her hair is especially out of control this week, and her expression in the first photo makes me smile. "Seriously Mom? Another photo session?"

Girlfriend B continues to do great. I think she's gone through a growth spurt this week as she's been rather fussy, especially before naptime. As a parent you learn that if one thing doesn't work, you try something different. The "something different" that seems to have worked (at least temporarily) is a new pacifier. She's graduated from the newborn soothie to the playtex orthopedic paci. Has saved us from having to walk around the house while doing multiple squats in an attempt to get her to stop crying when she becomes overtired.


On a positive note, I think she might have slept through the night once this week. I put her down around 11:15 and she didn't wake up until 5:30, although in my book I wouldn't really consider night to be ending quite that early...

Mimi and Pop came in town for a visit this week which was a wonderful treat. We took B to the Farmers Market and picked out some fresh veggies - green beans, squash, the best peaches I've ever had. It's a place I've always wanted to go since living in Dallas but never seemed to get around to. Will be going back for certain.



In other news, B has mastered the art of blowing spit bubbles:


And this is her reaction when I told her we were going shopping at the mall:


I about died laughing when my brother responded back, "Whatever, I bet that was her reaction after you told her Aber Daber just farted!" Ha.

7 Weeks Old

Documentation of B's 7th week of life is in the form of pictures versus words this week as my thoughts are on another subject at the moment: WORK.

Today I gave my notice of resignation, meaning I will soon officially be a stay at home mom. While I know in my heart this is the right decision, I must admit that I'm sad and will miss working. Of course I will miss only the good things - the times when I felt like I was adding value, learning, being a trusted advisor to my clients. It's easy to forget the bureaucracy and politics and 1980's technology that so often caused headaches and apathy.

Mostly I will miss the people that I worked with. I have never really felt fulfilled by my career itself, but rather by the relationships with coworkers that have become friends over the years. I feel better about leaving knowing that I can continue these friendships regardless of whether or not I go back to work.

And while I'm referring to my prior professional career as "work," I can attest to the fact that I'm still working indeed, only in a different industry. Instead of a banker / underwriter we'll go with "domestic engineer specializing in human development." B is worth every bit of it!

6 Weeks Old

My how time continues to fly. I feel like I say that every week, but kids provide excellent tangible evidence of how quickly the days pass due to their ever-changing nature. I look back at pictures of B on the day we brought her home from the hospital and she's a different baby now - still tiny, but constantly growing and evolving into who she was made to be...

Along with her 6 week old birthday comes an attempt at some sort of schedule implementation. Perhaps schedule is the wrong word - maybe more of a routine so to speak. My primary concern revolves around an early bedtime and the impact on our social life. By "our" I mean Brooke's as she has become quite the social butterfly. Our primary goal is for her to sleep through the night eventually. At this point I'm up for experimentation, so we'll see what works and what doesn't - as if I have any real control over her sleeping patterns. :-)

We're getting more experienced at running errands and meeting friends out for lunch, although I did drive away from Rusty Taco with my drink on top of my car in the pouring rain. If that's the worst that happened I'd say we're doing okay. We even left her with her first babysitters this week - Cody and Jen. She thanked them by peeing on Cody - quite the little lady. She met lots of K's family this week over the 4th of July, and even got to celebrate her great grandpa's 90th birthday. All in all - a wonderful 6th week of life!!