Two Weeks!

This morning at 5:30 I was in the nursery feeding Evie a bottle and remembering two weeks ago, when we saw her little face for the first time.

We (my mom and I) went to her 2 week doctor's appointment yesterday morning and she is weighing 8 lbs. and 2 oz., which is up 5 oz. from the week before and surpassing her birth weight, so the pediatrician declared her healthy. Just like at the one week visit, we had to change a poopy diaper at the doctor's office. Interesting habit she has. Our pediatrician isn't concerned about the spitting up and, after questioning us about it, said that it doesn't sound like reflux and shouldn't affect her weight gain, so we just need to live with it and hope she outgrows it soon. Worst case scenario is that she's a very spitty baby and will outgrow it when she starts solids. He didn't think we need to try medicine or different formula unless we notice her in pain when spitting up. She's still spitting up a lot, but we've adapted to it and it doesn't feel as frustrating anymore. I just do a lot of laundry and she gets to wear multiple outfits and bibs each day!

Interestingly, the nurse measured Evie yesterday at 21.5 inches, which is a full three inches longer than she was measured at birth. The new number makes her tall for her age instead of short for her age and makes me very confused. Which one is right? She surely hasn't actually grown 3 inches in a week; give me a break. Either way, she's perfect, so I'm not worrying about it.

Here are my notes on her second week in this world:

• This week at home Evie has turned into a "happy," "easy" baby (at least temporarily). She doesn't scream during diaper changes and clothing changes anymore. Instead, she looks at me (I'm usually the one changing her) or at her best friend, Rabbit, on the wall. She no longer wakes up hungry and starts screaming immediately; instead, she gives us warning cries and is more patient (sucking on her pacifier) while waiting for us to change her diaper and fix the bottle.


• Since her cord fell off, she's had three real baths and with each one she is more relaxed and less fussy. During last night's bath she seemed perfectly happy until we took her out of the warm water and started the drying process.


• She's started being interested in toys. Over the past seven days she's been willing more and more to spend a few minutes of awake time gazing at a mobile, looking at a stuffed animal or watching her singing star. She sits in her bouncy seat and looks at the toy bar long enough for us to eat half of a meal before we have to pick her up.


• She's now consistently eating 3-4 oz. of formula/breast milk at each feeding. She eats every 2.5-3.5 hours during the day and every 3-5 hours at night.


• During the day, Evie generally naps in arms, wrap, sling, or boppy. After dinner and our evening walk (and bath every other day), we put her to bed in her crib. After her first nighttime waking and feeding, she gets put back to bed in either her crib or her moses basket in our room. In the morning, when she and I are waking up for the day, I can pluck her out of the moses basket, snuggle her in my arms in our bed and doze with her for another half an hour or so. I guess Mommy snuggle time is like a snooze button for her hungry tummy.


• Watching her sleep is so much fun; she smiles frequently and even seems to laugh in her sleep sometimes. The laugh doesn't make noise, but she smiles broadly and her body shakes like a laugh.


• Holding Evie has gotten more difficult in the past few days as she is practicing neck control by randomly throwing her head backward. I had gotten used to just holding her with a hand on her bum and leaning backward so that gravity kept her head on my chest; now a hand on the back of the head is required for the "hug hold" without a wrap. Getting things done with her in arms thus requires the cradle hold or a baby carrier.


• She is gradually increasing the amount of time she spends awake during the day, which makes it a lot harder to cart her around places. While we were in the hotel, my mother-in-law and I went out and did lots of things like shopping and eating out. Evie was an angel through everything. Now it is more challenging to have her out and I've had my first experiences with her crying in public and drawing attention to herself for more than her cute face.


• Evie loves her pacifier, but only wants it when she's being fussy; other times she just spits it out. She doesn't need it to fall asleep (yet) and doesn't want it during her alert/happy phases. It is particularly useful to calm her while we're making her bottle or after her bath (getting her hair dried is evidently torture). She does the typical fussy baby thing in the afternoon, but holding her or putting her in her swing with a pacifier typically gets her through it without too much stress on the adults in the house.


• Everything with the dogs is going great; Evie still doesn't react to Phoebe barking occasionally, Apollo seems apathetic about her and is only interested in sleeping on the nursery couch or on the pad of her play gym and Phoebe is firmly planted in her new role as baby protector. Her herding instincts have become stronger during evening walks and she is clearly keeping a close eye on Evie's whereabouts in the house during the day. The dogs don't seem bothered by her crying and like to go up to her and sniff her whenever she's on their level (usually while in her bouncy seat).


• As for Mommy and Daddy, we are settling into our home routine and things like diaper laundry, bottle cleaning and feeding/bathing/cloth diapering rituals are becoming automatic and easier.


• What I love most about this past week: Evie is evidently attached to me, judging by the fact that when she's fussing in her crib/swing/boppy/moses basket/etc., me picking her up and cuddling her almost immediately quiets her down for a bit, until she starts fussing again about the wet diaper/empty tummy that woke her up in the first place. I pick her up crying, hold her to my chest and feel her soft little face burrow into the nook of my neck. Then she sighs and quiets down and everything is right in the world.