1 Month Checkup!

Hi Everyone!

Emily visited the pediatrician today for her one month checkup visit. We were shocked to see that she has gained 2 pounds since Nov. 6-- she's a 9 pounder now! She's also grown 1 inch since birth, which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height.

She is right on target for developmental milestones as well- she is tracking things very well with her eyes now, and is focusing on different objects. When laid on her back under her play gym (see Week 5 photos) she reaches for her toys, and.....drumroll, please.....she has started smiling! Her first smile was to Paul (thanks a lot, Emmy!!) on Saturday, November 24th. However, she did smile at Mommy later that day, so my heart wasn't completely broken. :) Paul isn't sure she has 100% mastered the social smile since she won't do it every time, but they are becoming much more frequent. She's also making more "ooh" noises now and this morning, while playing on her belly, she rolled to her side- TWICE! I thought for sure the first time was a coincidence, but when she repeated it I knew it wasn't. What a big girl!

And finally, to everyone's great relief, she has started sleeping better. It turns out that she does like to be swaddled for sleep time (she hates having her arms restrained at all during waking hours!) and uses a fan for white noise, just like her daddy! For the past few nights she has fallen to sleep on her own, in her crib, and is sleeping for at least one 3.5-4 hour period before waking to eat again. This is allowing Mommy to rejoin the land of the living! Emily is also settling down for a long afternoon nap, giving me some time to take care of things around the house. She's such a good baby! :)

Happy One Month Birthday Emily!

Today is Emily's one- month birthday!! We're so amazed at all she can do- she can really focus well now (she has staring matches now with whoever will challenge her!) and she is gaining a lot of control in her neck--she can hold it up for almost a whole minute! She has also outgrown her newborn diapers and is officially in size 1. What a big girl!

On Tuesday we go to the pediatrician for the one-month check up. Expect an update then!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

3 Weeks Old!

Emily is three weeks old now and time is simply flying by. She enjoyed a visit last week from Paul's mom and dad and seemed to welcome all the attention that they paid to her!
She is starting to "track" better with her eyes- if something or someone passes in front of her, she will haltingly follow it. This is great- it means her vision is developing!
Also, yesterday she was sitting on my lap and I sat her up to burp and she shot her legs out and stood up. Then, she "walked" left, right, left, right across my lap. Walking is a reflex, so this doesn't mean she's going to walk early or anything, but it was still very neat to see! I will try to catch it on video and put it on here.
She is going through a growth spurt right now and has begun eating every 1.5 hours...this is only slightly exhausting! :) She also has a whole assortment of new noises- she grunts, groans, coos, squeaks...you name it. She's a noisy girl!

Tonight a friend of mine is coming over to take photos of our family. Pray that Emily is cooperative and isn't too hungry to participate!!

Whoa, Baby

We went in today for another weight check today. We were hoping Emmy would be at least 6lbs 10 oz, which would have put her at having gained back to her birth weight. Imagine our shock (and delight!) when she tipped the scale at SEVEN pounds! What a big girl! We go back two weeks from today to weigh in again, and three weeks from today for her one-month checkup.

Yesterday she followed Paul's face with her eyes several times- this behavior is usually not apparent quite yet but, well....she's probably going to be an overachiever like Paul! :) It is exciting to see her learning and becoming slightly more interactive!

Also, her umbilical stump fell off, so now she has a cute little belly button!