The Double Digits

Lucy's hit the double digits. She's ten weeks old and boy are there a lot of changes. She smiles a lot, big beautiful smiles that make Mommy and Daddy go all warm and fuzzy. She talks too, obviously not in in English yet, but I'm not sure she realizes that. Noting a difference between men and women (not all men and not all women as there are clearly individuals who deviate from the norm), Daddy likes to talk at Lucy (i.e., say Da Da, say I love you, say Pirate) while Mommy talks with Lucy (i.e., is that what happened, what did you do, what color was it). I'm sure both ways are fine, but have to admit Daddy's way is cuter. Last night he had her on the changing table (her favorite place to be, she just lights up when she's on it...we're not sure why, but we're considering investing in fuzzy sheets for the bassinet (like the ones on the changing table)). He kept saying, "say I love you." She stared at him and started parroting the sounds he was making (no syllables, but she definitely had his tones down). It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and no I didn't catch it on video, but Major got me a video camera for my birthday so as soon as I learn how to use it I will try to start posting favorite moments (sorry I haven't gotten the snoring footage up yet, I am having a little bit of trouble figuring out how to post video to the blog). She also said Mama today, of course she had no idea what she said. She was just making random sounds, but I can dream.

Lucy also understands a lot more than Major or I realize. I was holding her last night while he played with the video camera. I had recorded her while I talked to her and tickled her tummy. While he watched the footage, I held her as she drifted off to sleep. When she heard my voice from the camera say, "there's my pretty girl, look at that smile," she got a big grin on her face. She knows what the word smile means and sometimes complies (and sometimes looks at you like, "I'll smile when I darn well feel like smiling, thank you.")

She still has a bit of a runny nose and occasionally coughs, but I think (hope) the cough is just a bit more drainage. The doctor said the big thing to watch for at this stage of the cold is an ear infection, which would present with symptoms like a fever or inconsolable crying. This concerned both Major and I as we both had chronic ear infections as children, but hopefully it's not genetic. She has been a bit colicky lately, which makes it a little bit harder to track that inconsolable crying, but she is only colicky in the evenings, so we don't think it is anything to worry about so far. The doctor also recommended a cool mist humidifier, so Major picked one up today. I wanted the elephant (her nursery is a jungle theme), but he got the penguin insisting there are penguins in the movie Madagascar. Heads up, next baby's room will have an arctic theme with jungle highlights (as we reuse things from Lucy's infancy).

The last two nights she did not get nearly enough sleep and refused to nap during the day, so we had an over tired, really cranky baby on our hands. Mommy finally broke down today at nap time and pulled her into the big people bed. I've done it before to calm her and help her drift off, but always put her in the bassinet as soon as she was asleep. Today she would not stay asleep unless she was right next to me. When she wasn't, she would wake up, look around, and let out a scream unlike anything I've ever heard before. Being held while Major or I were upright didn't count either. It wasn't good enough (I can hear my parents laughing...fine, whatever, she takes after her mother). I dozed lightly for about three hours while she slept. She woke up every once in awhile, made sure I was still there and went back to sleep. She's doing much better now and has been taking an evening nap for about half an hour. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be better.

We scheduled her first session with a professional photographer. We are going to do a package where you pay for four sittings (3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months). We're are really excited (she's made for film I tell you). I'm sure the only Christmas presents people will get for years will be pictures of Lucy ;)

Anyway, Daddy wants to buy a house so I better get to work on my dissertation. I'll post more next week :)