Not much is consistent with Josie except that she keeps changing. She’s slept through the night twice, but generally she’s up twice to eat. (yes at seven weeks I know I’m lucky to have gotten those two nights at all) She’s started to hate her car seat and riding in the car and so it takes careful timing and consideration to have a quiet car ride. Some days (Monday) she slept through most of the day, but yesterday she didn’t take a nap except while in the wrap and wanted to eat non-stop to make up for sleeping through the previous day. Thankfully all signs point to a healthy baby, she weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz this week. Here are some pictures of me posing her on the couch!

 

This weekend we played golf-like games twice! Saturday we went to play mini-golf in the afternoon. Josie was sleeping to start with, but then she woke up. So she and I played golf together. I figured I deserve at least a two handicap for playing this way, so Jordi and I tied, or I won. Sunday after rearranging my parents’ basement on fathers day, we all went to the driving range and hit some golf balls. Josie was again displeased and spent most of the time on the golf course nursing in between sessions of fussiness. Then she passed out and let us enjoy dinner out in peace, waking up immediately once I finished eating.

The cats are getting more desperate for attention these days. When my lap is free I often end up with someone furry trying to cuddle with me. Fred likes to rub his head on Josies feet while she’s nursing. Ezzy likes to sit on any books I attempt to read or settles for laying on the burp cloth. Mio is standing over the keyboard as I type. George is even willing to permit the baby to sit on him, so long as he’s on my lap too.

This past Saturday we had our first post-baby party with a bunch of CMU friends. This group has reproduced at planet-repopulating rates in the last year and so we had quite a few babies in attendance. It was crazy hot this weekend and so we bought a little kiddie pool for the babies and they had their first swim! Fun was not had by all, Ryan was the only one who seemed to really enjoy it so far. The water was chilly compared to a nice warm bath, so maybe next year it will be a bigger hit!

This past weekend was Arlington’s Greek Food Festival at the Greek Church. It is a fundraiser where they sell lots of yummy food and arts and crafts. We went on Friday night for dinner since cooking and cleaning is still a little too much to bear most nights. Josie was her usual self, sleeping through the beginning, eating precisely when I get my food in front of me and then wanting to dance to the music!

Last Friday Jordi and I took Josie into Kendall Square to meet Jordi’s IBM ex-coworkers and my coworkers. She was very well behaved and enjoyed eating and napping throughout lunch and dirtying her diaper. We now know to check the handicapped stall when trying to find a changing station. Here is our friend Lee, one of Jordi’s current co-workers holding Josie:

It’s a hammock!

Josie weighed in today at 10 lb 2 oz. She’s outgrowing her clothes like crazy! Lots of the 0-3 month clothes are just barely fitting her long torso, especially with her cloth diapered rear end. I just put a big bunch of 3-6 month clothes in the laundry so they’ll be ready for her to start wearing.

Last week after she hit the one month mark we decided to start introducing Josie to the bottle so that she’ll be able to eat while mom goes back to work. I pumped about 3 oz while she was sleeping to be ready for her when she awoke. We started off slowly with only half an ounce of milk so as not to waste it if she hated it. She took a few tries but she got the hang of it and sucked the milk down in a matter of seconds, and then started screaming. Jordi frantically rushed to the kitchen for more milk and we added another ounce. Which again, she sucked down and then screamed for more. Hating to hear her scream, we then put all of the rest of the milk in the bottle and so she of course took a little more, and then decided she was done, leaving lots in the bottle (note for the non-parents: once the milk has touched saliva it can’t be frozen and saved for later). We had no idea how much she eats in a feeding at that point because as a newborn she’d eat maybe half an ounce to an ounce at a time and breasts don’t come with lines marking fullness. She finished up the rest a short time later after a catnap.

We tried again this week and gave my dad the privilege of trying the bottle for his birthday. She seemed to have forgotten how to drink from the bottle again and was refusing it. I tried with her a little later and she managed to get some of it down as perhaps it wasn’t so unusual to be fed by mom. Grandpa finished giving her the bottle once she figured out how to use it again and all was well. So it’s going to take some practice to get her used to other people (notably grandma since she will be doing daycare) giving her a bottle which we will do over the next several weeks.

I’m a little behind on posting pictures and info so this photo is a little over a week old, but it is a great smile!

Josie is showing a lot of preferences for likes and dislikes now. For instance, the worst thing that ever happens is that her hat covers her eyes. She makes noise like someone is torturing her. Last week she started to see things in her mirror and really liking it. So I got her a mirror for her bassinet to help her be happy and calm if she’s awake but not yet hungry in there. She likes her baths now and spending time in the water, although the water has to be warm (more on that later). She also likes dancing to Weezer, especially their new CD and their song “Troublemaker“.