Adjusting to a routine

Kaitlyn and I are getting used to each other now.  I'm so thankful that I have 12 full weeks off rather than just 6.  And, as Micah keeps reminding me, I'm only going back to work part-time (2 days per week.)  She continues to sleep well at night.  She usually goes about 6 hours the first stretch and then an additional 3-4 after that.  I rarely feel tired, and if I do, I take a little nap during the day.  I'm so thankful that she is a good sleeper.  I guess I have the techniques of BabyWise to thank for that ( as well as the suggestion of good friends).

Baby "K" is so observant.  She is always looking around the room, listening to the sounds around her.  She is starting to notice Sophie.  I must say that Sophie is doing a great job with the baby.  I think she understands that she is ours.  Sophie likes going on all the extra walks in the mornings, even if it means she has to walk next to the stroller.  Sophie also enjoys playtime on the floor, because sometimes she gets the ball thrown for her as I play with Kaitlyn.

We read several books every day.  Kaitlyn is starting to attend to them more than the first few weeks of life.  She usually prefers to watch my facial expressions rather than look at the pages in the book.

Kaitlyn's head control is great and has been for two weeks.  She can hold her head up when she is lying on her tummy for a little while.  She is a strong little booger.  She likes to push up on her legs into a standing position.  She has a good grip, like most babies.

Kaitlyn is good natured most of the time.  She rarely gets upset.  Once, last week, I was doing a little photo shoot of her and changing her outfits multiple times.  She was fine with this until the last outfit (the beautiful white and pink dress Momo gave her to come home from the hospital in.)  She did not like the bonnet that went with the outfit and started crying uncontrollably.  It took me 20 minutes to calm her back down.  So she is slow to anger, but when you do make her mad, watch out!!  This is a very rare occurrence though.  She hardly ever cries more than 5 minutes a day.

I am starting to put Kaitlyn into her crib during naptimes.  She sometimes fusses a bit at first, and fights her swaddle.  After a few minutes, I go in there, re-swaddle her, and she sleeps.  I'm still not quite ready to have her sleep through the night in her crib.  It seems so far away from us.  Maybe at 8-10 weeks old?  She is about to outgrow the bassinet in the pack-in-play though.  I hope she sleeps as long in her crib as she does in the bassinet.

I'm enjoying getting out of the house once a day.  Monday, we brought Sonic to Micah at work.  Then he showed Kaitlyn off to his co-workers again.  Yesterday, we went to see his grandmother at her home.  Today, we plan on going to the Mayborne Museum with some friends.  As long as I have something planned each day, I don't tend to get bored, and each day looks a bit different.  I certainly have caught up on my movie-watching, between Netflix and the cable movie channels.  I've also been disciplined to set aside time each day to listen to the voice of God.  He has been faithful to speak to me each day and I have been e-mailing what he says to a friend, to hold me accountable to listening.

The Lord is so good!  I am so blessed to be a mom and to be at this stage of my life.  I am very thankful for a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby girl, supportive family, awesome friends, and to have a job I love.  I'm still not ready to go back to work yet.  It's going to be very difficult leaving Kaitlyn, even with someone I know and trust.  I don't know how moms drop their infants off at daycare.

Here are some pictures of the photo shoot I mentioned above.  Isn't she cute?!  (I know I am a bit biased.)