Megan is 11 Weeks Old!

Megan turned 11 weeks old today. It's so hard to believe! And I go back to work a month from today. Oy.

Megan is starting to find her thumb when she's in the crib. I'm really glad about that--self-soothing is a good thing. Despite the picture at right, she's not a big-time pacifier baby--just to soothe herself to sleep. I was a thumb sucker as a kid, so it does me proud to see her on the verge of getting the hang of it.

Learning the Ropes...Sort Of

One thing I'm learning about parenting is that no book can truly tell you how to handle your child. Oh, sure, you can get some ideas, but the bottom line is that your child is an individual whose feelings and preferences are changing constantly, and the only thing you can do is try and figure them out and just roll with it.

Case in point: sleeping. Sometimes Megan likes to suck on a pacifier to go to sleep and sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes I lay her down and she screams, but if I pick her up and hold her for a minute, I can lay her right back down again and she is fine. Or sometimes not. Sometimes she can sleep while I walk her around in the Baby Bjorn, and sometimes she screams--or sleeps, screams, then sleeps again. And sometimes she wants to nap in my lap, rejecting the swing or crib, but sometimes she'll reject the swing or crib, then lay in my lap for a few minutes, then I can easily put her in the swing or crib. Or not!

I don't think I could teach anyone the "definitive" way to get Megan to sleep, because there isn't one. It's just a matter of having lots of tricks in the arsenal and using each of them until she goes down for the count. And sometimes it's frustrating, but it's never boring, that's for sure!

So while there are lots of books about raising babies, as my pediatrician says, you baby is its own book, and sometimes you have to read very carefully to figure out each chapter.

Norm

Have you ever had someone come into your life and you felt you had known them all along?

My mom has been seeing a man named Norm for the past few years. He has really been such a blessing for her--but a side benefit is that he has been such a blessing for the rest of us as well. Here are a few reasons why.

**Norm has this amazing ability to center people. If I'm going off on a tangent about something and not really focusing on what's important, Norm has the ability to bring me back down to earth. (I'm assuming he does the same for my mother!)

**On a completely superficial note, Norm can fix anything. Not only that, but he is a very, very thoughtful "fixer." And he's very generous with his time. When he and Mom come to visit, he offers to do little jobs around the house for us--jobs that would cost a lot of money to fix if we had to hire someone! And if he needs to go to Lowe's for the thousandth time, he doesn't fuss at all--a trait I don't have, sadly...

**Norm has very stong hands. You can look at them and see that they are powerful. Yet when he held Megan for the first time (when she was about three weeks old in the photo above), those strong hands caressed my baby in a calming and loving way. Norm's strong hands have a very gentle touch. (And towards the end of my pregnancy, they gave me one heck of a good neck rub!) You can tell a lot about someone's character by the way they hold a baby. Norm is a very gentle soul.

**Norm really digs my mother. You can tell by the way he looks at her and talks to her. They are so adorable together--like they've been together for decades instead of just a few years. My mom deserves someone terrific and they were really blessed to find one another.

**Norm has a very soft heart and has a real sense of family. He is very devoted to his own children and grandchildren, yet he is also very devoted to my mother's family. He takes nature walks with my niece and points out interesting things to her. He visits my 92-year-old grandmother even (especially) when my mom is out of town. Just as he goes to his grandchildren's events with a video camera, he attended my niece's graduation from second grade and videotaped with enthusiasm.

Even though he and my mom aren't married, I consider him an honorary grandfather to Megan. I call him "Grandpa Norm." And we are so lucky to have him in our lives.

10 Weeks!

Megan turned 10 weeks old yesterday. We're still mastering the art of sleeping through the night, so we're still very tired, but life is sweet. Very sweet.

Megan is smiling a lot--so much so that she often looks up at me while she is eating, smiles, and falls off my nipple. It's pretty funny! She's also laughing a little bit, which I love.

Go Bruins! Plus, Icky Vaccinations and Projectile Poop!

Megan went to her first UCLA event on Sunday. Proud papa had a nametag made for her. So adorable! She was a real trooper and let the world ooh and aah over her. Of course, she also got to meet cute college baseball players--a couple of whom will probably be famous major leaguers one day, so she probably wouldn't have complained even if she could have. :-)


She went to the doctor yesterday for her two-month checkup. 10 pounds, 12 ounces. The doctor said she's really catching up with her weight. She also got four vaccinations. Ick. She did well, had a fever last night but is okay today.

Last night, after I took her temperature (rectally), I didn't get the diaper on fast enough and Megan projectile pooped all over the wall and the couch. I estimate that she shot her poop about six feet. Of course, the Guinness World Record people will be here this afternoon... Thank goodness Nancy and Miri were here to witness it--and Nancy graciously helped clean it up. That's a good aunt, don't you think? It was disgusting--put pretty darn funny, too. I told Miri that this will be one of those stories that will embarrass Megan when she is older.

Muscle Beach

Here's Megan on her 9-week birthday, showing off her huge muscles...

What a big girl!

Megan turned two months old yesterday. Can you believe it’s been two months already? Wow!!!!! Megan is smiling all the time now (well, when she isn’t crying about something), and she has finally moved out of her newborn clothes and into 3-month ones. We’re very proud of our little one!!!!!! She's sleeping about 4 hours straight through the night. Not all the way yet, but I'll take it.

My big challenge will be to get on a plane with her to fly to Baltimore at the end of the month. Any tips are MOST welcomed!!!!