Adventures and back to work

Hi faithful blog readers- sorry for leaving you hanging for so long. I tend to be an all or nothing blog poster, but will try to post little notes next time things get crazy-busy.

Lucy and I had a great time visiting my folks. Unfortunately I had a bad cold, but it gave them an opportunity to bond with Lucy (she took a nap on every member of the family except for Sam). I really enjoyed having quality time together. A few highlights:

-reconnecting with Sam, who I hadn't seen since he was 4 months old (he's now 13 months). I loved dancing with him to klezmer music, holding him upside down, and watching him explore the world.
-delicious meals together, including a beef and prune/fig tagine
-Sam pumping his fist in the air when he's excited
-wonderful TLC from my mom especially
-a visit to the hammam (public bath/spa) with Caitlin and mom
-a trip to the medina (market place)- Lucy was all eyes, taking everything in
-Sam being really cute with Lucy. He gave her one of his toys at one point, and also put a tissue to her face to help blow her nose (we had been doing that to him all week). :)

Lucy did really well on the flights, thankfully. She was quite a trooper- slept the whole way over, and loved looking at passengers and everything in the airport.

I'll post more pictures soon. In the meantime, here's one of her in a smock Caitlin and John got for her.

In other news, I went back to work on Wednesday. It was nice to be back- I'll be working 1 day a week in the office and 4 days from home, 20 hours/week total. Lucy still hasn't taken a bottle, so she didn't eat while I was away on Wednesday (6 1/2 hours), but she and Matt survived (with moral support from my friend Emily), and she ate very well that evening.

Lucy is getting cuter and cuter. She still loves looking around and is fascinated by everything. She also still hates going to sleep, but she's sleeping wonderfully at night- 6-9 hours at a stretch! Just last Sunday she started grasping for toys and she's been doing it all week. She's also finding her hands to suck on. That's all our Lucy news for now!

Making her international debut

So Lucy and I are leaving tomorrow to visit my family (mom, dad, Caitlin, John and Sam) overseas. What an exciting adventure for our little 2-month old daughter! Sadly, Matt is staying home. Though he'll miss us, I think it's pretty clear that he's going to enjoy sleeping in and being able to actually get some work done. :)

Matt suggested we rename our blog, "All about Lucy", since that's all we ever post about. Ah well...she pretty much consumes all of my time/thoughts/energy/love at this point, so at least the blog is an accurate reflection of that.

Without further ado, onto the picture fest.

Lucy loves the Moby wrap- here she is facing front. We have to be pretty careful in this position for now, but once her neck control is better I think she'll love it- she definitely prefers facing out.

Not sure if you can tell (the picture is sort of sideways- my head is to the left), but her hand is wrapped around the edge of the wrap while she is sleeping- so cute!

Our friends Susan and Brian came over last week, and Lucy had a blast with them. Here Brian is playing the "wave my hands in front of your face" game- a real hit with her, as you can see.


Here are some fun pictures of Lucy I took recently- thanks to Laura for lending us the super cute outfit.

And now a picture and video of tummy time. She's holding herself up much higher just in the last few days. Btw- she usually enjoys tummy time more than the video makes it seem- she had already been there awhile and was getting fussy.

2 months old!

So Lucy turned 8 weeks old on Tuesday, and will be 2 months on Saturday (the strangeness of our calendar system). At any rate, she's continuing to grow and develop. She's really becoming her own little person, expressing herself with her cries and noises, and taking everything in. She's waking up only 1 time a night to feed and goes right back to sleep, which is awesome.

We continue to read her stories- here she is enjoying One fish, two fish.

Sporting the beautiful hat our friend Alainie made for her.
A classic overhead blanket shot (there are some of my sister and I like this).
And a medatative stare from our beautiful daughter.

Finally, here's a video of her "chatting" with Pooh, and her chubby legs.

Spring chick

Our little girl is growing up! Here she is in her first "big girl" outfit for Easter- onesie, sweater, pants and booties.

She's super alert these days, always looking around and wanting to see what's going on. Yesterday she missed two naps because of that! But it also means she's lots of fun and very interactive. She also slept for 7 hours in a row 2 nights last week, and 6 hours last night- hallelujah.

We've found a new carrying method- the moby wrap, which I love. http://www.mobywrap.com. You can face the baby outwards or inwards- great for naps on the go. She likes facing out while I get food ready, etc.


We were so glad that Matt's cousin Sarah could visit last weekend. She charmed Lucy from the start!

Visit from Grandma Judy

We have really been enjoying having Matt's mom with us this week. She's been charming Lucy and has developed her own techniques for calming her down, including showing her a wedding picture of Matt and I (works like a charm most of the time!). Grandma Judy has also been doing a ton of cleaning and cooking some wonderful meals- we're so thankful for her help.

Their first meeting- it was late so Lucy was a little sleepy.

Beautiful grandma and beautiful grandbaby.

More storytime!

We also had dinner with my grandparents this week- here's a great picture of Great-grandma and Lucy.

Lucy is our sunshine on a cloudy day. :)

And here she is getting a hug from her hippo towel.

Storytime and friends (real and stuffed)

It's been a fun week. Lucy is growing every day (she weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces at her doctor's appt today!), is much more alert, and has been smiling at us more and more. Often after nursing she and I will have some quality time, talking to each other and smiling (Elizabeth: I love you! Lucy: gah. Elizabeth: How are you this morning? Lucy: gehh.)

Matt has been wonderful about reading Lucy stories. Here she is enjoying his rendition of "Cat in the Hat".


"I love storytime!"
Our aunt Lee (aka Labor Coach of the Year, Amazing Indispensible Helper in Times of Great Need, and all around fun friend) stopped by to visit on Monday, so we finally have a picture of her with Lucy.

Our friends Heather and Alainie came by to meet the little munchkin yesterday, bringing a delicious dinner and dessert as well. Here is Heather practicing her mom skills (her little girl is due in July!).

Lucy sporting the beautiful hat Alainie knit for her, while Alainie reads "Lentil" to her (one of her in utero nicknames, since Lucy was once the size of a lentil bean).

And now onto the stuffed friends. Lucy continues to enjoy the mobile. Now she reaches out for it with her arms, and gets very excited about the little floating animals.

And to close, another cute picture of our little sweet pea.

You know you're a new parent when...

Top 5 ways you know you're a new parent:

5. Four hours of sleep in a row is a bountiful amount.

4. There are more places for your baby to sit (car seat, bouncy seat, baby swing...) than places for you to sit in your house.

3. "Schedule" has become a foreign word in your vocabulary (along with plans, downtime, etc).

2. You look forward to going to the dentist (as I did last week) as a chance to put your feet up and close your eyes.

And number 1...

1. Nothing delights you more than your little daughter's smile.