6 Weeks

Julia was 6 weeks old as of yesterday.  It’s amazing to us that so much time has passed already.  Even though some of the days seem to go very slowly it feels like the last six weeks have flown by.  We saw a newborn at the doctor’s office on Monday who was about Julia’s size when she was born and it was incredible to see the difference.  According to our scale Julia now weighs around 9 1/2 – 10 lbs which means she has gained more than 50% of her birth weight!  That would be why she has such cute little chubby cheeks!

Julia is also becoming more interactive and has given me several smiles and sticks her tongue out at her Dad.  She is starting to become interested in some of her toys and mobiles although her favorite view is still the skylights in the family room!  Lastly she has started grabbing at things while she is eating or being held; my shirt and the burp cloth are frequent targets – Andrew is afraid of her inevitable discovery of his chest hair!  He’s been wearing a lot of high necked t-shirts!  Here is one of my favorite pictures of her from the past few days with her cuddling up to the burp cloth she confiscated and looking like the adorable little imp that she is!

The Crowder Clan Visits Julia

Ok, I am a little late with this post but raising Julia is a full time task.  Anyway just over two weeks ago my brother Jeff,  his wife Helki, grandma Susan and grandpa Herb came to visit.  Julia was very excited to meet her extended family.

Almost everyone jumped at the chance to hold, cuddle and inspect Julia.   We even got Jeff to hold her.  You see he only looks a little scared. 

They did have an agreement - if she didn’t cry neither would he.  And yes, dad, she does have 10 fingers and 10 toes, she just likes to be wrapped in her blanket.

However it was grandma Susan and aunt Helki that didn’t want to put her down.

After 4 fun filled days where the main sport was Julia watching we got the whole family together for a picture.

It was great having the whole family together and we hope we can get them all back soon.

Two Little Leprechauns

Four years ago today there was one little leprechaun in our family, our niece Alex.  This picture was taken of her that St. Patrick’s Day when she was 36 days old.

This year we’ve added our little leprechaun to the clan and thanks to Aunt Merrill and Uncle Jim (who have saved a lot of Alex’s things and very kindly passed them on) we have these photos of Julia at 36 days old.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

One Month and Our Adorable Shrek

Julia was one month old this past Monday.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since we brought her home!  She has had a busy month meeting relatives, friends and neighbors, having video chats with relatives who have not been able to meet her yet, and becoming more aware of her surroundings and interested in the sights and sounds around her.  She has also become a great eater.  Andrew and I both commented over the weekend on how big she seems to us and that she has grown quite a bit.  That was verified when we went to the doctor today and found out that she now weighs 8lbs 1 oz! 

Starting tonight Julia will also be trying out some new sleeping arrangements.  We have been telling people for the last month about our loud grunting daughter and, not surprisingly, everyone has been skeptical of our claims that it really is surprisingly loud and persistent; most claiming that “babies grunt” and that as new parents we are hypersensitive to all noises she makes (which is 100% true).  But after four weeks of sleepless nights for us while Julia slept soundly in her bassinet we decided that a call to the doctor was in order.  So today we found out that some babies (and probably ours) have immature tracheas which can be sort of collapsed when the baby relaxes and the neck is compressed when they are on their backs.  It’s not that big a deal and Julia will grow out of it in the next few weeks as her neck develops but it can make sleeping on her back an effort for her (although not painful or distressing).  The solution – to have her sleep in her car seat or another upright position.  You’d think we would have thought of this as we had noted that she slept much more peacefully when held upright on someone or when she was in her swing, etc.  But lack of sleep causes you to not be able to connect the dots!  Anyway, we are hoping that the doctor’s office is right and not just making up things to make new parents feel better about the fact that their sweet new baby sounds like Shrek.  And we’re keeping our fingers crossed that there might be a few more minutes of peaceful sleep in our future!