Awesome Picture

Here is Jane at Nana & Grandpa's house talking to Grandpa, on Mothers' Day Weekend.  She really enjoyed herself :)

Seven Weeks and On the Move

For her seven week birthday, Jane visited Nana and Grandpa 2 1/2 hours away in Marble Falls for the first time--her first big trip and she did great with her sleeping and traveling in the car, and I even fed her in the car, once at DQ and once at a BBQ place (both typical of small town Texas!).


On her actual seven week birthday, she made a special first trip to the DMV because Mommy lost her wallet and had to get her license replaced, which required waiting for about an hour.  A random thuggish-looking stranger saw her and melted; he couldn't get over how "precious" our baby is, either.

We have also been taking walks on the trail at Cameron Park. I carry Jane in my sling and it works pretty well.  She falls asleep.  And we have tried to remember to do something called "tummy time" that I know we're supposed to do.  Janie also likes to do a little dance where she moves her arms and legs frantically and wiggles her little body around.

Precious Janie's Smile--And Other Skills

Janie has really started smiling this week.  It is incredibly precious.  She smiles at us a lot, especially after she wakes up or after she eats.  Here are some awesome pictures.  One of her other skills this week is holding her head up, which you can also see here.  Her third skill of the week is sucking her thumb.  She struggles to find it, often sucking her index finger or entire fist as a consolation.  But here she is finding it--I think she prefers it to a pacifier and she tries to get her hands out of her swaddle in order to suck them.

Six Weeks Smile

 

Here is Janie's sweet smile.  I am happy to report that I am getting the hang of her nap and sleeping schedule and she seems better-rested and happier.  She has always been smiley but now more than ever!  As you can see from the top picture, she was smiling when I picked her up from this nap even though she had, Houdini-like, escaped from her swaddle, which she often does. 

More Visitors from Michigan & Jane's Five Weeks' Progress

This week, Jane's grandpa Galloway, aka "Poppa," Bijal, and Gabriel came to visit.   We are just on the verge of truly hot, unbearable weather, so we took advantage of the relative coolness and went to the zoo.  Gabriel enjoyed seeing an elephant up close but couldn't get close enough to the Galapagos tortoises--so he decided to climb into their habitat with them.  Thankfully they are so slow and immobile they could be mistaken for rocks in the mud, so I suppose they're not very dangerous.  Jane seemed to enjoy all her outings although she didn't sleep very soundly on them, possibly because of the heat.  The doctor says she has heat rash around her neck.  Jane also got to see Nana and Grandpa again as they came up for dinner on Sunday. Daddy grilled a delicious pork loin with a spice rub and Mommy even got a minute to make strawberry shortcake--it's so nice to have people around to help!  We haven't really cooked in a long time!

In other news, Michael passed his prospectus defense this week, which means he can start on his dissertation officially. He is very relieved. I found out that I passed my preliminary exams so I can enter the prospectus-writing phase now.  Michael is also finishing up with his teaching responsibilities for the semester this week and next.  We're looking forward to our summer vacations and family reunions, although I wish we could squeeze a trip to Michigan in there, specifically when my friend Beverly gets married on Mackinac Island, complete with a rehearsal dinner at the Grand Hotel!  Michigan is awesome, as Tim Allen reminds us on our TV.  South Carolina and New York are pretty cool, too.

Janie is doing great with sleeping this last couple of days. I am trying to help her learn to go to sleep on her own, and it is working great so far!  She is sleeping much more soundly and for longer. I'm trying to pinpoint that "sweet spot" where she is tired (two yawns) but not overtired.  Erin is my mentor.  I just hope it continues this well.  I get so confused and nervous from all the books, philosophies, controversies, and my own complete exhaustion.  Jane is not only napping well, she is also sleeping well at night--from about 10-5 the last few nights.  After the 5 am feeding, she grunts loudly until she wakes up at 7--not sure what that is (except gas) or why it only happens after her middle of the night feeding.  She sleeps through the grunting but it doesn't seem pleasant. We may have partially solved her spit up problem by keeping her still after feedings (hard to do sometimes) and making sure I don't overfeed her or overwhelm her with "forceful let-down," especially in the morning.  I have also started pumping more so Michael can feed our sweetie, and we have been giving her regular baths at night, which she loves, just as the Baby Whisperer promised.