Hurray!!

Amelia has begun smiling sweetly and sincerely. It is so fun, and makes parenting FEEL so much more rewarding! Somehow I am relieved to see that she can enjoy life and be happy sometimes, and that we can actually cause her to smile... She even makes some sweet noises now and then. I know that this is just the beginning in terms of interaction and delight, and I am so thankful, since she has had a rough go of it adjusting to life in the world so far. She is two months old today!

Jeff Turns "Almost Thirty."



We had a big birthday party yesterday in our back yard to celebrate Jeff. We barbecued burgers, ate cake and played Catch Phrase. It was a lot of fun! So many people love Jeff, but I was the most excited to celebrate his presence in my life. Don't you love his new look?

Picture Update

Lifestyle.

It's Wear Your Baby to Work Day around here every day. Except for the backache, I love wearing Amelia around in a sling. It's supposed to help her set appropriate sleep and wake cycles, and keep her calm. It's the perfect solution for soothing her AND getting housework done, as well as putting her to sleep in the evening.
Whenever the question about which animal I thought I most closely resembled has come around, I have always thought of the kangaroo-- nurturing but a little aggressive (I WILL box you down!) Anyway, I like having a little joey snug in my "pocket."

A visit from Anders

Gretchen and Anders came over yesterday for a little visit. It's nice that Gretchen and I are both new moms, so we can usually count on each other being at home, slightly bored, but not usually able to go do anything too exciting. So visits are a nice, low-pressure relief.

It was fun to see Amelia and Anders next to each other. Amelia seems so big all of the sudden! Besides size, the main difference between them is temperament. I kept teasing Gretchen because I guess Anders was "upset" which meant he was waving his arms around and making cute noises. Amelia was sleeping the whole time, and it was probably a good thing. If you have spent much time with us lately, you already know that she doesn't often wake up happy, and she is honestly a rather angry baby. I think it's colic, and I feel bad for her. She has her very sweet times when she's awake, but this...
Quickly escalates to this! She keeps us on our toes, and we do lots of dancing and bouncing around the apartment to keep things under control. Poor baby!

Silver Lining...

We were so sad to say goodbye to our neighbors and dear friends the McMillans on Monday. They are moving to St. Louis for the next chapter of their lives, and although we are excited for them, we miss them already.
However, I am big on looking on the bright side, and am reminded of this one every day. They sold us their dining table and chairs! We had been using the tiniest table and only had four chairs. When we had people over for dinner, we could only barely accommodate two more, and that was without the serving dishes on the table! This set comes with six chairs and two extra leaves to easily seat ten. My favorite thing in life is having people over for dinner, so this is a serious step toward a better life. I am consoled.