July

It's unrealistic of me to think I can post something weekly. We'll go for monthly updates!! July was a good month. Harper turned one month old on July 18th and she had special visitors from her God Family (the Dooley's), to Granny and Papaw (my stepmother and father), Grandmommie (my mom), Little Max (Sharon's baby born one week after Harper), Aunt Michelle, and her Uncle Choo Choo.

She's still feeding every two to three hours, so we're not getting too much sleep, but we get shut eye when we can. Her favorite sleeping position is now on top of my chest with her head against my heart. We snuggle like that on the couch for hours at a time.

She's made a few trips to Whole Foods Market and she does great! Wade pushes her in the stroller while I shop for groceries.

We also all go on daily walks as I've been given the go ahead to start working out (yeah!). We walk about two miles around the neighborhood first thing in the morning and she loves it.

One thing we haven't mastered yet is the bath. We learned very quickly that a baby must poop before placing one in the bath water. Mom and Wade and I laughed and laughed! We've gone back to sponge bathes, but will try again today (7/29). Keep your fingers crossed!

We are now all sleeping upstairs in the front guest room. We have a day bed up there with a trundle and we place Harper in her bouncy seat in between us on the floor. When she wakes up, I take her into her room to nurse in the rocking chair. It's very peaceful.

Harper is also starting to smile and it just melts our hearts! She's becoming more alert as each day passes and that first laugh is right around the corner.

Harper, Leah & Wade

Two week appointment results

Harper had her two week follow up appointment today. Her weight gain is now back to her original birth weight, the jaundice level is on its way down and she's grown 3/4 of an inch!! They also conducted another PKU test involving pricking her heal to obtain blood. I cried as much as she did. I definitely know the difference between her hungry cries and painful ones as I never heard the "I'm in pain" cry before. Our next appointment is in August for her two month follow up - I'm sure there will be more tears as this is the first round of vaccinations.

Additional good news is we can allow her to sleep for longer periods during the night time. We're all still camped in the living room for now. She wants to sleep in her bouncy seat and the doctor thinks for about two months she'll want that feeling of "coziness" - the crib and her playpen are too big for her and make her feel insecure.

Some personality traits are coming out - when she gets mad, she turns bright red and the only time she's mad is when she's hungry and wants us to hurry up and change her diaper. Other than that, she's a very happy and content baby and not fussy at all.

Tomorrow is another big day for Harper - Amy Columbus, a fantastic photographer is coming to our house to take the first of a year long series of pictures: newborn, 3 mos, 6 mos and 1 year. I'll post a link to the pictures as soon as they're available.