My week with Caroline

It has been a fun week for us. We had our usual playgroup and infant massage classes, but these ones were especially fun. We had music at playgroup, so we were all singing and playing with rattles and tambourines and the babies were having a great time. Caroline was even moving her arm along with the music at one point. With luck, she'll have more rhythm than her parents. She does love it when I sing, even with my mediocre singing voice... And we had our last infant massage class today- so now we know a routine for her whole body, and she really seems to like it- except for the stomach and chest portions. And the instructors gave us each a bunch of pictures they took, which was so nice!

On Thursday we took a trip into Boston where we visited my work. That was great- so fun to see everyone! And it made me feel better about the prospect of going back to work. I've been kind of dreading the thought of going back and having to leave my baby all day long. But it was great to remember how much I love my job and all of the people I work with. Plus we found a really nice family day care, run by a very sweet woman, and I'm feeling happy about that.

The sleeping continues to go better. She's definitely on more of a routine now- going to bed at 8pm and sleeping for 12 hours, with 4 - 6 hours between feedings. So we only have to get up once or twice in the night, and Michael is helping with that, so it is all quite manageable.

I have also been feeling quite sentimental lately. I was rocking her the other night and thinking to myself that my mom used to rock me this way when I was her size. And I'm sure she was filled with the same intense love that I feel for my own baby. My mom is always telling stories: "When I brought you home from the hospital..." And now, its funny, because I finally get it. I can really imagine her bringing me home, and can see why it feels like just yesterday, even though it was over 30 years ago. I really want to treasure these moments with Caroline while she's a tiny little angel, because I know they'll all go by so fast.

And she is so darn cute, I can just stare at her for hours on end. She's really starting to look more like a person now- growing into her face, being more alert and expressive, smiling all the time. It makes it a lot more fun to interact with her. She's also starting to get more control over her movements- she doesn't jerk around randomly quite as much- her movements are more fluid, and at least sometimes seem to have a purpose, like hitting something, or grabbing onto my neck when I hold her. I love that. So precious.

Who's a silly goose? Not me...
Chillin' with papa on the sun porch
Now that's some stylin' hair...
But what would you look like bald?
Or with a sweet mohawk?