Go Hokies!

Fiona Smiles 6wks
Originally uploaded by Toasted Salmon.

Well, I've finally gotten our pictures organized and posted those couple of entries I wrote in the few few weeks. It's taken me a while to figure out how to do the mommy thing and still have a little bit of a life, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. And Fiona's starting to get the hang of routines... sometimes.

At six weeks, she's now routinely smiling when she's awake, and she's very alert. She's starting to be much more interactive and I'm finding that I'm a little more able to read her cues. She cries less and tries to use her voice to get what she wants. When we can't figure it out, or are too busy, that's when she lets us have it with those nicely developed lungs :) Also, her grandma sent a bouncy seat that has toys hanging from it for her to play with this week--and she actually grabs for the toys! Already she's getting better at hitting her mark, and she makes the rattle on it shake around. This may not sound amazing to you, but I'm convinced she's a prodigy :P

Daily life is becoming separated into day and night again. Fiona often sleeps a large portion of the night (except for nursing of course, but we barely have to wake up for that). She and I manage to get out almost every day on some adventure or another. We've been to MOPS, a playgroup down at the beach, the grocery store, Special Beginnings, and the library. We also take walks often and try to spend some time outside when we can. I got a Maya Wrap a week or two ago and I LOVE it! I just snug her up in it and I can get some housework done, or take Cocoa to the beach, or even take a nap if she just wants to be held.

This past weekend the three of us went down to my parents' house for the annual Raiford family reunion. I laughed when I arrived and she was out of my arms before I could get out of the car. There was no lack of love in that place and she slept almost the whole time, even though she was getting jostled and passed around.

We had our first bout with diaper rash this week, and my solution was to keep her nakey-butt, which worked well. The rash was red and angry and spreading yesterday morning, and is completely gone now. Thank goodness for EC--we only went through a couple of diapers and a couple of towels that I kept underneath her throughout the day and the night to catch any messes.

As you can see, we're raising the next generation of Hokies, and she cheered when VT won the game today. Check out the Flickr page for a ton of new photos, and all who have sent us well wishes, please forgive me for not emailing you back for the last several weeks... you can expect one soon if I can continue to make the most of her naps!

Fiona's Second Week

One fun part of Fiona's homecoming was that Dan's bachelor brother Eric has been living with us these couple of weeks while he is between work and returning to school. I had wondered how we would all mesh with the stress of a new baby and no sleep and trying to establish nursing. Eric, though, has been wonderful to have around. In Fiona's second week, when everyone else had gone home and Dan had returned to work, and I was faced with my first days on my own with her, I woke up to a clean house, thanks to Eric. In the evenings we had someone to hang out with and ooh and ahh over the baby with. When I was covered with spit up, and Dan was out of earshot, Eric was there to hand me a wipe. And, of course, there's the adorable professional quality photos we got out of him. I'm going to be sorry to see him leave for New Hampshire this week.

During her second week, Fiona and I made our first solo outing to visit her Aunt Annelise and Naomi and Quinn on their first day back from Uganda! We successfully ran a couple of errands, visited with them and got home without too much drama. Naomi adored getting to hold Fiona, as did many of our friends that week as we ate dinner out on a few nights. The prep time for leaving the house the first time was like 4 hours, but it cut quickly to more like an hour and a half. That included getting us both showered and dressed and keeping her clean, fed an happy the whole time. There's a bit of a learning curve on that process, but we made it out for two dinner parties and ended the week at the beach again when Dan's dad came to visit for the weekend. Jordan and Jessie had a blast fighting over the baby, and they treated us to some home cooked meals before they left.

Fiona's second week check up was another impressive visit. This time she weighed 10 lbs 10oz and was 21 inches long--that's 95th percentile for weight! She also projectile vomited on the pediatrician :P and was pronounced perfect again. She's a happy growing baby!

Fiona's First Week

The first couple of days while we were in the hospital were a big blur of people coming in to check us at all hours, and nursing and trying to sleep. I wanted so badly just to get out and go home. Dan helped me out of bed that first night, and I was able to get a shower the next day, which made me feel a little bit like a person again. Some of our friends came to visit, as did Dan's brother, and my parents were there most of the time, too. Having this new baby to take care of was really surreal, though. It sounds odd to say, but I didn't recognize her when she came out. I don't know quite what I was expecting, maybe something out of my own baby pictures, but not this thick dark hair... I felt like that a little bit until we got home and looked in Dan's baby book. It looked to both of us like someone had taken a picture of Fiona and put it in there! That was really neat, to know who she looks like and to have a little Dan in my arms :)

So, we headed home Friday around noon, with Dan driving and my mom up front and me in the back seat with the baby. My mom stayed with us through the weekend and got us through a couple of mini-dramas, including our first trip to the beach with her on Saturday, and getting her blood drawn to follow her jaundice level. She was absolutely amazing, and we would have been floundering without her! She cleaned up, ran loads upon loads of laundry, and cooked for us the whole time. She doted on us and doted on the baby and generally enjoyed being a new grandmother. I'm usually very independent and didn't expect to be so upset to see my mom go.

Dan took the whole week off following her birth, and we got to enjoy a visit from his mom and Jim for a couple of days in the beginning of the week. It's so exciting to see all these new grandparents taking on their new roles! We were pampered with a delicious meal while they were here. On Thursday we went to her one week check up. The pediatrician pronounced her perfect, and she weighed exactly 9lbs 14oz, back up to her birth weight already!