BIG NEWS!!

I love Lucy. Everybody knows that. But her sleeping habits were leaving a little to be desired. She only liked to sleep in her swing, or even better, in someone's arms. Okay during the day, but night was a whole different story. She was super restless in her swing and always managed to maneuver herself into a very uncomfortable-looking position. Lucy hated the swaddle. HATED. Even in the hospital she didn't like having her arms pinned down. She liked sleeping on her belly, but I am a nervous nellie and while she was sleeping peacefully, I was up every 3o minutes making sure she was still breathing! Needless to say, we weren't getting much sleep! :)

Well... ta dah! Something clicked for my beautiful baby this week and she is now sleeping in her bassinet on her BACK swaddled! YAY!! The past four nights in a row she has slept four and a half hours, up to eat, and then back down! I am so, so proud of her. I feel much less nervous with her on her back so I am getting more sleep too!

Lucy is 8 weeks old and I think we are really starting to get into our groove. She had a really rough day on Tuesday (super fussy, and I could not make her happy) but the rest of this week she was awesome! She has been playing a ton on her new playmat, smiling and cooing like crazy, and even - dare I say it - not screaming her head off when she is riding in the car! (Thankfully, some online advice I got really seemed to do the trick! I roll down the window and let the cool air and white noise soothe her!)

Lucy and Mommy ventured out to the mall this week and also had a playdate with Gavin! Then, Friday night brought Lucy's first snow! We went out, but it was soooo cold. She didn't like it!

She is getting to be so much fun! She still loves her baths, loves playing, and is a huge smiler! She is also working on laughing - she opens her mouth super wide while she's smiling and makes happy squeals! And... yesterday, she rolled belly to back! She has her two month pediatrician appointment on Friday (shots... yuck!) and I can't wait to see how big she's gotten!

Almost 7 Weeks!

I can't believe Lucy will be 7 weeks on Saturday! (Doesn't it seem like all my posts begin with I can't believe...) She is getting so big and is so much more alert and lots and lots of fun.

Lucy is definitely a morning baby, which is so weird because I definitely wouldn't qualify either Andrew or myself as a morning person. After we get out of bed and she eats, she is so much fun! She plays on her mat and coos and smiles and is generally happy. It is so cute! However, if she misses her 930ish nap, watch out! The wrath of Lucy is not to messed with! She still takes most of her naps (who am I kidding, all of her naps) either in her swing or on a person, but we are starting to make some progress getting her to sleep in the bassinet part of her pack and play. Andrew and I keep talking about taking the plunge and putting her to bed in her crib, but we're both chicken :) She just seems so tiny when she is in there and the crib is this huge, massive space. We'll get there!

I think her evening fussiness *may* starting to wane a little bit, although I am probably going to regret writing that. We are going to try moving bedtime up a little earlier because I think a lot of her evening crankiness has to do with being over tired. She apparently doesn't think she needs an evening nap anymore!

Miss Lucy still hates her car seat, so going places is a little stressful but we have gone out the past 9 days in a row! Hopefully she will start to get used to it!

We are on Operation Thumb Sucking Watch 2010 - she is trying so hard to figure out how to get her thumb in her mouth! For now, she sticks her fist in her mouth and smacks her gums together (loudly) and moves it all around, but she still hasn't figured out the right angle. It is adorable! She has also started to develop a strong grip on things - she will hold on to my shirt with both hands while she eats, or her blanket in her swing, and even Andrew's hands as he holds her bottle.

And now... for something even better than a picture of Lucy, check out this talking baby! I love her!

Five Weeks!

**Scroll down - I just posted our One Month post from Tuesday... I apparently forgot to hit publish.. oops!**

So our little lady is five weeks old (five weeks, one day actually)! In some ways it seems like time is flying by, but in other ways it seems like she has been here forever! We had her one month pediatrician appointment on Thursday and Lucy is doing wonderfully!

Weight: 7 pounds, 15 ounces (still a peanut, but she has gained two pounds since birth!)

Length: 20 inches

Our pediatrician (I love our pediatrician, by the way!) said Lucy looks perfect and AGAIN said that Andrew and I seem very calm and relaxed. We are, thank you very much :) Lucy didn't even scream the whole time we were there. I fed her between being weighed and seeing the doctor and she was nice and calm. What a good baby! She won't go back until she is two months for all of her vaccines... I think that is going to be a rough one!

Lucy is still an eating machine, eating every hour and a half during the day. At night she will go one long stretch, anywhere from three and a half to *once* five hours, but then she wakes up every hour and a half for the rest of the night. She has started taking a bottle at night, though, which is going to be really nice when we want to go out to eat or take her some place where nursing isn't really a great option! Being an eating machine leads to being a pooping machine too! On Thursday morning, Lucy "got" me good - three times in one diaper change. It was hilarious and disgusting all at the same time!

This week, Lucy started getting pretty fussy in the evenings. Tuesday evening was actually the most upset we have ever seen the poor monkey - she screamed for hours straight. Between 5 and 8 every night this week she has been pretty fussy and refusing to nap even though she is exhausted, but we are working through it. She cluster feeds like crazy so I usually just end up parked on the couch with her. Andrew cuts up my dinner and serves it to me on a pillow - he's a keeper!

On Wednesday, Lucy had her first play date with Gavin. Gavin in my friend Holly's 7-month-old. He is HUGE! He weighs 21 pounds and having them right beside each other was hilarious. He loved Lucy and screamed and clapped the whole time we were there. She just slept and ate :)

Friday night, Lucy attended her second birthday party, this time for my friend Katie. She did super well at the restaurant until right around the time the food came, and then she decided she was ready to eat! She also had fun back at Katie's mom's house being passed around and adored by everyone.

The most exciting thing that is happening in our little world is Lucy is starting to smile. REAL smiles. She has worked those smile muscles since day 1, but I think she is actually starting to smile now to show us she is happy. Check it out for yourselves!

One Month!!

Lucy Katherine is one month old today... what a big girl! Stats coming after her pediatrician appointment on Thursday :)