Already an overachiever

Weight: 10 lbs. 8 oz.
Length: 22.5 in.
Head: 15.25 in.
Chest: 16 in.

Anneli's growth falls into the 95th percentile for her age. I can't believe she's already 10.5 lbs.! Well, it figures. She eats so much, and in the last couple days, she has been wanting more. It's hard trying to keep up with her!

We went to church with my parents on Easter. Anneli was the star of the day. My mom couldn't stop showing her off to everyone. I got a picture of her all dressed up.



She's also spending a lot more time awake, which may sound great, but it's really not. She tends to be awake when we need to be sleeping. She never wants to sleep between 10pm and 12am. By 10pm, I'm exhausted, but I have to stay up with her until she falls asleep. (Ryan usually doesn't because he has work in the morning. He does get up for her other early morning feedings.) She does spend a lot of time awake during the day too. She hasn't really slept at all today, except for two one-hour naps.

crying--it comes with the territory

Anneli is five weeks old now. (Officially last night.)

Last night was horrible, so far the worst one we've had. She must have gotten no more than three hours of sleep. She just cried for hours and we had a shit time trying to calm her. Nothing worked. I think she just wore herself out by 5:00am. She has had the tendency to be alert late at night, but I was really struggling to figure out what was making her cry so much. I thought she might have been gassy, but she burped after each feeding. When I finally crawled into bed, it was almost time for Ryan to get up. I got in about an hour of sleep before Anneli woke up hungry. (Ugh.)

She's been calm today. In fact, she's sleeping right now (in the rather strange and noisy way she sleeps). She can't do anything quietly. I'm pretty sure that all those placid, well-behaved babies on TV must be drugged. She grunts while she sleeps, occasionally meowing and yipping. She sometimes cries for a second, like she had a bad dream. (What do babies dream about?) I've resorted to leaving the baby monitor off because I can't sleep restfully with all of her noises. I can still hear her since she's just in the next room. I just wish she could sleep quietly. -__-

I've realized that I go back to work in just under three weeks. I'm hoping that we can get her on a regular sleep and feeding schedule in that time so I'm not constantly tired at work. I also need to figure out how to work pumping into my schedule at work since I'll have to do it during a couple of my classes. Luckily I'll only have about seven weeks of school left, and then I (we) can have the summer with Anneli.

The in-laws want to visit to meet their granddaughter. I hope they do it soon, before I go back to work. Otherwise, I won't be able to juggle work, the baby, my husband, and the in-laws all at once. It would be nice for them to be here and watch Anneli during the day, but it would come with its own set of hassles and extra work for me. Between now and April 9 would be great, but I haven't heard anything yet about likely dates for their visit. If it doesn't happen by early April, I may have to say no and have them come in the summer. I only have so much energy (and sanity).

Anneli's 100-day party is May 24. (She is actually 100 days on May 25, but the Saturday before works better for everyone.) We have to start thinking about the invitations for that.

One month

Today you are four weeks old!

If only you could sleep this peacefully at night...

This picture makes me LOL

She looks like ET.

What else is there to do on a Saturday?

Other than take a million pictures of our baby girl. :)



(We put the Boppy to a better use. It sure doesn't really work for feeding. Well, at least not the way it was intended. I prop her in the hole so I can feed her without wearing my arms out.)

hey baby, you're growing!

Weight: 8lb. 12oz.
Length: 22 in.
Head: 14 in.
Chest: 15 in.

It figures she's gained so much weight--at least I'm not getting up every two hours for nothing! Almost nine pounds. I wonder if she would have weighed as much (or more) had she been born on her due date (3/4).

She's sleepy today. Yesterday, she was awake for several hours in the morning. She spends a little more time each day awake, which is more fun than when she's asleep. That gives us more "mommy and me" time. :)

just the two of us

Today was our first day alone, just the two of us. All in all, the day has passed smoothly, with very little crying. Anneli had a bath and got all the milk out of her hair! Now she smells like baby wash instead of sour milk.

She spent a lot of time awake, which she's been doing more frequently. That's a good thing--she's growing! She even started holding her head up more often and for longer periods of time. She's still a bit wobbly, but you'd be too if your head was that big. Comparing the pictures I took today with those that we took at the hospital, I can see how much she's changed in just two and a half weeks. She is definitely bigger--a result of her eating almost double what she was eating last week.

Anneli does what we like to call "starfish." Pretty frequently, she will suddenly straighten her arms and legs as if she's startled, making herself resemble Maggie (from "The Simpsons") in her winter one-piece, hence the term starfish. As often as she does it, we still get a good laugh from it. :)

Here's a cute picture I snapped today, right after her bath.


And this is from her bath last Friday.