Winter Comes to Phoenix (And Birdie Gets Bigger)

I know that these photos don't look like winter to most of you, but this is what winter in Phoenix looks like. It is gray, wet, and about to rain. I woke up this morning elated to see such dreary weather and I'm hoping to take out my little Bird for a walk later so she can experience her first real cloudy, rainy day. Don't worry, I have warm clothes for her and an umbrella.

I was getting her ready for the day this morning and I was trying to put some little shoes on her feet (part of the warm clothing). I flipped her over on her changing pad to have a better angle and the next thing I know she is all propped up and staring out the window. Usually when cool stuff like this happens I can't get the camera fast enough to catch it. Amazingly, the camera was sitting right there on the dresser 6 inches from me. I'm taking these pictures and thinking that she is just getting so big so fast now. I couldn't stop giggling at how pretty and big she is. She has even started to smile now when you smile at her, but it is still pretty rare and so far impossible to catch on a digital camera that takes 8 seconds to process before it snaps the photo. Grrr.

Right after this photo shoot she threw up all over herself and me. Fun. I changed her clothes and tried to get her to replicate her big girl talent and I was too late. By that time she was having none of it and I am pretty sure she is laughing at my attempts in this picture. I love being a mom, and I love winter weather! It has even started to rain just in the time that I have been posting. Hooray!

7 1/2 Hours

The night before last Avery scared me pretty badly. She slept for her usual 5 hours on the first leg of the night, and then, instead of sleeping for only 2 hours after that like usual, she slept for 5 more hours! I went busting into her room to make sure she was okay, and there she was just dreaming away. So she scared me, but I was grateful she had let me sleep so long after I made sure she was still breathing!

Last night was even better. I put the little Birdie down at 10 p.m. and Joe woke me up at 5:30 a.m. wondering when I had been up last. I told him I hadn't been up at all. I could hear Avery talking in the other room at that moment so I had no fear that she had stopped breathing in the night, but I had no idea that I had just experienced 7 1/2 hours of undisturbed sleep. I'm so refreshed that I can't go back to sleep! It's amazing how just over 7 hours of straight sleep can fell so much better than 10 hours of broken sleep.

Stiff

I finally finished reading this book that I started before I had my baby. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying it, or that I didn't want to read it, it just wasn't my priority for the first month that I had my baby home. But I finally made some time and got through the whole thing. It was hilarious. The author, Mary Roach, has a quick and morbid sense of humor that I found thoroughly enjoyable. I think the book could have easily been tedious or creepy and gross, it is about cadavers after all, if her commentary had not been so delightful.
The book is not for everyone, I think. But if you are someone who would like to read about how life works on a "body farm", a Swedish doctor who is trying to patent a way to freeze bodies and break them into pieces for fertilizer, or how old men used to sacrifice themselves by consuming nothing but honey until it killed them and then soaking in honey for another 100 years in order to make themselves a medicinal remedy (yes, something a person would consume) for a younger generation, then you would like this book.

Mom's Day

I love being a mom. I love being home with my baby all day. I love when Avery snuggles with me first thing in the morning. But, I feel like it leaves me little to blog about. How many times can I say "My baby is cuter than yours. Neener, neener,"? So I think I will mention a few of the things we do together in the day.

Birdie and I love to go for walks. We go for walk every morning and sometimes again in the night when Daddy comes home. She loves to go outside and feel the very slight breeze in the desert air. It is the cutest when she feels the sun on her face she will stretch back as far as her carrier will allow and just bask in the glow. It is as though she is saying: "Ah...light." Then she falls asleep. But we sill walk and I sing to her most of the time. I know it is early but I am already singing her Christmas songs. We also sing primary songs and anything by Norah Jones. I'm trying to encourage calm emotions.

Avery also helps me with the laundry and the ironing by taking her tummy time. This is great exercise for her and much needed chore time for me. We love it when Daddy comes home for lunch in the day. We get to eat together and spend some time playing or napping. It is a great 35 minutes of the day. We will also run errands when time allows, but since Avery hates being in her car seat it does not really make for the best photos.

The end of the day, just before bed, is playtime. We get in our jammies and talk and giggle and cuddle before we put the sweet thing down for the night. This is Joe's favorite time, I think. He just can't wait until Avery is more interactive and ready to, I don't know, wrestle or play volleyball maybe. He just wants to play with her all the time.

We did manage to escape from the average routine yesterday for a couple of hours. We went with Aunt Stacie and Daddy to see the new James Bond movie. Avery was a peach; she slept the whole time. So except for the tiny issue of having to hold her while standing through the whole 2 hour movie, everything went great for our first movie theater experience since having a baby!

Derek, Michelle, and my 7 1/2 lb. baby

These are our friends Derek and Michelle. I realize that I mention them quite a bit, but I've never had any pictures of them. So last night when Joe and I went over to visit them I took my camera to finally get a shot of two of our favorite people. Generally when we see them Michelle spends the whole night holding the baby since Derek doesn't usually hold anything under the age of 2. However, Derek was interested to know how much Avery weighs at this point and I told him we did not have a scale. He ran to his bathroom and came back with one so that we could see how much bigger she really had gotten. When Michelle asked him if he was going to do the honors he said "sure". What? Okay. I HAD to get a picture of this since I was not sure that he would be holding her again for the next 2 years. Once Derek's weight was measured, we gave him Avery to see what the increase was. Now, if Derek's scale is to be believed, Avery weighs 7 and 1/2 lbs! She's now average newborn size! Still little, like we said, but not teeny anymore! And the fact that she has gained nearly three pounds of weight in her first 5 weeks is awesome! Hooray for Derek and Michelle and their scale!

Not big, but bigger

I know that she isn't a big baby. I get that Birdie is now only the size of an average baby at birth. However, she is certainly bigger! Most of her preemie outfits are way too small, and a few of her newborn outfits actually fit her now. I wish that I had gotten a picture of her with her giraffe right away, but, as it is, the first picture was actually taken when she was about a week old. Even so, I see a difference.

We also had another first for Avery the other day. On Saturday I went to a friend's baby shower and Avery got to come. It was our first occasion to put Birdie in a dress. I LOVE this dress, and I love the way Birdie looks in it. I would put her in dresses every day if I could because I think it is too sweet. Avery had never been part of such a large group. We have been avoiding large crowds and this group of a dozen was big for her. As is her habit, she slept through the whole thing. Aah, to be an infant.

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