Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy One Week Birthday

It's hard to believe that Alayna is a week old already (my little girl is growing up so fast--her umbilical stump fell off last night)....it's been so much fun getting to know her (and how her personality differs from Josiah's).


Just thought I would share what we think we've figured out already (more or less for my own record keeping):

  • Alayna is quite laid back. This surprises me since she seemed to move so much more inside than Josiah did. She also tolerates her older brother's more abrupt affection (Josiah loves to kiss, hug, and hold her).
  • She's not a big fan of the pacifier. If she could only figure out how to get her finger or thumb in her mouth, she'd be a happy camper.

  • Alayna is a pretty good eater, making breastfeeding this second go-around a lot easier (although part of it may be that I'm not as uptight about it as I was with Josiah). I've only supplemented with formula while we were in the hospital and that was so that she would have the volume needed to rid her body of the excess bilirubin (here's a picture of the "tanning bed" that Alayna had to spend a night in. We took her to the doctor's office for a 5 day weight check on Friday, and she'd gained a good 10 oz. since leaving the hospital on Wednesday (up to 8 lbs. 12 oz.). We were shocked (and excited that she was back up to her birthweight before the end of the week)!

  • She doesn't mind having her diaper changed (most of the time)...and will continue sleeping if she's in a deep sleep.

  • She would sleep all night if she could sleep on her belly. Although the sleeping at night is going fairly well...only waking every 3-4 hours to eat.

  • She prefers to be warm and snuggled up but prefers to her legs free to kick around.


Now, I can't forget about Josiah....he's been doing remarkably well with the transition. As I mentioned above, he LOVES to hold her all by himself like a big boy. He'll also help her with her "ba-ba" whenever she starts crying. We've not yet seen any negative attention-seeking behavior....however, Randy's been home a lot and my mom is here helping out, so I'm bracing myself for the worse when Mom leaves, we move cross-country, Randy starts Residency, and it's just the three of us during the days.

Things have definitely changed around here...but we're lovin' it. :-)




5 comments:

Sara said...

Oh, I love the pictures, and I'm so glad to hear that things are going well. I can't wait to be back home and get my hands on her! :-) Love ya!

Joy said...

She is just a doll! And the first picture is so cute- what a proud big brother!

Irma said...

I can't believe how much she looks like Josiah. She's beautiful. But, of course, she's my grand-daughter.

Elizabeth said...

Isn't our MIL a funny lady? Alayna IS beautiful, and she does look like Josiah.

The cousins are going to have so much fun!

Anonymous said...

She's so beautiful. I think Josiah and Alayna could be twins. Glad to hear nursing is going better this time around and that she's so laid back. She'll be a great companion on the jogger. Christian, Elijah and I miss you guys.