Happy Three Week Birthday

You are three weeks old today, sweet baby girl!

(I love this picture; it looks like you're smiling and giving a thumbs up)

There's no doubting that you have filled our hearts and our home with love and joy.

Your sisters can't help but love on you. Several times a day they ask and beg to hold you. I'm this close to creating a schedule for everyone. Yes, it's that serious :-)

As the days pass and I get to look at you more and more, I see your looks starting to come out.

You look a lot like one of your number one fans, Brownie. Your eyes and bits of your mouth are very similar to those of Miss Brownie. And sometimes your mouth looks a lot like Bug's. And I'm still debating on whether your nose is more Bug's or Peach's. Your hairline is definitely Bug's.

And just when I thought you were going to have dark hair (that would probably turn dirty blond by your second year), I started seeing hints of red undertones. So who knows; I suppose the jury is still out on your hair color.

I took you to the doctor today because you've had a cough since Saturday evening. I thought a stuffy nose that started to drain was the suspect, but I didn't want to chance it with my sweet newborn.

So off we went to see the doc. We were there last Monday for your two week check up, and at that point you weighed 7lbs 13 oz. I'm confident after your feeding that immediately followed your weigh in, you gained the 2 oz you needed to be back at your birth weight of 7lbs 15 oz.

And today you weighed 8lbs 7 oz. Amazing! And to think, that according to me, your eating had slowed since getting your cough. I guess not!!!

The doctor said she thought your cough was due to some drainage. I'm so glad--maybe we can make March the month where we don't visit a hospital for several days!

We were given some saline drops and instructed to continue to suck the snot out of your nose. Yeah, this is NOT your favorite activity, but I'm sure it'll help your cough. So do it, we will!

As far as your schedule goes, you're still sleeping quite a bit. I'm very impressed with how well you sleep during the night. For a week or two you were sleeping from 12am-5am, and now you are getting up a little more during the night. But I think that's due to your little illness. You've been sleeping very well in the morning too. And this is a good thing since we are usually running your sisters around town all morning long!

You are a champ nurser. You have been from the get-go. I'm getting better at getting you full, but for the first several nights we had to top you off with formula right before bed---I think this helped us get those nice 5 hours of sleep. As for the daytime, you eat once or twice between waking up and leaving the house around 8:30. Then you eat again around lunch time---and you eat every 1-2 hours until you go to bed around 11 or midnight.

You do enjoy being held ( A LOT), and you adore your swing. That's where you spend your sleeping hours during the day when somebody is not holding you. You've enjoyed some time on your tummy mat and in your glider too. And if you need to be calmed down, we swaddle you. There is nothing sweeter than a swaddled little girl snuggled up in my arms. LOVE IT!

And despite the fact that you have several hair accessories, I've been slacking in that department. In the morning rush, I never seem to be able to get the accessories on you. I just need to turn that one over to Brownie--she'll be great for that job!

Thank you, Little K, for adding to our lives. Sure, we had joy and love filling our home before you were born, but you multiplied it exponentially. You've added a sweet new element to this little family of ours. The little noises you make, the way you follow my eyes and stare at my smile, and the peaceful look on your face as you drift off to sleep--- I love them all. And I love you sweet three-week-old girl!