7 and a half weeks

Oh, right – I have a blog.

I was initially filled with aspirations of blogging regularly here to create a wonderful archive of baby memories and experiences that Maggie could someday read, but I’m mostly too tired these days to contemplate anything other than “Am I hungry? Is the baby hungry? If the answer to both is no, I AM GOING TO SLEEP NOW.”

The Maggster is now 7 and a half weeks old, 10-ish pounds and eighty frillion inches long. I went down to my family’s house last weekend to visit, and my Mom commented on the fact that Maggie doesn’t seem to have chunked up much from her birth weight, despite gaining 3 pounds since then. The simple reason for this is that she’s growing long faster than she can put weight on them bones.

She laughed for the first time a few days ago. We were in the car, and she was sleeping. I looked over just in time to see her smile, and then utter “Heh. Heh. Heh,” her little belly bouncing with each “Heh.” I wonder what she was dreaming about that she found so amusing.

Lord knows she certainly cracks ME up with her expressions sometimes.

We have good days more frequently than bad ones. There have only been a handful of times that I’ve lost patience when the crying seems unending. 99% of the time, her tears unleash in me only a massive wave of sympathy and gentleness. It’s been eye-opening seeing how differently Matt and I relate to her when she cries — his reaction is often, and I quote, “This is BULLSHIT!”

It’s hard for me to hear him express impatience with her — my instinct tells me to snuggle her away from him at those moments – to retreat to the magical mama and baby circle and close out unsympathetic words. But I shouldn’t – she is his daughter too, and parenting her is a job for both of us. I’ve seen too many women become Mothers at the exclusion of every other role in their lives, including wife, and it’s a choice that leads nowhere good.

One thing’s for sure – we definitely created one hell of a beautiful child.

- Mama!