One month update

I really thought being a stay-at-home mom would mean that I had time to update our blog on a regular basis, sharing the most minute details of our life in photo form with the adoring public. Well, some things kind of got in the way of that plan, mostly the potent combination of sleeplessness and laziness. But here is the quick rundown of February 2009, Violet's first month of life.

Clark's mom was able to stay with us for the first two weeks after the baby was born, which was quite a blessing. She was especially invaluable in the wee small hours of the morning, taking the wide-awake Violet while I got some sleep. Unfortunately, she turned down our offer to abandon her life in Delaware and live on our futon full-time, so we had to begin parenting life on our own. We have had two quick visits from Claron and Amanda as well, and we will have more family in town this weekend for Violet's baby blessing in church this coming Sunday.

Violet is probably the best-behaved, good-natured and adorable baby on the planet, so we haven't had too tough of a time. Her one quirk is that she is a TOTAL night owl like her parents, but only more so: her most awake period is from about 10 pm to 3 or 4 am. Usually during this time she doesn't even sleep between feedings. Sometimes she is content to sit awake in her swing in the dark while we both snooze, but more often than not she sweetly demands to be held and interacted with until she finally drops off to sleep. I've been sleeping from 4 am to 7 am, feeding her and sleeping again from 8 am to 11 am or so most nights. Clark does his best to be helpful during the night, but I realized pretty early on that all his parenting time at night directly kills his graduate school time during the day. So now I only elbow him when I'm REALLY tired.

Violet is gaining weight quickly and thriving. She was 9 pounds, 10 ounces last Friday, which is the 75th percentile for weight. I had to take her to the doctor to get medicine for thrush, which is a yeast infection of the mouth in infants that they then can transmit through breastfeeding. I think it's been more painful for me than for her, but we both have medicine now and hopefully it's on the way out. She takes a pacifier when she wants but is also a pretty good self-soother. She likes car rides, HATED sponge baths but likes being bathed in the sink. She has also earned herself the endearing nickname "Poop Cannon" from her parents, for her habit of saving it up until her diaper is halfway off and then shooting poop across the room. Yes, this is me blogging about poop habits. I think I need to stop now. Here are myriads of pictures of the baby, none of which do her adorableness justice.