Life with Millie - 8 weeks

Millie was 8 weeks on Sunday. Can't believe it's already been 8 weeks!! I remember so vividly the week before she was born and it seemed like she was never coming!! So to already be at 8 weeks is crazy!

Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:

Millie meeting her Uncle JR. We think she was a little overwhelmed by his beard. She was quite amused by him though! JR, Molly and my dad were in town almost 2 weeks ago. It was partly work and partly pleasure. We had a great time with them!

This is Millie in her bath. She likes her bath time! We bathe her pretty much every other night. Last night we actually took the net thing out so she was more in her bath and upright. I think she liked it a little better. Easier to wiggle her legs around. So cute!!

And for the record, I don't really know how to get these pictures upright.

Millie sleeping on Grandpa Rick. Grandpa Rick was great at taking the "early shift" holding Millie when/if she didn't go back to sleep.

Millie meeting her second cousin who is about 5 weeks older than her (yes, he is 5 weeks older). It was fun for these cousins to meet. They were good sports about letting us take pictures.

We had a busy weekend when family was in town. After a family lunch in Salem (where the last picture was taken) we had a gathering at Barb's. Both served as opportunities for everyone to see dad, Jr and Molly, but also to meet Millie. In this picture we swapped "kids" with my cousin Michael and his wife during the dinner at Barb's.

Couldn't help but take a picture of Millie in this really cute outfit!! The leggings were adorable on her chubby little legs ;)

I took this picture on Monday. Millie is starting to suck on her fists. She can't hold them in place long enough to really get soothed by the sucking but she's trying more often. It's so cute and wet!

Mark plays with Millie when he gets home from work. Here they are enjoying time on her playmat with her giraffe friend that she likes to talk to. I love her outfit in this picture! She wears these cute nightgowns to bed so midnight diaper changing is easier. The onesie doesn't entirely match and Mark picked out the socks and likes to pull them up as high as they go so they are more like knee highs.

Millie is doing well at living. She smiles a lot and sometimes carries on conversations with us and we're getting better at reading her signs when she is hungry and tired. We've worked her onto a good daily flow of eating, staying awake, and sleeping. I like it because it helps me know what we're doing next ;) She does still eat about every 2 hours, although easily sleeps through feedings to go as long as 3 or occasionally 4 hours, but only when sleeping. I sometimes think I should keep her awake more during the day but she's so fussy when she's sleepy that I hate to make her stay awake.

Speaking of sleeping, she takes 1 or 2 long naps a day and 1 or 2 short naps. She sleeps best in her car seat (but when she's awake doesn't like the car seat unless it's in motion in the car or stroller), bouncy seat or in your arms. The best way to wake her from a long nap during the day is to try putting her in her bed ;) She still isn't going to sleep before around 11:30 or midnight and I'm slowly working to put her to bed a little earlier (although last night didn't work) and get her to fall asleep in her bed... a work in progress. Within the next week we plan to transition her from the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room. I don't feel emotionally ready to have her out of our room yet. Makes checking on her and nighttime feedings really easy. But we think she is getting a little big for the bassinet (always ends up with her head against one side or the other).

Next weekend Millie and I are heading to Montana for 5 days to visit my parents. I'm excited to travel with her (although a little nervous about how she'll do) and excited for my parents to see her again, but will be sad to be away from Mark.

The big thing for me is going back to work (with Millie) in 2.5 weeks. I'm starting to mentally think about this transition and getting excited and anxious to go back to work. I'm excited to be back at work and be around adults again. But a little anxious to see how Millie will do. My work people are great though and willing to give it a try! I will miss being at home to getting things done during the week like cleaning so we don't have to do it on the weekends. But I will still get Friday's off and am only working part-time.

I'm trying to squeeze in 4 workouts a week. They are either a walk/run by myself or with someone (and Millie), 30-60 minutes each time. Or 20-30 minutes of pilates at home. The pilates is really hard!! But I like the idea of toning along with cardio. Yesterday I signed up for a half marathon on April 11th. Not sure how well I'll do but now I'm committed! The farthest distance of run/walked so far is 3.5 miles so I have a ways to go ;)