Three Weeks!

How is it possible that she's already three weeks old...next week she'll be a month old, a 1/12 of the way to one :'( I really can't believe that it's already been 3 weeks. I can already see the changes in her...while she never looked like a "newborn" she's already lost some of her "newborn-ish-ness". Sometimes I look at her and I don't see a baby...I see a little girl (which scares the bejeezers out of me!).

A's head control is phenomenal. I timed her...the other day she was sitting in my lap and held her head up for almost a minute straight before she "dropped" it. When she's on her tummy she holds her head up too. It's crazy!

Smiling: A smiles. I don't care what the "experts" say, but these are not gas smiles...these are really, honest-to-goodness smiles in response to something....whether it's the light coming through the window (loves that) or the silly faces and sounds we make. She definitely smiles...and let me tell you...those smiles are one of the most wonderful things in the world.

A loves, LOVES her FP Jungle exercise mat: I can put her on that and play the music and she squeels and kicks her legs, wiggles her arms and giggles the whole time. There are definitely some things which make awesome gifts, and that is one of them.

Music is another thing A loves. Matt and I are both big music people...we listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but we do enjoy listening to classical music around the house (it provides good background sounds). It doesn't matter if I turn on her bouncer, the stereo or whatever...this kid will completely settle down (for the most part) when music starts playing.

Today we took her to the Thanksgiving "dinner" (more on this later) at my parents' church...it was the first time we had people actually ask to hold her. Of course, I hadn't prepared for this, but I came up with the response "we're not letting anyone hold her because once 1 person does, then everyone will want to"...people were ok with that (as if they had a choice).

The pooping issue is no longer an issue...we now have what I call "POOP-SPLOSIONS!" Thankfully they only happen about every 36-48 hours. This afternoon's resulted in A being washed in the bathroom sink from the waist down, because there weren't enough wipes in the world to deal with THAT! :-)

We recently switched from S.imilac Advance to Earth's Be.st Organic formula...I don't think that has anything to do with the pooping. I was concerned that switching would cause some pooping issues, but those concerns were obviously unfounded.

I had a thought the other night: That A is going to grow up, that's she's not going to stay this precious baby forever, that someday Mom is going to suck and Dad won't know a thing. That day isn't today, thank God. But then I thought further, beyond those years...to the people A will meet, to her life as an adult, and I realized that I have a whole lot of praying to do. Praying that she meets more people who are kind than hurtful, people who will love and support her the way we do/will, people who will see (and appreciate) her for what a wonder she is.

One person in particulary popped into my head while having these thoughts: Her future husband (should she marry). That there is another little person out there (or maybe not yet) that will love my daughter and care for her and treat her with the respect she deserves. I figure I better get crackin' on prayers for that one, because if A is anything like me....He's going to need them.

(Before A was born I had every intention of taking pictures of her every week with a teddy bear or something next to her to mark her growth...that obviously hasn't happened...and I have no excuse for it. We're going to attempt that now).

Avelyn at 3 weeks