I've been slacking! You are already 7 1/2 weeks old!

Hi Baby Girl - I've been slacking at this, I know.  I guess I have just been enjoying you too much!  Plus, we've had a lot of family in town lately too!  You are now SEVEN AND A HALF WEEKS OLD!  That is crazy.  Time flies.  And you are getting cuter (and smarter) by the day!  I don't have a ton of time, but thought I would give you a couple of your cute pictures and then a quick update as to how you have been doing!  And what we have been doing too!

See?!  I told you that you were getting cuter and cuter!  Just when I don't think you can get any cuter, there you go and get cuter again!

Okay...so at seven weeks, so much has happened with you!  Here are some highlights:

• You can make the kissy face!  No one really believed me at first, but right around four weeks, I would give  you kisses on your face and you mimicked me.  Now, it's hard to argue with, you pucker up and ask for and give kisses!
• Along with the kisses, I started sticking my tongue out at you.  And you started sticking yours right back at me!  Sometimes it takes you a while to get warmed up and going, but once you do, you keep sticking out over and over again!  In fact, I think I created a monster because sometimes without even being prompted, your tongue starts going just to get our attention!
• You smile - and smile BIG!   You probably had your first real smile at four weeks or so.  And not just in your sleep!  You definitely know how to melt our hearts with those smiles.  Especially in the mornings, that's your favorite time.
• You are talking back to us now (around 7 weeks) - not in the teenager, hormonal way - but trying to mimic what we do.  Lots of  "ooh's" and "aah's".   It's so much fun watching you try and get a sound out.  Your mouth gets scrunched up in the "o" shape and then you startle yourself sometimes when you actually spit the sounds out.  So cute baby girl!
• You've been getting a lot more fussy on certain days.  We are thinking it is a gas issue and have tried several things to help.  Burping more, keeping you uprights, feed out of a bottle, gas drops, gripe water, etc.  I'd say half the days you are "normal" and then the other half you have an hour or two a day that you are screaming and inconsolable.  As much as this kills me, it's kind of in a routine now.  Maybe it's just your "fussy" time that everyone says babies have?  If so,yours seems to be between 5-7pm.
• You sleep fairly well.  You go from 11pm - 3:30/4am, then we eat and you sleep again until 7-8am.  It seems there is no sleeping through the night in sight, but other mommies say it will happen at some point.
• You have found your hands and fingers.  They go to your mouth quite a bit now.  You have yet to actually suck on your thumb or finger exclusively, but you suck on the side of your hand a little.  Everyone else seems to think this is a bad thing, but I look forward to not having to chase the pacifier around (in your mouth, you spit it out, cry a little, I put it back in...repeat).  We'll see!  
• You love hands touching your face.  It puts your right to sleep (usually).
• You have several nicknames - munchkin (Daddy's), baby girl (mine), sweetsies (mine), babies (weird, I know...also mine), pumpkin seed (Pa's and Mimi's), punky brewster (Pa's and Mimi's).

Your Aunt Nikki and Kiara came to visit at the beginning of January.  Kiara was enthralled with you!  She loved to just look at you and hold you too.  Your Aunt Nikki loved your cheeks (knew she would!).  Your sisters and the two of them even watched you for a couple hours so your Daddy and I could go eat dinner for our anniversary together.  We had a blast with them!  And we didn't do much really, just hung around the house, ran errands and enjoyed you!  So sad to see them go.  This is when living in AZ is difficult.

This past week, your Pa and Mimi have been here and they are staying until Saturday.  Also, Grandma Betty, Uncle Sam, Uncle Clyde, Aunt Marjie and Uncle Dan have been here.  Oh...and Susie and Tim from California were here as well as Mac and James!  Lots of people for you to see and meet.  Each and every one of them gushed about how cute you were (and your blue eyes and how much hair you have!).  =)  We have one more week with Pa and Mimi...we are so not looking forward to them leaving again.  We are hoping they come back sooner than later.  Again, this is the hard part about living in AZ.  I'll get some pictures up soon from their trip.

Your sisters are still in love with you.  Megan says (at least once a day...at least), "She's just so cute!".  And Kyndall loves, loves, LOVES to hold you and take care of you.  She is my helper when I need to hop in the shower or get something done...even if you are crabby, she takes care of you so well!  And your Daddy has yet to stop saying how beautiful you are.  That still comes out of his mouth regularly.  =)  He's such a big helper with you too.  Shares the night duty completely with me. 

I just love you so much baby girl!  You are squirming next to me right now...and trying to suck on my leg.  So, I probably need to feed you!  =)  Can't wait to keep finding out more about you!  I love you more every day (every hour?).