Miriam and her friends...Ted, George, Rosie and Dumbo

Miriam is 7 weeks old and is such a happy, smiling, fun baby.  Her new favorite toy is her playmat, which we keep permanently set up in her room.  We named the animals that hang from the arches on her playmat.  Ted is a giraffe, George is a monkey, Rosie is a parrot and Dumbo is an elephant.  Ted the giraffe is her favorite, and she often spends most of her playtime staring at him, waving her arms and pumping her legs (showing her excitement) and "talking" to us.  (The other morning at 5 am, we had an impromptu play session, and Miriam's talking was so loud she woke Mario up, who was still sleeping in the bedroom!)  Miriam is most interactive when she is on her playmat, and we have playtime 2-3 times a day.  She gives us genuine smiles every day and is always happy to see Mario when he arrives home from work.  :)   Her neck is getting a lot stronger and she is able to hold her head up for extended periods of time now, which is great because she loves to observe and look around her whenever she is awake. 

Miriam continues to be a growing girl (will I be saying this for the next 18 years?) and no longer wears any newborn clothes.  She is very tall for her age, and is already growing too tall for her 0-3 month pajamas.  She is starting to sleep better as well, and we are on a loose schedule now.  She gets up 1-2 times a night and is sleeping in her crib in her own room now, instead of in our room.  She is even able to put herself to sleep (some of the time!) which allows us to put her to bed without endless rocking first.  She loves her Fisher-Price swing, and takes her morning nap in it every day.  She starts off wide awake listening to the music and watching the mobile, and before the songs are over she is asleep.  It is adorable watching her trying to fight sleep, wanting to keep watching her mobile.  (Of course, I'm always happy when she does eventually give in to sleep, so I can get some things done around the house and so she can be well rested!)

Now that the weather is (occasionally) nicer here, we've started venturing outside more.  The three of us went for a 2 hour walk around the neighborhood last weekend, and Miriam slept almost the whole time!  We did what we called "off-roading" in her stroller, as going over bumpy roads seems to soothe her rather than wake her up.  The daylight is still a little bit too bright for her eyes, so we usually keep most of her shaded when we go outside, except for our short walks to the mailbox and back each day. 

Here are some recent pictures of Miriam.  She hasn't yet started smiling for the camera, so her smiling photos are few and far between at this point!

Our smiling, happy, observant, beautiful baby girl!

Miriam continues to grow and change, and we are thankful every day that 6 weeks ago, she entered our lives!  She is awake and alert for 1-2 hours at a time during the day, and loves to have play time on her play mat.  We do play time at least twice a day, and she also gets tummy time mixed in with her play time.  She loves to lie on her play mat and look at herself in the mirror, as well as look at the giraffe and elephant that hang from the top.  She also really likes music, and we listen to her piano, baby einstein toy and swing mobile many, many times each day. 

Miriam has changed from a sleeping newborn to a smiling, enthusiastic, happy, very observant baby!  She is a very happy baby and has started giving us genuine smiles and coos every day.  I usually get a lot of smiles at her 1 am feeding, which means she doesn't go back to bed as quickly as she should...I'm too entranced by her smiles!  She has been sleeping very well and usually only gets up 1-3 times a night to eat, and then goes right back to sleep.  She is a good eater and has outgrown almost all of her newborn clothes, with the exception of just a couple of pairs of pants.  I was sad to pack her newborn clothes away, but I'm excited about all the 0-3 month clothes she is starting to wear!

Mario has started studying for his 3rd CPA test.  Miriam "studies" with him sometimes downstairs, and he reads his study materials out loud to her.  She likes to hear our voices, and probably is more interested in hearing his accounting information than I am sometimes!  Work is going well for him, and Miriam's pictures and brief office visit earlier this week have made him very popular in his office. 

Miriam and I have started to get into more of a routine here at home.  We go on walks, run errands, have play time, sing songs, and of course, keep the household running.  She has a perfect sense of timing, and always seems to wake up right as I'm starting a new chore or when we leave on an errand.  I enjoy the time at home with her every day, and I know Mario loves to come home and spend time with us every night. 

Here are some recent pictures of Miriam.  She is getting big, and she is such a smiling, happy baby!  (We have a lot of photos of her and I couldn't decide, so you get a lot!)

Miriam is 1 month old!

Miriam turned one month old yesterday, and we still can't believe it has been a month (and a day) since our precious daughter arrived!  When she was born, she weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19" long.  Yesterday, at her 1 month well baby doctor's appointment, she weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. (70th percentile) and was 22" long (85th percentile).  She is growing right on track. 

One month pictures:

Life with Miriam

Miriam is 4 weeks old today and life with her is simply amazing! It is amazing how quickly our lives have changed in such a short amount of time.  We are more tired than we used to be, and we don't get out as much (for social events or errands), but all that goes unnoticed when we spend time with Miriam and feel such love and joy at having her in our lives.  The "eyeball time" and "kissy faces" we get on a daily basis are what we look forward to every day, and we can't imagine our lives any other way!

Miriam has grown and changed so much since we brought her home from the hospital.  She is starting to grown out of her newborn clothes, mostly because she is growing too tall for them.  (Who would have guessed that?)  She is a strong baby and grasps our fingers with strong little hands.  She has an intent gaze and focuses happily on us, light coming from outside or her musical piano with the bird that lights up.  She loves music and moving lights, and will lie contentedly in her crib, staring at her musical piano lights while it plays music.  She usually decides to wake up right around bedtime, and that is when we get the most "eyeball" time.  She also gets very excited around that time, and starts breathing quickly, opens her eyes very wide and moves her arms and legs furiously.  We aren't always sure what gets her so excited, but it sure is adorable to watch! 

In other news, Mario passed his second CPA test and turned 30.  I'm discovering new things every day that I can do with one hand (while holding Miriam in the other), including make sandwiches, fold laundry and load the dishwasher. 

Here are some photos of Miriam from the last couple weeks.  We take a lot of photos of her and currently have about 1,700 to look at.  I even discovered some photos on the camera of a "photo shoot" Mario and Miriam did while I was out of the house.  (See the photos below of Miriam in the chair, wearing her "I heart Daddy" pajamas.)  Enjoy!