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!