new job

in honor of labor day, let’s discuss this new job.   so- for those of you who don’t know, i have my 2nd new job in a year.  it’s called mom.  specifically, the stay-at-home kind.  blog dorks use the initials:  SAHM.  so that’s me.

can’t say i don’t enjoy meaningful & challenging jobs.  from 1st grade teacher to the American Cancer Society to mom. 

unfortunately, this one doesn’t come w/ sick days.  which would’ve come in handy last week.  there’s no guaranteed lunch break… which is worse than when i was teaching. at least then i knew i had 20 minutes.  and, much like teaching, there isn’t a restroom break. 

i’m sure this job will come with its own perks & bonuses.  i look forward to that.  already we’re seeing that sometimes she’s a lot of fun!

while we’re on the subject, we can think of jovie’s job.  daddy’s ready for her to start earning her keep and allow him to retire early.  she’s giving some indication to what she may be when she grows up. and now that we have her social security number (!), she’s ready to go.

• well, there’s opera singer. anyone who’s witnessed her lung capacity can see that.
• or maybe she’ll be a rapper…  she likes to throw her gang signs. particularly when she’s feeling upset about the state of her world. 
• she may decide to work for loreal or maybeline and become an eyelash model for a mascara commercial.  she could probably do that now. (but we think she’s too young for makeup)
• now that she has learned to scream (yes, scream!), maybe a horror film actress will be her calling.
• if anyone makes money for being a rock climber, she may choose that w/ her “crawling up mom & dad’s belly” ability.
• she may choose to become an editor for baby einstein videos.  that’s capturing her attention these days.

not even 2 months old; guess there’s still a little more time to decide….

a week shy

Wow! we’re a week shy of being 2 months old.  that sounds so…. official.

We had another outing.  this time to some friends’ house.  we warned amy & kenny… but jovie did pretty well.  we did get to eat dinner while she sat in her bouncy seat. other than that, she was held the whole time.  but the day all in all was also very good.  lots of good play time.  plus the trip over to their house was long, and she didn’t cry!

today is also a good day. she even took a nice long nap. (rare) and has been awake and happy for most of the afternoon.

she’s growing her eyebrows.  and her receding hairline is starting to fill in.  both The Mr. & i are surprised at how light her hair is.  in some instances, it even looks strawberry.  it’s a lighter brown than i think mine is; and his is black.  so we are surprised.

unfortunately, her eyes do not appear to be turning brown.  they’ve pretty much stayed their dark grey… i know there’s still plenty o’ time there.  but with her lighter hair, i’m doubtful.

we’ve gotten a few more smiles.  we discovered she likes baby einstein. she’s having a pretty good time w/ the mozart one.  and when Daddy watched her watch it, he was amazed b/c she was actually watching it!  complete w/ a laugh!  tho i’m not convinced it’s a true laugh yet. it still seems so accidental; there’s no smiling involved.  so—- we don’t know if it goes in her babybook or not. 

The Mr. is a champ when it comes to holding her and getting her to sleep.  i used to nurse her and put her right down. but she’s been fighting that lately; so Dad takes over after she eats.  then she sleeps through the night!  Great for us.  not great for my mild case of mastitis. 

so- 7 weeks old.  and we’re all still barely alive!

p.s. the pictures in the 6 week update were a PAIN…. & they aren’t quite right.  we can’t fix it.  not sure when the next round will come….  so enjoy those when you need your jovie fix.

6 weeks update

i don’t really have a ton to report.  we have learned/confirmed that jovie IS a daddy’s girl.  there are some fussy times in the evening after dad comes home. but when he picks her up, she’s fine.

we had some opportunities for walks in the n’hood with the milder weather this past week.

have tried to start  some semblance of a night routine.  lucky for us, she is still sleeping well thru the night.  from 10-11 until 4-6am and then again til 8-10!

she’s been napping in her crib.  which brings me to a re-enactment.

we are astounded by the ability she has to move already.  in all my other nieces & nephews (28), i don’t recall this happening.  then again- i didn’t live with them (duh) so maybe jovie’s not so special; but i did get a kick out of this:    

beginning of naptime

after naptime

of course, when i wanted to get the camera, jovie was already crying to get up. and since she went down w/o a fight and slept, i didn’t have the heart to make her wait.   so, later, i used ZigZag to re-enact the naptime experience.       

I know those aren’t the pics you want to see, so here’s one of the big 6 week old.  Also be sure to check out the “Jovie Pics” link above if you aren’t satisfied.

 

Thanks Aunt Barbara for the cute outfit!

some firsts

well, jovie is definitely making some progress.  she’s now five weeks old.  ???? how’d that happen?

saturday- her one month “birthday” we had our first outing.  yes. that’s sad….  we know.  but we enjoyed the non 1000degree weather and headed to the park.  after some consoling by dad, she was ready to take the walk and fall asleep through most of it. 

monday was a big day for her.  we had:

first real smile.  got a few of ‘em.  hope to catch one on camera soon…           

also went to the dr. that was my first time driving her by myself.  she’s growing!  already she’s about 2 1/2 lbs. heavier and 3 1/4 inches taller!

and she slept completely thru the night!  she’s usually a great night-sleeper.  she’s been waking to feed at like 4 am and then at 6 or so.  but mon and last night she slept from 10-6.  and even went down for some more naps. 

last night was her first night sleeping in her crib.  that went well.  tho’ my intention was to have The Mr. get a little more sleep, but of course— i think he was waiting most of the night for her.

hopefully more smiles will be coming.  i’d love to post a picture when that happens.

master of the house

well, jovie’s 4 weeks old…  and already she’s the master of the ‘ouse.  we are here to meet her every need.  (if only we really knew what she needed at that moment)…

but boy is she growing. and hopefully learning at a faster rate than her parents are.  i have been with jovie for her entire life minus 4 hours and i still don’t know the difference in her cries.  (and there are PLENTY).  i do know they’re different. but i can’t recognize them at the right time.  we have, however, learned to listen to her call sign:  the snort.  when she starts to snort, The Mr. noticed she starts to get riled up.

well, let’s see– she’s growing some eyelashes!  we both love ‘em. and i’m surprised at how long the bottom lashes are.  i tell people they look like little venus flytraps. 

she doesn’t necessarily cry during a diaper change anymore.  however, she still needs to accept the fact that yes, she does need to put her arms through the sleeves.  we’re working on that.

she’s more alert these days … which is a double-edged sword.  but it’s fun to watch her watch me & other things of interest now.  for longer than a millisecond.

& she’s on the verge of smiling.  she gets so much pleasure in the littlest things.  she’s very intent on the door or whatever she sees behind me over my shoulder.

so the past 4 weeks have certainly not been boring.  hope she agrees!