Belated updates

The weeks just seem to be rushing by lately. Each day Erin seems a little bit heavier when I pick her up and her abilities seem to develop between the time I leave her in the morning and when I get back at night.

Her favorite new position is on her back, grabbing both feet and trying to get them to her mouth. Each time you put her on the changing table and get her clothes off, she gets a hold of her feet and opens her mouth expectantly. I can't wait until the day that she actually brings them all the way in. It is too funny. I used to have to hold her feet carefully when changing her diapers so she didn't drag her heels through the messy diaper, now she holds them for me. What a helpful child. She's also started to tolerate tummy time a lot better. She can get her head and chest up and has rolled from her front to back a few more times. Somehow this was a milestone that I was obsessed with. I feel much better now.


Erin is also "talking" more and has started really laughing. Raspberries on her belly, getting a handful of someones face and having Duncan lick her are almost guaranteed to get some giggles out of her. Duncan and Erin are still very much in the throes of their love affair. They spend lots of quality time staring into each others eyes. It's hysterical. I also think that these then and now pictures are pretty funny. Somehow he's just never far away.

Somehow my wonderful sleeper has morphed into a .... well I'm not sure what to call her, but I wouldn't call her a good sleeper these days. There is a lot more crying and protesting surrounding sleep. She is suddenly starting to fight sleep which is very new for her. She is also starting to be up more at night. After sleeping through the night most of the time for almost a month, she is now up 2-3 times a night and is tough to get back to sleep. What happened? My theories are numerous and range from her growing awareness and fascination with the world around her to my work schedule. However, I think that we're going to have to intervene soon to save some sanity for Matt and me. We're both working long hours with overnight call and now are struggling through nights at home too. During the daytime I'm optimistic that this is going to get better and that we're not doomed with this forever, but at 3AM I feel pretty crummy. I know that it could be worse, but it's still tough.

Even given some trouble with her sleep, I think that Erin has adjusted well to me and Matt being gone during the day. She's lucky that often Laura or Jan and Dean come to our house to take care of her, so she's in a familiar setting with people she adores. She's given them all a run for their money on occasion with napping strikes and fussiness, but in general she's still a happy kid and I'm so thrilled that she's with people who love her so much.


Work is going ok for both me and Matt. Matt's finishing up the last week of neurosurgery and man I'll be glad to see that one go. I'm not sure how Matt manages to make it though his days and still come home upright, but he does. I've got one more week left at St. Paul before I have some time off. I can't wait to have some time to reconnect with Erin, hopefully improve her sleep a little bit, take a trip home to Portland, boost my diminished milk supply and spend some quality time with my friend Ann and her new baby Anders. That being said, I am really enjoying my rotation. I've gotten to work with some fantastic staff and some really great residents. Some of being a resident is getting easier just because I've done some of these things before and so I get to enjoy it more with a little less stress. That being said there are certainly still challenges and I've still got so much to learn. I've also got a twit of a medical student who is driving me bonkers. It's like pulling teeth to get him to do anything and I'm losing my patience. Oh well, just one more week...


Erin and I head to see her pediatrician for her 4 month well child exam in a little bit. I'm excited to see how much she's grown. Dean got her on the scale the other day and thinks she's topping 16 lbs. Our little turkey.

We're managing to do just fine without our diaper service. So far it's not much of a hassle at all to do an extra two loads of laundry a week. However, I have been tempted by the brand new diaper service that just opened up in the cities. I think that we'll keep on going on our own for now, but it's great to know that it's out there if we need. For those in the cities who are thinking about cloth, their website is www.dogooddiapers.com.

I just went back to look at all of her newborn pictures and I'm astounded by how different she looks. Matt thinks that Erin is looking a little more like me as she grows. In looking at pictures of me as a baby, she seems to have my nose, my dimples and maybe my eyes, but I still think there's an awful lot of Matt in her. Her hair is coming in much lighter than her newborn hair and is a light brown now and her eyes are darkening to a grayish greenish brown. I'm not sure exactly what color they will end up, but I think that they will be something hazelish.

Ok, after whining about Erin's sleep, tonight is going great so far. Maybe she's turning into a contrary child. Wish me luck.