April 8, 2009 - Six Weeks Later

I am posting this blog one day early because tomorrow we are going on safari and are leaving early in the morning. Grace will be six weeks old tomorrow!

Grace saw her doctor yesterday - she was asleep before he started to examine her and then became completely traumatized when she woke up during the exam! In general, she is doing great. She now weighs 4.3 kg/9.46 lbs which is 1 kg/2.2 lbs. more than she weighed at birth. She also grew 3 cm so she is now 54 cm/a little over 21 inches. For both weight and height, Grace is in the 75th percentile now (up from 50th at 2 weeks old)! The doctor was VERY, I repeat VERY, impressed that she has now rolled over 7 times in the last 3 weeks. He said that some 4-month old babies still can't do that! Her head and neck continue to be very strong, she is pushing up on her legs more, her eyes are more and more focused, and she responds with smiles more and more as well. We are so happy! The best news, for me at least, is that last night she slept for 4 hours and 50 minutes. That's right - one stretch of almost 5 hours! When I realized this I felt guilty for about two seconds that I didn't wake up sooner and check to see if she was still breathing - she has never slept that long before! But that guilt subsided quickly when I realized how well-rested I felt :) And believe me, I never thought that I would consider a little less than 5 hours of sleep "well rested" but it's true.

My intention was to post a video of Grace when she was 7 minutes old and a video of Grace today so that everyone could see how much she has grown and changed. However, I cannot get the videos to upload because our internet is so slow here - maybe next week I will have more time to let the videos post for hours and hours.

Anyway, we continue to feel so blessed to have a healthy daughter and we are grateful for so much happiness in our lives; here are a few pictures of Grace from yesterday and today:

In her new sweater that my mom knitted for her:


Complaining to her father:


Chillin out in her bouncy seat:


An afternoon nap with (I mean ON) Pops:



LMW

p.s. I saw my doctor today and all is well for me too :) We picked up Grace's passport today (she already doesn't look the same as in her picture!) and we are really excited to take Grace on safari with my parents...although the slightest mention of them leaving on Monday leaves me in tears!