Leah is doing wonderfully and growing and changing so much. I got to weigh her on July 24th, and she was already at 10 pounds! That's over 25% over her birth weight of 7 lbs 6 oz, and far surpassing her brother, who didn't get that heavy until 2 months, although he was born at 8 lbs. She has on days when she takes 2 or 3 great naps of about 2 hours each, and "off" days when she's fussy all day and can't figure out if she's tired or hungry. If she doesn't get a good first nap in the morning the first time she's tired, it throws off the whole day. Then she's tired while she's eating and doesn't get a good meal, and hungry when she drifts off so she doesn't stay sleeping. She still goes down well at night and gives us 1-3 hours of evening time to get things done before having to go to sleep (like writing website updates, for example). She is worn in my sling a LOT because I have to chase Paul around, make dinner, and move on with life. The other day I was even nursing her in the sling while walking through JC Penney, shopping. I couldn't figure out how to try things on while nursing though! I'll just have to return what doesn't fit.
Leah's smiles are awesome, but only when she's in a really good mood and well-fed and not tired (see above for explanation!). She has amazing head control and even likes to push up on her legs and can support her own weight. She's not very interested in toys yet, as she doesn't quite realize that her hands are attached to her body and under her control. She does like to listen to music, certain voices, and play silly games with people trying to make her smile. She tracks faces with her eyes very well and enjoys watching ceiling fans. Paul loves to talk to her, hold her, and gets all excited when she smiles at him. It's super cute! If we're eating a meal and she wakes up and cries in her cradle, he is the first to jump down and RUN into our room to comfort her. She does bug him sometimes, though. He's been heard to say in a terse voice, "Nurse her, Mom, I can't hear the TV!"
Paul's summer has been a fun one. "The summer of large motor skills" I'm calling it. See photos for more details. His horizons are expanding and he's testing his boundaries, both discipline-wise and "can I go to the neighbors' house to play?" It's been different for Mommy, but since I'm stuck sitting down to nurse Leah often throughout the day, he's gotten to do more without me than I'm used to, including going to the neighbors' to play, without me being with him. It's an adjustment period for all of us, partly because of the addition to the family, and partly because he's just growing up. He's so excited about school and would really like to be 5 years old, because his favorite friend is 5. He'll be in a 3-year-old classroom once a week at a homeschool co-op in Lowell. I'll be teaching one or two of the three hours for his class. He'll get an hour of gym, one of religion, and one of Montessori activities (like "centers" in a traditional classroom). I'm excited about it too! Hopefully I can structure the week enough to do something in our basement as well, either with other kids like we did last year or just Paul and I. He can already sound out 3-sound words like "pop", "hat", etc and likes to write some letters, so I need to take his motivation and run with it!
The last week of July we're in Rogers City visiting my parents and enjoying the local festival (and my 10-year class reunion) the first weekend of August. Poor Kris has to stay home to work during the week. We're hoping to try camping as a family some weekend in August or September. Hopefully we're not crazy to do it with a tiny infant!!!! We'll keep things updated as much as possible via the website and emails as Leah grows and changes daily/weekly!
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