Father's Day

Today is my first father's day. I am thrilled to be Greta's father. She is a very sweet and beautiful person, I am so proud of her. It seems incredible to me that I had any part in her being. She is an amazing person, and I am humbled by the privilege and responsibility of being her father.

I have noticed that whenever I have to leave for school or work, I inevitably start to think of her and miss her as soon as I have left. After a short time I start longing to be back home and be with her. I can't think of another time when I have grown to love someone so thoroughly and so fervently, in such a short time. She really is special.

I wish there were ways to express what it is like to love your child, because it is so good that everyone should know it.

Here are a few pictures we took just a few minutes ago. Notice the beautiful dress Greta is wearing: her Grandma Judy made it for her!

Swinging and Sleeping

Here is Greta in her new swing from Great Grandpa Ronnie! Supposedly babies fall asleep in these things, but Greta has yet to do so. She does enjoy riding in it while listening to the music and nature sounds it can make, or watching her Mama and Papa be busy or eat dinner. The first time she was on a swing was at my dad's house. He has a deck swing and I took her on it and she LOVED it!! She looked all around and seemed to love the feel of the wind and sun on her as we slowly swung (swinged? swang?) on it. I will always remember that :-)
















And here we have Greta peacefully sleeping in her crib. Matthew set it up a couple weeks ago because Greta is so active...she kept banging up against the sides of her bassinet! Now she has a nice big comfy crib to get crazy (and sleep) in. She doesn't usually get her limbs stuck between the slats, but one night she couldn't get her arm out and cried for help! Poor thing. She hasn't done that since.

Greta is such a sweet baby. She is so smiley! I never knew something could melt my heart as much as her smiles do. They're addictive; once I get one I keep trying and trying for another!

Just a Little Person

Relaxing on the couch after a long day's work...The family I worked for gave Greta this outfit and it is the most expensive outfit she will EVER own! She will wear it often :-) Good thing it's so cute on her!











Hanging out with Mama is so fun, isn't it Greta?

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

Well it's officially Greta's 2 month birthday today. I'm especially aware of that since I spent 10 minutes singing about it while I tried to keep her from crying so I could take a shower this morning!! Greta has increased her crying output lately. Supposedly this is normal. We got a booklet and video about the "period of purple crying" when we left the hospital after she was born. Inconsolable, unexplainable baby crying peaks at about 2 months and then settles down by 5 months. But I really can't complain much, because she is still a pretty content and easy going little girl. It's mostly the evenings when she gets so wired she can't settle herself down! I've taken to going for walks with her or just keeping her in the baby sling during these times. I figure it won't last forever, and the most important thing right now is for her to learn to trust...not for her to learn to go to sleep by herself. Fortunately she does sleep well at night, though. By midnight, when Matthew and I are going to bed, she usually falls asleep in her crib on her own and then sleeps for 5-7 hours straight! She then wakes up to feed and goes back to sleep easily for another 3-5 hours--and even though we put her to sleep on her back, she usually switches to her side. Greta is a very active baby and tires herself out during the day. At 7.5 weeks she rolled over for the first time all on her own!! I love to talk about this and am a very proud mama. The average baby doesn't roll over until 5 months of age, so Greta is quite the little acrobat. Greta can also climb over the U-shaped nursing pillow I prop her on. One day I left her propped on it while I went to the bathroom and when I came back she had hoisted herself over it and then I got to watch her shimmy her way down onto the ground--all without a fuss! She's slim and trim but oh so strong. Matthew and I have so much fun with her. We have discovered little things that make her smile, and we see lots of smiles now. Also, she can be quite talkative and especially loves when we copy the sounds she makes. She really gets on a roll and tells us lots of stories!