Always Something New

A few posts ago I wrote the trite but true statement that babies change so fast. Then I wrote it with a sense of wonder. Now it is tinged with a bit of exasperation. This week I feel that Liana is one step ahead of me. As soon as I feel that I have a grasp on taking care of her and can relax a bit without worrying about coping, she changes. I used to know all of her cries and could easily tell that she was hungry and needed to nurse. Never used to think about getting her to sleep -- she slept when she felt like it.

Now we have to help her sleep. This also means that we have another level of meaning to her cries: Is she hungry, windy, feeling a bit lonely or sleepy? It's like the first week when I brought her home. She cries and I go through the checklist of checking her diaper, offering her milk, cuddling her or burping. I'm realizing that I was a bit cocky before.

A smile

Liana at 7 weeks old: Smiling!

Both Liana and I have reached a milestone. Liana has started smiling for us regularly. It is heartwarming to get one of her smiles every morning when I pick her up. We took her to the pediatrician for immunizations and learned that she is in the 97th percentile in size. That means that at 4.88kg (10.7 lbs) and 57.8 cm (22.8in) she is larger than 97% of the other babies her age. As you can see in the picture she is definitely much chubbier than she was before.

My milestone is that I bathed her all by myself. Before Leo and I bathed her together every night but now Leo is back to coaching at the tennis school. I have been able to bath her myself but so far I haven't been able to bath her, put her to bed and clean up the bathroom before Leo gets home.

Liana at 1 month

Liana has crossed a developmental milestone. She has different cries for her needs. For instance, she grizzles. I found this word in my baby week-by-week book from the library. It describes a cry that is not a full-fledged 'I want milk' or 'Change my diaper.' It is more of a cross between a cry, moan and whimper when she wants to cuddled. Here she is grizzling for my Dad.