Some Hard Days

This last week was hard for me. I was having a real problem not taking Adelais' behavior personally. For a number of days, it seemed that every time I picked her up or held her she would start crying, and crying hard. There were times when she would be lying there, seemingly content, and I would pick her up and she would instantly cry. Or, Andrea would be holding her and pass her to me and she would cry. Nothing I did seemed to calm her down, except, occasionally, if I gave her my little finger to suck on. But then only for a short period of time and she would be back to crying. I was really (I mean REALLY!) upset about this on Thursday and Friday, but, luckily, this weekend we've had some fun together. This morning we went into the dance studio and she laid on a mat while I stretched and did a little workout. She just, mostly, watched me with those big blue eyes and I even got her to smile alittle. So, I am feeling better now, but it was certainly rough for a while. I am sure this is just the first of many times where her reactions effect me so strongly.

To Pacifier or Not

At first, I must say, I felt pretty against using a pacifier. It seemed to me that you were just distracting your child when they wanted to eat. After talking with our pediatrician and other people (mom) I've certainly softened some on that stance. We're now experimenting with one and seeing if it works and makes sense for us. So far Adelais hasn't taken to it very much - she much prefers her mom's nipple or a pinkie finger. I'll sit with her and she will happily suck away at my little finger, but if I try and switch it for the pacifier she gets pretty upset. A couple of times we've gotten her to use the pacifier, but mostly she's not into it. I still don't want to use the pacifier, or the finger, in place of her eating, but sometimes it seems she is just using mom's nipple to calm herself. In those cases it seems OK. We'll keep experimenting and see.

A Grand Visit

Over the last 5 days my parents (Grandma Sally & Grandpa De) have been here getting to know Adelais. It was, mostly, a really great visit. On Saturday and Sunday the little girl was pretty grumpy all day - fussing, crying, and not napping much at all. Yesterday was much better, though at about 5:30pm she started fussing and didn't really stop until 8:30pm when she and Andrea finally went to bed and slept. Of course, today (when my parents left) she has been completely at ease with barely a fuss - tonight she's just been sleeping and in a pleasant quiet awake state. Andrea has been trying to keep her diet alittle more bland (which is difficult for a Cajun!), so maybe that is helping out....

Lacking Alittle

There are times when I realize that I just can't calm Adelais down - I don't have the right equipment, as it is... There are times, often even, that the only thing that will calm my daughter down is to get alittle milk from her mother. And, it is not even that she is hungry, it is just the act of being "on the breast" calms her down. Sometimes you can even see her trying to use this time to calm herself, even when it is not working. She tries to latch on in between cries - it is really cute and amazing at the same time. She knows that she wants to calm down, and she knows that feeding will calm her down, and she is trying her best to be calm. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it is clear that Daddy just don't have it what it takes- which is ok, but sometime hard because I want to give Andrea a break, but eventually it often comes down to "Mommy, Adelais needs you"....

Eyes and Seeing

As we get close to our first month with Adelais one of the biggest changes that I see with her is her ability to see and focus. When she was first born it was clear that she could barely see anything, and nothing made much sense. But now she is seeing much more - when we walk under one of our ceiling fans she will arch her back to look up at it, or if we pass a window she will twist to look out of it - or at lease towards the light. At times she looks you straight in the eyes, and now it is with some recognition, or at least that is what it feels like. It is amazing to see this young human slowly gain such an amazing skill, a skill that is the strongest sense in most of us. Many animals get alot of information through smell or hearing, but humans (again, for most of us) get the majority of our sensory input through sight. Seeing is how we organize ourselves in this world and to watch Adelais slowly gain proficiency is really quite amazing.