Gillian Bryce: 6 weeks

Pregnancy books tell you that the first 6 weeks with a baby are the hardest. I'm not sure, because I haven't had more than 6 weeks, but I think they've been awesome. I think the idea behind them being the hardest is partly to do with the learning curve and sleep deprivation, and partly to do with the fact that the baby is in survival mode and not necessarily very interactive. 

This last week has been marked by Gillian's growing interaction. She is awake for longer periods of time and likes to "talk" to her toys and to us, which is SO fun! She is also smiling beyond the dreaming and farty smiles, but really genuine smile responses to momma and daddy's best goofy efforts to invoke a smile. 

Smiley.

She is beginning to grow too big for her newborn clothes, which is amazing to me. She's getting so big! She is now wearing 0-3 months clothes, which are honestly still very little. We don't see the doctor again for another couple of weeks, so we can only guess that she's just shy of 10 lbs, but we can't know for certain. Gillie is starting to get little rolls on her legs and arms and her cheeks are plump. Definitely looking more like a baby and less like a newborn. 

I'm amazed at how NOT productive I still am. It's probably been the hardest thing to handle with motherhood. I have been juggling the same "to do" list for a few weeks and have finally resigned to being satisfied if I simply get one thing crossed off each day. I am sorry to all of you wonderful mothers before me - i sincerely did wonder what it is that you did all day when you were home with your little one. Now I know. And it is absolutely the MOST IMPORTANT thing on my "to do" list and the most satisfying by far. I love being with Gillian and watching her learn and grow. She is so fun and amazing and I don't want to miss a minute.

I started running last week with some soreness, so I decided to try it again this week. Running Monday and Tuesday was nice. I really can feel the extra 25lbs that I now carry that weren't there only 9 months ago. It makes running a lot slower and more difficult, that's for sure. I am realizing, though, that my body has a different primary purpose right now than to carry me to the top of mountains, and it is doing a really awesome job at keeping my baby healthy and growing. So I try not to be too hard on myself when I get disappointed that the "baby weight" is still hanging around. 

Now on to a few pictures:

I love her in this color. 

Still a little snuggle-bug

Mutton-Chops with Nakey-Baby

When I return to work in 3 weeks, Gillian will have to receive 2-4 of her meals each day by bottle. This week Landon has given her a bottle a few times so that it goes smoothly once I'm gone.  She received both of them great and didn't mind that  Momma was missing at all.