Look at my booties!

The purpose of these pictures is actually to show off Palesa's little knit booties.  In retrospect, I should have taken a zoomed-in picture of just her feet, but instead, I got the entire cute little girl.  My grandma (Grandma Benson) was an avid crafter.  She would knit and crochet blankets, sew quilts, sewed matching dresses for me and one of my dolls, and even made clothes for my barbie dolls.  She made these booties years ago.  In fact, I believe my sister and I wore them as babies as well.  Palesa is definitely enjoying them, as you can see from her content yawn.  

15 Days old

Palesa was helping Daddy type.  Actually, she was distracting Daddy from typing

 Our big accomplishment of the day was Palesa's first bath!  I wanted to hold on to that newborn smell in her hair for as long as possible, but the sour milk smell from her neck indicated that it was probably time for her first bath.  Osei handed her to me while I was in the shower.  At first she was surprised at suddenly being wet, but she seemed to enjoy it after a while.  However, though I splashed her body with water, I completely forgot to pay attention to her milky neck.  Oh well.

When she nurses, she'll easily grip whatever is around her.  Her fingers are still so tiny.   

We also had a visit from Audra and Catherine, two of our midwives.  They loved getting to see her again, and confirmed that she's gotten exponentially cuter since their last visit.  She's gaining wait like a little champ, and according to Audra's scale, 7 lbs, 13 ounces.

Two weeks old!

Palesa was napping this afternoon and both Osei and I realized how different her face looks now compared to the day she was born.  It is amazing to think our little girl is two weeks old.  I guess that means it is time for her first bath soon.  Though you wouldn't know it from these pictures, we actually do change her clothes daily, but usually not until late afternoon.

13 Days, and a great visit from great friends!

Today was a really great day.  Our dear friends, Chelsea and Dave came to visit from Vermont.  We had a wonderful afternoon, and were very blessed when they cooked us two meals for the week.  Chelsea seemed so astonished at how much smaller Palesa looks in person than in the photos.  So, we took this picture to give a sense of scale.  I guess you could say she is still pretty tiny.  

Daddy likes to blow kisses on her.  We were actually trying to keep her awake, with the grand idea that if she stays awake in the evening, she'll sleep during the night.  Unfortunately, we were far from successful, and Palesa and I were both up since 4:30 am.

Chelsea, Amy, and Palesa

Little Palesa

12 days- Girl Power!

She looks like Supergirl in this picture, with her little fists all ready for flight.

40.5 weeks and 41.5 weeks (or before and after)

These pictures are obviously a little late, but the first one was taken just two days before Palesa's birth.  We went on a long walk Saturday morning in the Arboretum, and then to downtown Jamaica Plain.  We had Thai food for lunch, and I asked our waitress to make it extra spicy, so that hopefully I would go into labor.  It worked, because the next day I was in labor!

This was taken just 5 days after her birth.  She still curls up into a little ball when she sleeps, and I can imagine her being in the womb still.  It is a little hard for me to think that I'm no longer pregnant, and the series of belly shots have come to a definite close (this pregnancy)

11 days

Sleeping

Sleep smile (she's dreaming about milk, I'm sure)

Daddy teasing her for her floppy hat.  Not sure where the fork comes into the picture, but according to him, one moment it is "gagaga googooo" and the next, "give me your wallet! (Daddy)"

10 days- Daddy/ Daughter time

There is nothing that melts my heart more than seeing two people I love more than anything snuggling and cuddling together.  Palesa is an amazingly easy and mellow baby, and so rarely fusses.  Osei has definite baby-whisperer talents though, and has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve to calm and soothe her.

Palesa always seems so happy snuggled up on Osei's chest.

Nine Days- these pictures are for the grandparents

Before bed, we dressed Palesa in a nightgown and then swaddled her tightly in a receiving blanket.  Somehow, when I unwrapped her, she had one arm out of the sleeve, and the other arm through the key-hole opening in the neck.

Occupy the Bedroom

Palesa asleep on the scale before being weighed by midwives today.  7 pounds, 5 ounces.  Our girl is growing like a champion!

Eight Days a Week, I lo-ooo-ooove her!

Today was our first trip out of the house since birth!  We just went a few blocks away to the Pediatrician, but it was a very big deal (for mamma, at least).  I was nervous as anything, just buckling up our baby girl in her carseat for the first time.  But Palesa did wonderful.  The appointment went well too, and Palesa is back up to her birth weight already.  That's our gal!

Palesa also slept in our homemade co-sleeper for the first time yesterday.  We wanted to add a few more pegs to reinforce the sleeping platform.  She'd been sleeping between us for the first week, so Mommy and Daddy enjoyed getting to cuddle again too.  The sheet I made from an old larger sheet which I sewed to fit the co-sleeper mattress.

ETA- something must have worked out well in her new co-sleeper, because Palesa slept for two stretches of 4 hours!  I was thrilled!