Life is crazy!

Prior to having Lexi in our world, I thought that when people went on maternity leave that they had the opportunity to relax just a little bit and get to know their new baby. I have since found out that there is NO relaxing. I thought that it might have just been me not having a routine in place yet, but I found out today that it is not just me. We went to daycare today for a few hours and Theresa, my daycare woman, said that out of the four hours that Lexi was with her, 3 of those hours Lexi demanded to be held. Theresa said that she has never seen a baby that grunts as much as Lexi does. When you don't pay attention to Lexi's grunts she will use her vocal cords to get your attention. Hooray for colic!

We are beginning to sleep for extended amounts of time over the last few nights. It started on Valentines day. Elizabeth, Mom, and Dad babysat so Jason and I could go out to eat and to a movie (it was wonderful). I got 5 1/2 hours of uninterupted sleep that night. It was heavenly. Since then we have only hit about 4 1/2 hours at a time, but I will take it. I have also discovered what sleeping position makes Lexi happy - on her belly. I know that everyone has heard about babies needing to sleep on their backs because it reduces the risk of SIDS, but when you have a colicy baby who refuses to sleep for more than 1 1/2 hours on her back at a time, you begin to do what works best for you and your baby regardless of what all of these "experts" say. Lexi can actually fall asleep on her own sometimes when she is sleeping on her belly. She has also taken a liking to mom and dad's bed. She doesn't even mind sharing with the cat or the dogs.

In the last 2 weeks Lexi has gone from looking like an infant to looking like a baby. She has finally begun to fill out. I went to the Dr. yesterday and while we were at the hospital, we went ahead and had them weight her. As of 2-17 she weights 10 lbs 3 oz. Over the last 3 weeks she has been gaining almost a pound a week. We are preparing to outgrow our newborn size diapers.

I am super excited. I was released from Dr.'s care yesterday so I am no longer on restricitons and I can return to work. As much as I love being home with our little one, I have been craving some adult conversation and interaction. I am going back to work next Wednesday so I can work for 2 days and have a 3 day weekend. I thought that would be a good transition back to work. I have been craving human interaction so much that I have been stopping in at work just to visit with everyone about once a week. Lexi has been meeting a lot of new people during these visits. She has also got to meet Grandma Graper's coworkers and we made a trip up to Ireland to meet Great Grandma Jerger. Grandma Jerger says that Lexi squirms to much for her taste - makes her nervous.

Last night Lexi and I had a playdate with Jenna and Christa. It was so funny. When we first got to the apartment, Lexi was sleeping in her carrier and Jenna was sleeping in her crib. About 5 minutes later, they started grunting at each other. It sounded like they were having their own little conversation in their sleep. About an hour later Jenna woke up and was ready to eat - 30 minutes later, Lexi was too. After their grunting competition, they had a crying competition. There were no winners, just two crying babies and at least one mommy having some serious let down.

That is all for now. I promise I will try to get back to the computer for another update in a timely fashion.