Amazing, amazing, amazing...

"So... how's it goin'?" ask many of our friends these days. And all I can say is, "it's so wonderful... it's just amazing!"

Annie is exactly 13 weeks old today and is doing wonderfully. She still has an irregular sleep pattern but sleeps for 5 - 8 hours straight most nights. She usually takes long naps during the day and is almost always happy. Such a joy and SO MUCH FUN!

The last few weeks have just been a blast. At 10 weeks she started laughing (though she hasn't really done it much since that first time) and right around 9 weeks she started cooing and talking up a storm. Oh... and she hasn't exactly figured out what her hands do, but she spends hours a day just looking at her tightly clenched fists with a stern look of concentration. It's like she's saying, "hmmm... I know these things are attached to me, but what in God's name are they good for if I can't figure out how to open them!"

Annie and I spend our days talking to each other on the floor, taking walks, eating, napping, and cuddling. It feels like the clock is speeding up as I approach the date when I have to go back to work (sometime around Thanksgiving) so I'm really trying to soak up every single afternoon with her and enjoy every single second. Nursing Annie is the most wonderful part of my day. I don't do anything else when she's eating... I just look at her, take deep breaths, and stare in wonder at this beautiful little angel that we created. How on earth could I be so lucky?

I've also started going back to Yoga once a week. Johnny really enjoys his evening dates with the Boo and I have really enjoyed being able to get back into the swing of things with my Yoga practice. My teacher came over to me yesterday, gave me a huge hug and said, "Oh, I missed you!" I missed her too. :)

A few weeks ago Johnny and I even got to go out to dinner and a movie! Mike and Carmen babysat Annie and they said she was just wonderful. Johnny and I had a good time and tried not to talk about Annie during all of dinner, but it was hard not to. We're so in love with her.

In other news... I'm going to start donating my extra breast milk to a milk bank at a local hospital. Premature babies really need human milk and it seems that I've got enough for Annie plus a little bit extra. So I just got my packet in the mail to become a donor. Every time I've had to throw away some milk (just because it's been in the refrigerator too long and we didn't end up using it) it's made me really sad. So now, when I've got extra I can just freeze it and donate it. Makes me feel so good knowing I can help out other little babies.

Yep... being a Mom has definitely changed my perspective on things. I'm more emotional about children and more protective of kids I see around me. Even complete strangers. For example, I got totally pissed the other night at Dairy Queen. Johnny and I had walked over with Annie to get an evening treat and there was this couple with a four month old next to us in line. They got their ice cream, and then proceeded to put a bib on the four month old and feed it some kind of red ice cream dessert thing. (I have no idea what it was). All I could think was, "Oh my GOD! Babies aren't supposed to have anything except for breast milk or formula until they're six months old! And how could you think of serving something that disgusting with artificial flavors and colors to your baby?!?" I wanted to snatch the little boy up, report his parents for child abuse, put him to my own breast and feed him something that wasn't going to seriously impair his mental and physical development for the rest of his life! OK, ok... maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but that's how I felt. Weird how being a Mom changes you in ways you never would have expected.

In other news... I just scheduled Annie for her first round of vaccinations and I feel so ambivalent about the whole thing. It's such a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of thing. But... like I always do... I've done a lot of research and feel good about our final decision. We've waited longer than the recommendations by introducing vaccinations at 3 months rather than at 2 months, and we're not going to do all of them. The drug companies and doctors are telling parents to give their kids no less than 10 vaccinations now! When we were kids we only got three!

I highly recommend Dr. Robert W. Sears book, "The Vaccine Book" for anyone who wants to learn more about what the diseases are and how the vaccinations are made. It's really helped me feel good about our decision.

And so far I love and trust our pediatrician who supports us doing a non-standard vaccination schedule. So many pediatricians mandate that their patients stick to the regular schedule... some even go so far as to refuse service to patients that choose otherwise. But there are so many reasons why some families could and probably should choose an alternative schedule for their kids. Not to get on a soap box or anything, but if any of you want to talk more about it, let me know. I could talk your ear off.

That's all for now... our sweet little Boo is waking up from her nap and I think she's going to be hungry.

Love and hugs to you all.