Author: Carrie Spritzer

is just so exhausting.

(For a while there she was looking at David and I and smiling. Of course, I didn’t have my camera in hand for those precious moments. Gotta work on that…)

David tries to give me some “alone time” every day. Usually I spend it twittering about motherhood, moving over baby pictures, updating this blog, trying to get caught up in email (HA!), or updating Miss Leyba’s wish lists. See, it’s not really alone time (and it usually lasts for about 15 minutes until I decide I need to unload the dishwasher). My entire life is focused on my daughter right now and that’s how it should be. And I love it. Totally love it.

My mom comes into town today! Hooray for extra hands! Hopefully that means I’ll have a free moment to update this journal… We have lots of photos and stories to share.

Miss Leyba’s baby hair when she was two weeks old (five weeks ago — she’s seven weeks old today!)

While my daughter’s acne is going away (those baby white heads on her nose and cheeks were actually quite adorable), mine is coming back. One of the great perks of pregnancy: having flawless skin and thick, shiny hair. And though Miss Leyba does enjoy pulling out my hair (she was holding a handful… er, several hairs… this morning when we woke up), it appears we’re both losing our hairs together. There are long, brownish-red hairs and short, dark brown hairs all over the house.

Only one of us, however, is growing in blond hairs to replace the lost ones and it’s not me. Wouldn’t that have been a nice treat?! Ah, to give birth and then become a blond. Could have been fun.

(Of course, there has been some debate in our house if the hairs growing in are actually blond. Are they more strawberry blond or platinum blond or maybe light brown? They are so short right now, it’s hard to tell. We do know that the new hairs completely disappear when they are wet, like Uncle Lee’s cellophane hair when he was a baby… Ah, genetics!)

A few snippets from last week.

Tuesday:

Here’s proof that Miss Leyba can sleep on her own — for about 20 minutes anyway!

Thursday:

Miss Leyba finally got to meet our friend Christana, who is going to start helping me with baby care one afternoon a week. I am hoping for several hours of catch up, organization, and cleaning time! I may even be able to squeeze in an art project or two. Does that sound overly ambitious or what?!

(One of my first projects will be cataloging our clothes in those boxes in the background so they can finally go to the Salvation Army.)

A pause between babbling with mama:

We have quiet the talker growing up over here. Miss Leyba loves to chat with us. After eating, sleeping and smiling, it is the thing to do.

Saturday:

We went to our favorite brunch spot with our friend Dan who was visiting from Boulder!

We were totally worried about the car trip with Miss Leyba (after a complete meltdown in the car a few weeks ago coming back from the chiropractor), but it ended up being a piece of cake. We fed her right before we left and miraculously she slept through the whole outing, waking up within one block of our house on the way home. It was such a nice treat… and the first sign that her growth spurt was over. After days of near constant breastfeeding, Miss Leyba spent two days sleeping and eating, with hardly any awake time. It seems she needed to recover as much as we did.

Sunday:

My sweeties both love all the extra weekend time together!

Over the last few days and most especially yesterday, once she “woke up,” we both noted a leap in her development. She’s seeing, focusing, and interacting with a wider range of things in her line of vision, she is chatting more, expressing a wider range of emotions on her face (her little unhappy face pulls so at our hearts!), and suddenly is interested in toys. (I quickly ordered some more online and updated our new toy wishlist here.) She is also getting much stronger and developing greater head control. It’s so exciting seeing her grow (literally) in front of our eyes.

We think she gained a pound or two this week as well. Both of our backs are hurting and that’s really monumental for me considering that my back didn’t hurt the entire pregnancy… Our little girl is getting big!

UPDATED: Our midwife weighted Miss Leyba at my final postpartum appointment this morning and she’s up to 12 lbs 6 oz! That’s my girl.

We’re back and cuter (and chunkier) than ever!

Look who discovered Daddy’s zipper this morning!

And from last week:

A photo of us girls that I totally forgot to post. Love those Under the Nile tops and Speesees outfits.