No wonder the car seat seems heavy!

Today I took Anna Kimball in for her one-month check up and learned that she is 9 lbs 15 oz! That puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. She's also sprouting vertically, too, coming in at 22 3/4 inches long, which puts her in the 95th percentile for height.

I suppose because Emery was still in the 7 lb range at her one-month check up I didn't see this coming! But I was starting to wonder why those newborn diapers were so snug and lugging around the car seat already seemed to be giving me a workout ...

Getting bigger by the day!

Snoozing in Mama's bed 

Life as a newborn is just ducky!

Oh, and of course there's Emery - getting better at posing!

A good little helper

The other day while I was cooking, Emery decided to empty the spice cabinet / miscellaneous pantry cabinet.

Completely.

This will actually be a very convenient chore for her to tackle in about a week, when we will be moving to a bigger house! We close on the house Feb. 17, so I'll wait until after then to post details/pictures. Don't want to jinx anything of course.

So, like a good little helper, she obliged and provided a small bit of assistance in putting everything back.

In the middle of the night,

newborns are fussy. Shocker I know. But I'd actually really like to know why this is! What is happening at 2am internally, digestively, physiologically that isn't happening at 2pm?

Anna Kimball is actually a pretty mellow baby so far and it's not like our nights have been dreadful. Yet, these days she still seems fairly committed to making me earn my keep between 2:30ish and 5ish in the morning. On that note, here's a rundown of what goes through my head in the middle of the night. Other moms, perhaps you can relate?

• Maybe if I just keep my eyes closed while we endlessly rock and sway it will be like I've sort of slept?
• Forget it, I'm never going back to bed. Wake up! Open those eyes! Stay alert!
• Maybe we should give co-sleeping a try. I bet it would work. Matt won't notice I'm sure. (visions of smothering Anna Kimball quickly eliminate this idea, though it does pop back up again from time to time).
• It sure will be nice to get Matt's sympathy in the morning. Better start thinking of some good adjectives now.
• I really should be praying right now. Maybe that's why God has us up. Yes, these awake times could be make for such rich times of prayer and communion ... half-hearted prayers ensue, only to get cut off by a screaming, writhing infant in my arms.
• I don't care what the newborn online forums say. I am NOT. GIVING. UP. DAIRY.
• After putting Anna Kimball in her bed, I repeat the same desperate prayer in my head "Please don't wake up, please don't wake up, please don't wake up." 45 seconds pass. "Waahhh!"
• And the cycle begins again.

The good news is that eventually she does fall asleep, as all babies do, and so do I.

I'm also pleasantly surprised with how sweet Emery has been with Anna Kimball. She's the first to announce whenever her sister is "crying!" and is very supportive of her sleeping, too ... because that means more of our attention of course!