Miss Scarlett is 12 Weeks Old

Our little Princessa turned 12 weeks old today.  As with Christian when he was a baby, we'll be getting professional pics at one, three, six, nine and twelve month intervals for her first year.  Babies change so much during that time, and we love to have professional photos to look back on.

I read babies go through a big ol' growth spurt at three months, and judging by how much she's eating and sleeping, I'd say she's got a growth spurt going on.

She's such a serious baby much of the time.  We simply couldn't get her to smile for her pictures - though she was all-smiles afterwards.   At home, she can smile so big that it takes up her entire face and she looks like any moment, she'll give us a laugh.  But she doesn't.

Unfortunately, Scarlett's reflux continues to be an issue.  If she goes for a couple of days without any incidents, I get excited and hopeful the condition has passed.  But then, I'll spit up all over me several times in a day.  

So we still ensure she's upright much of the time, to keep the reflux at bay as much as possible.  And that means she's not getting "tummy time" as much as other babies might.  So she still can't hold her head up by herself very well ... though she has gotten stronger.

She's really good at standing up on her legs (with our support, of course).  And when we pull her to a standing position, she often gets a huge smile - as if she's proud of her accomplishment.

Scarlett is an amazing sleeper - once she gets "in the zone."  Christian is (extremely) loud, and gets even louder when we try telling him to quiet down because Scarlett is sleeping (ah, the irony).  But once she's in a deep sleep, she's out.    Case in point:  we tried a new church this weekend, which didn't have a family seating area, so we had to bring her into the sanctuary.  We were nervous, because we weren't sure if she'd wake up and start crying.

You can imagine our horror when the worship team got on stage and the room went from the din of quiet conversations to VERY loud drums, electric guitars and way too much bass.   Yet somehow, Scarlett slept through it all.   Amazing!!

"Your Two Month Old's Development:  Week Four"

Hands on

Your little one first discovered her hands a couple of weeks back, and now she's downright fascinated with them. Watch as she examines them, puts them in her mouth, and tries to suck on them.

Don't worry if your baby becomes a bit obsessed with her newly discovered digits: This form of self-comfort can be very soothing for your baby — and can possibly give you a little break, too.

Steady now

This week, when you go to pick up your baby, she may be able to lift her head and hold it up for several moments, or even longer, while lying on her back. When sitting with support, she should be able to hold her head steady and erect.

When she's on her stomach, you might see her lifting her head and chest to about 45 degrees as if she were doing mini-pushups. You can offer encouragement by sitting in front of her and dangling a toy.

For a fun game that also develops her neck muscles, place your baby on her back and slowly pull her up by her hands to a sitting position. Slowly ease her back down, and repeat. She should be able to hold her head in line with the rest of her body as it's pulled up.

Your baby may be ready for a jogging stroller at 4 months, but stick to smooth pavement for now. Running trails will be too bouncy for her at this point, unless she can hold her head up well and is able to sit up. When her head is steady, she may be ready for a backpack with good support and a headrest.

Reading 101

Reading to your baby, even at this young age, will pay off. Hearing you read helps your baby develop an ear for the cadence of language. Varying the pitch of your voice, using accents, and singing will make the connection between you and your baby that much more interesting.

If she looks the other way or loses interest while you're reading, just try something else or give her time to rest. Take your cue from her responses.

You'll find plenty of good books to read to your baby — such as Goodnight Moon, Good Night Gorilla, and The Big Red Barn. Choose board books that have large, bright pictures and simple text — or even wordless books that have pictures for you to narrate. At this point you needn't be slavish to age guidelines. Books designed for older children can captivate a baby if they have clear, crisp images and bright colors.

You can even read out loud to your child from something written for adult ears — try reading from the newspaper, your favorite novel, or a magazine. Whether it's Shakespeare or the latest bestseller, if you enjoy reading it, your baby will like hearing the rhythms of your voice.


Your little one first discovered her hands a couple of weeks back, and now she's downright fascinated with them. Watch as she examines them, puts them in her mouth, and tries to suck on them.

Don't worry if your baby becomes a bit obsessed with her newly discovered digits: This form of self-comfort can be very soothing for your baby — and can possibly give you a little break, too.

Steady now

This week, when you go to pick up your baby, she may be able to lift her head and hold it up for several moments, or even longer, while lying on her back. When sitting with support, she should be able to hold her head steady and erect.

When she's on her stomach, you might see her lifting her head and chest to about 45 degrees as if she were doing mini-pushups. You can offer encouragement by sitting in front of her and dangling a toy.

For a fun game that also develops her neck muscles, place your baby on her back and slowly pull her up by her hands to a sitting position. Slowly ease her back down, and repeat. She should be able to hold her head in line with the rest of her body as it's pulled up.

Your baby may be ready for a jogging stroller at 4 months, but stick to smooth pavement for now. Running trails will be too bouncy for her at this point, unless she can hold her head up well and is able to sit up. When her head is steady, she may be ready for a backpack with good support and a headrest.

Reading 101

Reading to your baby, even at this young age, will pay off. Hearing you read helps your baby develop an ear for the cadence of language. Varying the pitch of your voice, using accents, and singing will make the connection between you and your baby that much more interesting.

If she looks the other way or loses interest while you're reading, just try something else or give her time to rest. Take your cue from her responses.

You'll find plenty of good books to read to your baby — such as Goodnight Moon, Good Night Gorilla, and The Big Red Barn. Choose board books that have large, bright pictures and simple text — or even wordless books that have pictures for you to narrate. At this point you needn't be slavish to age guidelines. Books designed for older children can captivate a baby if they have clear, crisp images and bright colors.

You can even read out loud to your child from something written for adult ears — try reading from the newspaper, your favorite novel, or a magazine. Whether it's Shakespeare or the latest bestseller, if you enjoy reading it, your baby will like hearing the rhythms of your voice.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Cute moment in the Lucero Household today ...

Background story: Since birth, I've been singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to Scarlett when she's fussy. It usually calms her down (which is amazing, considering my poor singing voice). So whenever she gets fussy, and Christian is around, he tells me, "Mommy, sing to Scarlett!"

Today's story: I was in my home office working, Christian was down the hall in his room for nap time, and Scarlett was asleep in the living room. She started to cry ... and I heard Christian start singing from his bedroom - loud enough for Scarlett to hear - "Somewhere over the the rainbow, way up high ... there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby."

 

Awww, I just love that sweet little boy of mine! He has such a tender heart.

The Ladies of the Home

Miss Scarlett at 10 Weeks

Our little princess turns 10 weeks old today!  Just look at that baby face!

Scarlett has had a bit of a rough week.  For a few days, it seemed her reflux might be going away.  But then it returned full-force with sometimes full-fledged spitting up several times a day.   Somehow, it doesn't bother her one bit ... but it is distrubing to see your infant vomit the entire contents of her stomach.

Scarlett's skin has cleared up completely now, and I'm so thankful. She's got that sweet, baby-soft skin again.  However, her right eye still has a blocked tearduct which means her eye is prepetually goopy/crusty, and is always tearing.  As a conseqence, the skin to the side of her eye is always read and irritated from the saline in her eye fluid that is always draining.   As far as I know, all we can do is massage the outside of her tearducts and hope the blockage clears.  Sometimes it does seem to clear, as the goop is gone and the red, irritated skin appears to start healing.  But shortly thereafter, all the symptoms are back again.   Seems if its not one thing, it's another.

Yesterday, the batteries died on her baby swing ... while she was asleep and swinging away.  You can be sure she let me know - and loudly - that the swing stopped.  And so since then, I've spent a lot of time holding her in my arms, or in the MOBY wrap.  Simply does not like to be laid on her back ... like ever!  Though I can put her down on her mini-gym and she's pretty content for a few minutes.  I've got to get new batteries this weekend if I hope to have any kind of a productive week at work next week.

I've been back to work since February 20th.  I am extremely fortunate and blessed that I am being allowed to work part-time from home with Scarlett here.  However, my days certainly do have their challenges.   For one, I might sit down to work for 15 minutes and then Scarlett needs my attention, and I don't get back to the computer and working again for another hour and a half.

Another challenge is that my boss likes to have a lot of conference calls, as do other people in her department.  I have several calls a week - sometimes as early as 8:00am, which means I must rush home and hope and pray Scarlett is asleep - and stays asleep - during the call.   If it was a call I could just mute myself, that would be one thing.  But I'm expected to fully-participate and contribute to the conversation.

We're working on a major rebranding project at work and I need to contribute as much as possible.  However, after this project, I will need to seriously re-evaluate how working even part-time is impacting me, and our family.   It is becoming increasinly clear to me that even this part-time situation is very difficult to manage most days.

Awwww ...

Miss Scarlett at Eight Weeks ... or Two Months

Designating time is a funny thing with infants.  For the first year, their life is designated weeks.  So on Friday, she was eight weeks old ... but because her birthday is on the 6th of the month, she isn't quite two months old on the day she reaches eight weeks of age.

Perhaps it doesn't really matter.  No matter what her exact age, she's a beautiful Princess! :)

For a few days, she had what looked like eczema across her eyebrows.  It was red, raised and really rough.  I found some face balm at the health food store and have been using it.  I stopped eating almonds (we had a big bag, and I'd been snacking on them a lot ... and now they are gone), and the "baby acne" that was all over her face went away!!!   And now the rash by her eyes is just about gone, too (as of today).

Also, it seems leaving dairy out of my diet really has taken care of her gas issues. 

Overall, it seems Miss Scarlett is sleeping longer through the night.  Though, unbeknownst to me, she's been having a hard time falling back to sleep.  So, Jonathan has been up with her longer than I realized. He's found that if he lays her on her side, on top of his chest, she falls into a deep enough sleep that he can put her down in her bassinet.

Something that has really saved me is learning to use our "MOBY Wrap."  It is a five meter long piece of cotton fabric that allows me to carry Scarlett hands free in a number of ways.  Generally speaking, once I put her on my chest and wrap her up, she calms down and then falls asleep within minutes.  And she stays asleep through me working on the computer, or folding clothes, or talking on the phone, or putting dishes away, etc.   The MOBY Wrap has really allowed me to be more productive while working and that is good, since I'm now working on an hourly basis - so the more hours I can log, the better.

We had Scarlett's two month doctor exam today.  She weighs 9 lbs, 15 ounces ... just shy of 10 pounds!  So she's gained around a pound and a half in the past four weeks.   That's our girl!

We finally figured out how to get her to nearly always take a full bottle overnight.  We thought it was the bottle type that was the key ... and we've got three very different bottles that we were using to see which she preferred.

But with our Miss Scarlett, it is not about the bottle ... it is about the temperature.  She likes her milk warm.  Not just lukewarm, but WARM.  Before I go to bed, I heat up a bottle for her, wrap it up in a heated gel pack, and put a towel around it to hold in the heat.  And then I sleep with it next to my body so that it stays warm for her upcoming feeding.

We do have a bottle warmer on stand-by in our bathroom.  However, when Scarlett is hungry, she wants to eat NOW.  Not in the 2 -3 minutes it takes to heat up in the bottle warmer.

Funny how different children are.  I remember with Christian, Jonathan would give him a bottle that I'd leave out before bedtime.  It was merely room temperature, and Christian took it just fine.

Scarlett hasn't rolled over again since the first time last week.  Though, she hasn't been on her tummy much since then.   Today I put her on her tummy and she was pretty squirmy. I positioned my hands so that she could push against them with her feet and she got some pretty good "mileage."  I'm so curious to see how soon it takes her to start crawling.  

Scarlett continues her cooing and smiling ... she is absolutely charming! 

I hope to get some more videos posted soon.

Last week, we met a baby who was born just one week after Scarlett was ... and wow!  The difference in their head size was amazing!  By comparison, the other baby's head was just so tiny.  I guess Jonathan and I just product large-headed children. :)

It is hard to tell in the above images, becuase the ligth about Scarlett's head is so bright, but her hair is really coming in nicely.  It is so thin still that it is hard to tell what color it is.   Sometimes, it seems to be the same color as Christians.  But depending on how the light hits it, it looks like a much lighter brown - or sometimes a dark blonde.   We'll get it figured out as her hair gets thicker.

Baby Center:

Your Baby - Two Months, Week One

Into complex designs

At this point, your baby will begin to move beyond his early preferences for bright or two-toned objects toward more detailed and complicated designs, colors, and shapes. Show your baby — and let him touch — a wider variety of objects. Good choices include plastic cookie cutters, soft balls, and stuffed animals.

Hear ye, hear ye

Your baby can differentiate familiar voices from other sounds and is becoming a better listener. He also can show you that he's in tune with his environment. Notice how he looks to see where certain noises are coming from.

An ongoing conversation (although still one-sided!) can help your baby develop his sense of place. He may even watch your mouth as you talk, fascinated by how it all works.

Scarlett's First Milestone: Rolling Over

Tonight I put Scarlett on her tummy on our bed and after a few moments, she rolled herself over onto her back.  It was her first time and I was shocked to see it!

Atta girl, Scarlett!

She's got a lot of strength.  As I've mentioned before, if given the chance, she'll use her legs to push herself up our chest.  And if I stand her upright, she's able to carry the weight of her body with her legs.  If she's laying down and I take her by the hands and hoist her up, she uses her legs to prop herself up better ... and into a standing position.

As Jonathan puts it, "Christian will be our academic scholar, Scarlett will be our athletic scholar."  :)

What Might Have Been ...

Last night, Scarlett has her last meal at around 9:30pm - very early for her.  So she and Jonathan headed off for bed.   I prepared a bottle for her first overnight feeding, watched a little TV, and went to bed myself.

At 2:30am or so, I woke up and realized she had not waken up to eat.  That has never happened before, so I had to get up and make sure she was okay.

And she was ... she was sleeping snug as a bug in a rug.  FIVE hours after her last meal.

Jonathan touched her a bit to see if she'd wake up ... and eventually she did, and took her bottle.

But ... had we left her alone, how much longer would she have slept?   We'll never know ... but I'm excited by the possibilities!   We'll see what happens tonight!

Scarlett at Seven Weeks

This week, Miss Scarlett has discovered three things:  her tongue, her hand, and her voice.  The adorable baby coos have started!

She's becoming a bit more content with being put down into her bouncy seat, her swing, or on her playmat.   I do need to make more of an effort for tummy time.  It is just that she doesn't like it, so I'm taking a very gradual approach.

Scarlett is most content when she's in a baby sling or wrap.   Unfortunately, the sling I have is not very comfortable for me.  And the wrap is cumbersome and I'm trying to get it figured out.  But yesterday, she was awfully fussy and restless, so I put her into the sling across my chest, and she instantly fell asleep.  I'm willing to have some discomfort if it means she's content.

Scarlett has an awful case of "baby acne," as you might be able to see in the pics below.  This condition is normal and can last several months.    And just when it look like her skin might be clearning up, a new patch of acne sprouts up.   It is mostly a cosmetic concern, of couse ... but I wish it would go away and her soft baby skin would return.

Her reflux is still an issue - and there is more spitting up now (typically all over ME).  When she starts gagging, Christian goes into a bit of a panic, "Mommy, she's going to SPIT!!!"   Yesterday, she spit up on me and I asked Christian to get me a washcloth.  He brought one over to me and approached me as if he was going to try cleaning it up himself.  He put the cloth up to my shoulder ... and then decided it wasn't a job for him!   Ha!

Click to Enlarge

Baby Center:  How Your Baby is Growing:

Your baby's brain is expanding in size and complexity. It will grow about 5 centimeters during the first three months.

You may notice short periods of time when your newborn is quiet and alert. This is prime time for learning. Use these calm intervals to get better acquainted with your baby — talk to her, sing to her, describe the pictures on the walls. She may not be able to add to your conversation just yet, but she's learning nonetheless.

New textures for her hands to feel and new sights and sounds (all in moderation) are all learning opportunities. Even bath time becomes a laboratory for understanding the world around her.

Reaching out

Your baby's hands should be mostly open now — ready to reach out to the world. In the early days of your baby's life, grabbing was mostly automatic and instinctual and she couldn't let go if she wanted to. Although she can't really grab objects just yet, she can hold things placed in her hands. And, once she wraps her hands around something, she might not let go so easily. She'll also begin to try and bat at objects, so keep potentially dangerous objects far from your little one's reach. This means not holding hot liquids or sharp objects while you're holding her.

Learning begins now

You may notice short periods of time when your newborn is quiet and alert. This is prime time for learning: Your baby's brain will grow about 5 centimeters during her first three months!

Use these calm intervals to get better acquainted with your baby — talk to her, sing to her, describe the pictures on the walls. She may not be able to add to your conversation just yet, but she's learning nonetheless.

New textures for her hands to feel and new sights and sounds (all in moderation) are all learning opportunities. Even bath time becomes a laboratory for understanding life.

Eyes can track objects

With both eyes now able to follow things consistently and well, your baby can track a moving object much better, something she may have been able to do for only brief periods since birth.

The stores are packed with developmental toys, but you'll do just as well with everyday objects. Pass a rattle or a bright plastic ladle horizontally in front of her. Then try moving it up and down. This should attract your baby's attention, though she probably won't be able to smoothly follow things vertically for another three months and diagonally for another six months.

You can also play eyes-to-eyes by moving very close to her face and slowly nodding your head from side to side. Often her eyes will lock onto yours.

Savoring the Moment

I'm normally not a mother who gives her child a pacifier.  While I find they do have a purpose for young infants, I'm not a fan of using pacifiers long-term.  One of my pet peeves is to see an older child with a pacifier (definition of older?  Maybe a year or older.  Or, let's get extreme: haven't we all seen three year old still sucking on a pacifiers?).

But our Scarlett loves to suck.  It is often our pinky finger which #1, isn't necessariy hygenic and #2, is a physical commitment for us that becomes uncomfortable after a few minutes.

So for the past few weeks, we've been trying to soothe her with pacifiers.  We have three different brands and she pretty much rejects them all.   We finally got her to somewhat accept one particular paci ... and today I had the pleasure Scarlett being content in her swing, AND sucking on her pacifier.

It's the little victories that are oh-so-important! :)

Scarlett at Six Weeks

Our Miss Scarlett turns six weeks old today! In honor of her special day, here's a video that includes a bit of spit up. :)

Ah, here's a face I see A LOT. 

Scarlett's "I'm most unhappy right now" face.

Scarlett is enjoying her little gym more and more.

Six weeks ago, our little Scarlett entered the world.  It has been an exciting, challenging and sometimes exhausting six weeks.

Scarlett's reflux is still in full-force, but after removing all dairy from my diet, it seems we have maybe - just maybe - taken care of the gas issue she's been having.   If diary is indeed the cause, then it is no wonder she's been so fussy all this time.  I eat a lot of yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc ... and drink plenty of milk.   So we are hopeful dairy was the only cause.  If not, I'll remove other things from my diet and keep trying.  There's a pretty long list of foods that can cause problems with breastmilk.

Christian, while still very interested in, and loving towards Scarlett, has put his focus on Mommy now.  It took five weeks for it to happen, but now he's wanting me to put Scarlett down more, wanting Jonathan to step in and take Scarlett and walk away with her.  I get lots of request from Christian, "Mommy, will you hold me?"  "Mommy, will you sit with me?"  "Mommy, will you talk to me?"  I do my best to accomdate him, but Scarlett need a lot of attention and because of her reflux issues, does not like to be put down very often.  So, we're all adjusting.

We seem to have a schedule of sorts in place now.

I get Christian to school (our morning routine has become ... well, rather routine how) and the car ride usually puts Scarlett to sleep for a couple of hours.   She and I might come home, or I might take advante of her slumber and head to the store (we always time our trips to the store for a time we can push a sleeping baby around in the cart).   She's up for a short timeframe in the mornings here and there ... but has fallen back asleep by the time we get home from picking up Christian.

So then Christian goes down for his afternoon nap, and Scarlett is usually asleep at that time, too. In the early evenings, they are both awake and that makes getting dinner ready by 6:00pm a challenge sometimes.  But if I can't get dinner started, then I wait for Jonathan to come home and once he can help out, I get working on dinner.

Scarlett is often awake when it is dinner time, but then falls asleep again after a bit.  Christian goes to bed and then it is time for Jonathan and I to decompress in front of the TV with a usually-asleep Scarlett. 

We usually attempt to watch some TV show or TV we've recorded.  And we both almost always fall asleep during said show.  HA HA! 

Jonathan goes to bed and takes Scarlett to her bed after her final feeding for the night (the time varies) and I stay up and pump a bottle for the fridge.   Scarlett typically wakes up about three hours after her last feeding that night and Jonathan gives her a bottle of pumped milk.   And then I take the next feeding after that (well, I handle ALL feedings, except for that one Jonathan does).

And then we're up and at 'em again!

Today was my last day of maternity leave ... and so that means Monday, it is back to the grind.  But, as with Christian four years ago, I work at a home office.   We are not putting Scarlett in daycare (nor did we put Christian in daycare as an infant).  I have arranged to work 20 hours a week at my job on a 30-day trial basis.  After 30 days, my boss and I will evaluate the situation and see if #1, it works for her department and the company and #2) if it works for me and our family siutation.

Wish me luck.  The only time I'll be able to work is when Scarlett is sleeping, and it can be challenging getting her into a deep enough sleep that I can be productive doing other things.  I've told my boss that I can't predict when those four working hours will take place each day.  She's big on conference calls, and having a newborn at home isn't too conducive to particpating in such calls.

I'll let you know what happens in 30 days. :)

Glamour Shots by Auntie Liz

Such Hard Work Being So Beautiful!!

My amazing friend Kristy gave the perfect title to this photo:

Such hard working being so beautiful!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from We Luceros Four!

Christian asked me to take a video of him ... so I did and asked him to sing, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."   As you can see, he was a bit distracted by the food in his mouth and whatever exciting show was on TV.   Ah, four year olds and their short attention spans!

Christian had a blast at his Valentine's Day party at school today.  I arrived to pick him up, and all the kiddos were handing out their cards and the teachers were handing out treats.  I could tell by Christian's face that this was maybe the second (or third!) round of treats for the day.  In fact, I had to brush his teeth when we got home - ha ha!

I loved to see how excited Christian got when a child came over and put a card or a treat into his bag. I loved how he would very enthusiastically say, "Why, thank you, _______!!"  It really warms my heart that Christian is so well-mannered.   Most of the kiddos had nothing to say when somethning was put into their bag.

Miss Scarlett had a few moments of tummy time today!

Miss Scarlett at Five Weeks

Miss Scarlett is fortunate enough to have a Mommy and an Auntie who have Cannon DSLR cameras and are eager to take pictures galore!   The hard part of picking WHICH pictures to post online for ya'll to see.  Certainly can't post ALL of them.

Tomorrow Auntie is coming to take pictures ... so look for more to come shortly!

Your Baby at Five Weeks

Head's up!

Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger, which allows her to hold her head up for short periods. She can support it for a few moments while lying on her stomach, for example, and she can probably turn it from side to side. She may be able to hold her head up when she's in a car seat or front carrier.

The first real smiles

Smiling happens at about the same time in all cultures, so get ready for your baby to reward all your loving care with a beaming, toothless, just-for-you smile. This will probably make your heart melt, even if you've just had your worst night yet.

Sound asleep

Your baby may start sleeping longer at night (maybe four to six hours) sometime between 6 weeks and 6 months of age. It's a broad range, and much depends on your baby's development and your behavior.

Scarlett's One Month Doctor Appoinment

Today we took Scarlett in for her one-month exam.  Four weeks ago, her weight was 7 lbs 2 oz.  Today, her weight was up to 8 lbs 9 oz.  We could not believe it!

She eats in very short intervals, and then quickly falls asleep and is impossible to wake up.  So I had been concerned that she wasn't eating enough ... but her weight gain says otherwise.

At her last visit, her length was 19 3/4 inches and today, she was up to 21 inches.  Of course, length is subjective - depends on how much the person doing the measuring stretches Scarlett out.   For both visits, the doctor doubted the length the tech wrote down and measured Scarlett again and came up with a different number.

One of our concerns was that Scarlett has really bad reflux.  We had hoped the doctor would provide a solution, but he's not a doctor who instantly medicates a problem.  His comment was that babies have a had reflux for millions of years ... and that is really more of a laundry issue than a concern for her health.   While I appreciated his style of not rushing to medicate, I would have liked some suggestions for how we can help Scarlett.   I'll ask my gastroenterologist when I see him next month. :)  If anybody knows how to handle reflux, it is a gastroenterologist (which is why I see such a doctor, myself ... reflux).

A Sketch of Our Sleeping Sweetness

Click image to enlarge

Miss Scarlett is a Month Old!

Four weeks ago today, Miss Scarlett entered our lives.   Wow, that was one quick month!

Her one month exam is on Monday so as of today, we're not sure how much she weighs.  I'll let you know all the info on Monday.

She still sleeps a lot, but is much more alert during the times she is awake.  We get a little smile from her every now and then, but she seems to smile more when she's sleeping (must be having sweet dreams!).

Scarlett has some strength!  If we have her on our chest and put our hands under her feet, she'll crawl up our chest.  She's now turning over to her side and I expect that soon, she'll be flipping over to her tummy.

In the past month, we've gone out and about as a family of four lots of times:  grocery stores, the mall, furniture stores, a playdate, a few walks in the stroller, the hair salone, etc.  Overall, we've done pretty well.  Christian, and all of his incredible energy, is the bigger challenge when we go out.

Christian is still very, very proud of his little sister.   He still makes sure anybody we meet sees her, "LOOK!" He'll tell somebody and point to Scarlett.  Everybody at school has seen her numerous times, so their interest has waned quite a bit, which is normal.  But nonetheless, Christian wants EVERYBODY to have an interest in Scarlett.

Note:  Scarlett's eyes aren't this blue (yet).  The picture came out dark, so I adjusted  the exposure to lighten the entire image, and her eye color came out this shade of blue. Jonathan and I now have a casual bet going on:  I'm betting she'll have blue eyes one day (blue is the dominant color in my immediate family), and Jonathan thinks she'll have hazel eyes, like Christian.  Though, truth be told, Christian's eyes are still a mystery color - even at the age of four.  For a long time, they seemed blue, and then green ... and then sometimes brownish.  The closest color we can come up with his "hazel," though they aren't quite hazel either sometimes.  Whatever color Christian's eyes are, they are just so big and pretty - very unique.  

Your Baby at Four Weeks

Playtime

Playing with your newborn is a perfect way to gently guide him into his new — and unfamiliar — world. Mobiles with high-contrast patterns and books with photos of babies' faces will captivate him.

A play gym full of compelling toys to look at, swipe at, and listen to will give your baby practice with arm, hand, and finger coordination skills — and make lying down more interesting! You can even lie down on the floor next to your baby and join in the fun.

Although your baby can grab with gusto now, he doesn't yet have the hand-eye coordination to reach for an object you pass in front of him. That skill will develop at about 4 months of age. In the meantime, you'll have to place toys in his hand — your pinky may be an unexpected favorite.

Exploring extremities

At birth, your baby had no idea that his arms and legs were attached to him. That's all changing now as he starts exploring his body. The parts he's discovering first are his hands and feet.

Encourage his interest by holding his arms above his head and asking "How big is baby?" or by reciting "This Little Piggy" and counting his toes. Try moving his hands in front of his face so he can see and feel them at the same time.

Babies have trouble regulating their body temperature, and their circulation isn't perfect just yet. Keep in mind that some of your baby's body heat escapes through his hands and feet. Make sure little toes and fingers are covered on cold days, particularly when the two of you go outside.

Baby talk

Your baby may gurgle, coo, grunt, and hum to express his feelings. A few babies also begin squealing and laughing. Be sure to coo and gurgle back, and talk to your baby face to face. He'll enjoy holding your gaze now.

If you have things to do, your baby will still enjoy hearing your voice from across the room. And don't feel silly about talking Motherese or baby talk — babies are particularly attuned to this high-pitched, drawn-out way of communicating that can actually teach your baby about the structure and function of language.

Narrate your day to your baby. He'll enjoy your conversation and may even start to chime in with his own comments.

So, we're really interested to see what color Scarlett's eyes will be. 

Charlotte ... er, um ... Scarlett

In the four-plus years we've had the name "Scarlett" on reserve for the day we had a baby girl, one thing never occurred to me:

People might confuse the names "Scarlett" and "Charlotte."

I has happened four times now and each time I think, "Do I correct the person?"   I tried to politely correct the second person who did it, "Oh, you mean Scarlett?"  But aside from that, I'm not sure it is polite to correct people.

I imagine this error will occur throughout Scarlett's lifetime, and she'll just have to accept it.  Truth be told, even if I had thought about the confusion the name might cause ... I would have still named her Scarlett.   Love, love, LOVE the name. :)

The Kindness of Strangers and the Death of Chivalry

We're a quiet little family, living in a community known for gatherings, events and friendly neighbors.  There are seven houses on our circle, and the neighbors all know each other quite well ... except for us.  You see, Jonathan works long hours and by the time Christian gets up from his nap in the late afternoon, I'm making dinner ... and I can't just send Christian out to play at the park by himself.  He's only four, after all.

However, it is during that time when our neighbors are outside visiting - either on their front porches or across the street at the park.  I'm sure we've been the talk of the block on occasion, "Why aren't they ever outside?  Why don't they come visit with us?  Are they snobs?  Anti-social?"

We know three households on our block casually, but I wouldn't say we're close, tight-knit neighbors.  So you can imagine my surprise when one of them showed up a couple of days after we got home from the hospital and told me that the neighbors wanted to come together and bring us a few meals.   WOW!

We got meals on two nights, and they also came bearing gifts - clothing for Scarlett and cars for Christian.  I was touched by their kindness and thrilled that they were considerate of Christian's feelings, too.

The other night, Christian, Scarlett and I ventured out to get the mail and we were called over to our neighbor across the park.   We made our way over to find three of our neighbors there visiting.  One of them, Monica, I haven't seen for months.   But as soon as she saw me coming, she ran to her house and returned with a gift bag of outfits for Scarlett.  I was so humbled ... of all the neighbors, I've seen her the fewest times and yet, she was so kind to give us gifts for the baby.

These neighbors - who joked that they are our block's "Desperate Housewives" (none of them work) - provided a nice adult conversation outlet for me ... and they were amused by Christian's energy and antics.  Christian even sat in on of their laps and had a little conversation - not something he'd usually do with people he doesn't know.

We were completely blessed by the kindness of strangers (or, near-strangers) and are thankful for our new friends, all of whom have given us their phone numbers and have told us to call them if we need anything.

On the flip-side ... chivalry is dead.  Dead, I say.

One more than one occasion, I have noticed that as I'm walking up to the front door of the school - carrying the car seat (which Christian is weighing down because he's 'helping' me carry Scarlett), and also Christian's lunch bag and water bottle (because he's 'helping' me with Scarlett, he somehow can't carry his own stuff) and on Thursdays, I'm also carrying his backpack which houses his enticing show-and-tell object du jour - there is a dad taking his own kiddos to school and not as weighed down with objects as I am.  He will see I'm approaching the door, as is he, and he doesn't pause to hold the door open for a moment.  He allows the door to shut as I'm approaching the door.

I've noticed this only happens with the men (a few occasions - always a different man), and yet women are more than willing to hold the door open for another person.

I always try to hold the door open for somebody carrying a child, or otherwise has his/her arms full.   In fact, just yesterday as I was leaving the school while carrying Scarlett in her car seat, another mom was coming in - same situation:  walking in holding a car seat ... and I held the door open for her.

It's the principle of "The Golden Rule."   And it's also just nice thing to do.

And of course, to be fair, I should say that there are indeed some men who still hold the door open for a lady - my husband and father-in-law are among them.  

I certainly don't expect anybody to cater to me - we're all busy, rushed and otherwise preoccupied.  I'm just trying to figure out what happened to chivalry.

Is it really dead ... or just dormant?