Miss AR is Six Weeks!!!

...AH! Time you are going way too fast!!! My sweet little girl is six weeks old today which means my maternity leave is halfway over. It makes me sad to think I won't have days to hold her and cuddle her all day long. I know once I start back to work that life will get busier and I won't have as many moments to hold her and let my worries disappear. Okay, enough on that, let's not talk about it, ok? I have tears in my eyes as I type this.
*Here's what I mean by having time to just watch her smiling at me. She LOVES her changing pad, maybe because she can watch the fan but this is the place that makes her happiest.

*My little girl was super fussy earlier this week which I figured was because of ANOTHER growth spurt (or the same one?). I called a lactation consultant at the hospital and her pediatrician's office to get some advice. I started feeding her every 2 hours during the day and she doesn't seem to be nearly as fussy nor do I have to hold her as much (which I don't mind doing!). The only fall back is that I'm not pumping/storing as much but I'm still getting at least 5 ounces/day to freeze. The LC that called me back was shocked that AR took the bottle since we introduced it so late (4.5 weeks).
*Matt is giving her a bottle every other night, mainly so that I can save more milk on the days I feed her at bedtime (like I said I'm a milk hoarder). The other night he calls me in from the other room because she was "holding the bottle on her own." Not quite perfect but it's a start, right?

*Seriously, she has got some CRAZY hair!!! I comb it after every bath but no matter what, the left side of her hair always sticks straight up.
*She is smiling more which gets me so excited! She is also cooing a little bit here and there but not a ton. If we stick our tongue out at her, she'll usually do it back to us. I've been trying to not do "baby talk" and talking to her more. It's hard because usually I'll do baby talk when it's just the two of us. When I'm home alone, I like quiet so I try to have music on for her and I'm trying to tell her more what I'm doing which my mom says I'm taking a little extreme. For example, I was in the shower the other day and she was wide awake in her bouncer so I said, "Autumn, I'm taking a shower and washing my hair. I wash my hair to get rid of dirt, germs and bacteria." I will also point to her and tell her her name and spell it for her and do the same to me. Who knows if it makes a difference but it can't hurt, right?

*She's usually crabby from 5-7 AKA The Witching Hour. The other night, Matt's friend and his brother were over. She was intently watching them and they were giving her attention. Then the boys all left and the fussiness started. Great-she's already boy crazy!
*My niece has come over a few times to help during the day and let me just say-Godsend!!! She's 8 and will do just about anything with AR...change dirty diapers, rock her when she's fussy, sing to her plus she'll play with the dogs and bring me burp clothes, whatever I ask her to do. On Monday, I took a shower and had her sit on the bed in my bedroom (bathroom is attached). I had AR in the Boppy and H read to her. H is so animated when she reads so for a good 30-40 minutes, AR just sat there watching her totally engaged with her. It was awesome!

*We've gone through a LOT of diapers this week. I'll hear her poop so I'll change her and put another diaper on and she'll go again, sometimes I don't even have the diaper fastened on! It's like I know she's pooped so I don't want her to sit in it but at the same time, she's not done. So I have to decide, go through more diapers or let her sit for a couple minutes to see if she's really done? I've contemplated maybe doing cloth diapers at night because that's mainly when this happens. We'll see how the next week goes.

*She's started cooing a little bit, not a ton. I read in my "What to Expect The First Year" book that vowel sounds usually come first. Call me crazy but I'll say, "Ooo" to her and I swear sometimes she'll repeat it. She'll do it a couple times in a row but push for three and she'll let you know she's done. You also have to catch her in the right mood. It could just be coincidence but I like to think she's mocking me.

We have a BIG week ahead of us. Saturday is Fourth of July party at my sister's, Sunday is BIL's birthday dinner at my MIL's then we're headed to my mom's for Fourth of July in Cape next week. I'm a little worried about being in Cape for 3 nights that it'll throw her off schedule. I'm just going to have to put my foot down and be a mean mom to my family and let them know what's up. Plus I have my six-week postpartum check-up and I'm stopping by work to say bye to my boss. Hopefully, I'll remember to recap all of it!

Happy Six Weeks my little boogey butt, momma loves you!