How we're doing . . .

Hello again. No new photos to post this time (at least, nothing we've added to the website), but I thought I'd write anyway to let you all know how things are going with us. Maia is sleeping right now, continuing with an outstanding night of sleep for all of us. For those blog readers who don't have children, it might be a bit redundant and dull to continually read updates about a baby's sleeping patterns . . . but it becomes such an important thing in the life of a family with a baby! I think it's mainly due to a couple of things: first, the sleep-deprived first few weeks are intensely challenging emotionally, physically and intellectually. It's just such a relief when consistent sleep becomes a part of your life again. Second, there's a lot of evidence out there that good sleep is extremely important to the baby's well-being (not at first, but within the first few months, certainly), so it's something about which you become very focused and concerned. Maia has started having regular (almost daily) sleep periods of six hours--even seven a couple of times--so we're all feeling quite good around here! :)

So, just for those of you who are extra curious, here was our schedule last night:

8:40 PM- bedtime for baby
3:10 AM- wake-up for night nursing
7:00 AM- wake-up for morning nursing
10:00 AM- still sleeping!

Everything else continues to go well, too. Maia was over-the-top smiley yesterday, which was a blast. I still have this image in my head of her smiling in her carseat: because it was chilly, I had her covered in a blanket, and she'd managed to bury 1/2 her face in the top of the blanket (probably because she was trying to suck on it). So, I couldn't actually see her mouth, but I could see her eyes and eyebrows, and she had this impish grin on her face and smile in her eyes when I looked at her all cuddled up in her seat. She was almost playful (and mischevious?) as she looked at me from the side. I laughed out loud in the Borders parking lot!

I joined a Mothers' Group through the local Lamaze office; the group begins meeting on April 12, and I'm really looking forward to it. Lamaze has been such a great resource for us--that's where we had our childbirth classes, and it also hosted my New Moms' Support Group. I'm also looking into information about local meetings of the La Leche League (not surprisingly, it seems that there are three different LLL groups meeting here in Ann Arbor) as another way to meet other parents whose philosophies on raising kids might be similar to mine. I don't wish to expose myself only to parents who see things as I do, but, on the other hand, I do feel that I gain a sense of strength and support when I know there are other people whom I can talk to about issues that we all face as new parents.

So anyway, I'm working on building connections with other parents here in town, and these connections will become so much more important to me if we decide as a family that I'm going to be home with Maia for another year (until August '08). It's almost funny how talkative I am with Brian when he comes home from work; I do spend all day talking with Maia, but it's so cool to have someone who responds in words that I understand! These various groups and meetings will give me more of that.