Elizabeth: The First Two Weeks

Today, Lizzie offically turns 2 weeks old. It feels like she's been around much longer than that though and like she's always been part of our family.

Everything is going great. She is eating, sleeping, and pooping in an excellent rotation. She's a sweetheart and we both love her tons. But she also has quite a few other admirers. Here's just a few pictures of her daily dose of visitors bearing gifts and cuddles. She's like a little celebri-baby with a hoard of paparazzi constantly following her around. This is Lizzie with my mom, Namma Sharon...

And my dad, Nampa Jim...

Shawn's sister, Aunt Joey (otherwise known as Jeanette to the adults)...

Shawn's mom, Grandma Mary...

Her cousins, Ava, Sophia, and Olivia (Elizabeth is the bundle on Daddy's lap)...

With Shawn's sister, Aunt Karen...

With my sister, Aunt Jenny...

With my friend, Aunt Kristina...

And here's Lizzie with her cousin, Kara, who we asked to be her godmother...

And her Aunt Melissa, who we asked to be her other godmother (that's right, two godmothers, no godfathers, all the pressure is on Shawn to be her male role model)...

Lizzie also had her first doctor's visit. All was well. She was 6 pounds, 4 ounces when she was born and dropped to 6 pounds, 1 ounce at the time she left the hospital. At her first visit she was back up to her birth weight!

We also had to take her in to be weighed yesterday and she is now up to 7 pounds, 2 ounces. We are so proud of her. The nurse said she is in the 17th percentile which means that out of 100 babies, she is bigger than 17 of them. We encouraged her by saying that she could now totally beat up 17 other smaller babies! Way to go, Lizzie!

Otherwise, she is happy and healthy. Her cutest quirk is that she sometimes likes to pee on people who are changing her diaper. She's getting better now though, but it was coming to the point where I was changing her outfit along with every diaper. I seceretly think she just likes wearing a lot of different clothes.

We also had our first post-placement meeting with the social worker. They have to come out once a month to see how everything is going until the adoption is finalized. We also talked to one of the lawyers our agency recommended about getting everything set for finalization. The lawyer is an adoptive mom herself and was very nice and helpful. She is sending information for us to fill out and she said she would probably be able to get us a court date very soon after we hit the six month mark!

For Easter, we stayed at home and my mom, dad, and sister came over with food and gifts for the baby. We didn't want to take her to Shawn's family gathering since there are so many people there and the doctor recommednded she not go out into crowds. Here's a picture of all her Easter gifts...

And here's a picture of her with the giant bunny Namma gave her...

Since Shawn and I aren't taking Elizabeth out and about just yet, if we need to go somewhere, one of us will stay home with Lizzie. Last Wednesday, I went up to our local mall to get order some eyeglasses. I went with my mom and dad and stopped in Macy's where Mom and I both used to work. We were talking to some people we knew and everyone was congratulating me on becoming a new mom. And here was the interesting part of the conversation...

Ex-co-worker: Do you have pictures?!
Me: No, I've taken a ton but haven't gotten any developed yet because we only brought her home two days ago.
Ex-co-worker: Two days ago?
Me: Yeah, she was born on Thursday and came home with us Monday so she's less than a week old.
Ex-co-worker: (Astonished) And you're out?!
Me: (Puzzled) What do you mean?... She's home with her dad...

At first I thought I had broken some unspoken motherhood code which was never to leave your child's side in the first week of life. I mean, she was with Shawn, it's not like I left her waiting in her bassinet or paid a neighbor kid to hang out with her for a few hours. But then I realized, she must have assumed I gave birth to Elizabeth. Yes, I am out and about after a strenous labor and delivery, and I lost all my pregnancy weight to boot! Take that other moms!

Some more pictures of Lizzie's extreme cuteness...





-- Lisa