Hodge Podge for $200, Alex

Seen on a church sign in my neighborhood this morning: "Be Ye Prepared! Daylight Savings Time Draweth Nigh!"

It amused me, for some reason. The sign, not the DST. Although I'm looking forward to it for the simple reason that the Bear is up with the sun every morning, and if I can push that from 5:45 to 6:45, so much the better.

Seen on the license plate of a very large SUV driven by a very small woman: LMAO. Yeah, lady. I am, too.

My house is my own again! Rabid housecleaning to ensue.

The Mouse has developed into an excellent sleeper. I blame it on Moxie and the flax seed oil. What delightful stuff! She naps most of the day, has her alert time in the evenings, nurses to sleep between 10-11 and wakes up 2-3 times a night, eats, burps, goes back to the bassinet or stays with us, if I fall asleep while she's eating. Her fussy time is usually between 6-8 in the morning - sucko. That's when Husband leaves for work and the Bear wakes up, too, so we're a real chipper bunch around here in the a.m. Oh well.

The doctor recommended an intercranial ultrasound for Mouse, just to make sure that the swelling from the hematoma was external only, and that there was no internal swelling on her brain. Scariest half-hour of my life, but she's fine. The big squishy bump is gone, and in its place is a slight rise, a grassy knoll, if you will, that will probably always be there. It's dried and calcified blood, I was told when I asked. I wish I hadn't asked... We'll just grow her hair out to cover it - nobody will ever notice!

At 4 weeks she was up to 11 pounds, 1 ounce. That's a hefty gain over the 8 pounds, 3 ounces she weighed when we brought her home! She also grew from 20 to 21 1/2 inches (although depending on how they stretch, that part is subjective) and her head increased from 14 to 15 inches. We are making only heavy cream at this dairy, people! She is gigantic. I asked, and the kindly doctor reminded me that breastfed babies are typically chunkier at this point, due to efficient nutrition, but less chunky later on. Her collarbone is healing nicely. There's a slight bump on the bone, which I fully expect will grow out as she gets older. Yay!

The Bear is completely enamored, and she's such a great big sister. She will bring you anything you want - diapers, wipes, burp cloths, blankies, etc. and wants to hug and kiss the baby every time she cries. She tells me what to do for her - if she fusses, she'll say "Mouse up. Hug. Mommy milk!" They are super cute together, although Mouse is still a little unconvinced that she needs all this affection from her big sister. Hopefully she'll come to appreciate it later!

Mouse and I have developed a wonderful nursing relationship. She took to it very quickly and easily, unlike her sister, and we spend lots of quality time this way. It's a beautiful thing - I'm so glad this is something I can do for her.

I was back in my old jeans at 2 weeks. The weight just melted off this time, although the scale says I still have 10 pounds to go to get back to my pre-Mouse weight, which was 5 pounds less than my pre-Bear weight (wedding weight). At this point, I'm not so much concerned with numbers as I am with getting back into the few clothes I own, since I can't afford new ones at the moment. Still, when total strangers tell you that you don't look like you just had a baby (I was getting those comments by 5 days post), it counterbalances the hormones nicely. It brings you up just long enough to make the inevitable resounding mood crash that much steeper. Yay hormones. I totally callled out my SIL at the dinner table the other night because she compared my meatloaf to her mother's, and mine fell apart in the wash. (Ok, it just fell apart. I use lean meat - it doesn't hold its shape like the fattier stuff. You'd think, since I was doing her fat ass a favor with the lean beef, she'd let it slide.) I hate when Husband compares my cooking to his mother's, and from her, it was just too much. I lost it over the table. Behold, I am so dignified and grown-up.