Introducing Jocelynne

At the stroke of midnight our little angel turned into Beelzebub. I no longer have confidence in all of the "experts" who say that life gets easier after a baby reaches 6 weeks of age. She went to bed late, she woke up every 2 to 3 hours, and she woke up early in the morning. Our little Jocelynne, who is usually so stingy with her cries, has been unusually generous today. I'm wondering if she's coming down with something despite my insistence that everybody washes his/her hands before handling her.

She and I are visiting my parents house in California this week. I was worried about the plane ride, but it turns out she's a born traveler. I was the one with the problems. Our plane was diverted to San Fransisco due to equipment failure, and our travel was extended by about 3 hours. I had to whip out my breast pump promptly when I finally reached my destination to relieve the agony.

Here at home she's fawned over by her aunts and uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. She's enjoying the attention. In fact, both my mom and dad claim she has chuckled at their antics, which means that I've missed her first laugh! The only time I am sure to get her to myself is when she starts to smell. Suddenly it's mother-daughter time.

She has been dishing out smiles more and more each day. They're still rare enough to be exciting, but one doesn't have to work excessively hard to coax one out of her anymore. I feel like a drug addict must feel, always contorting my face and making high-pitched noises to be rewarded with just one more smile. It's like a high to see that gummy grin. Grandma Pam can often get a smile out of her by singing "Oh, Susanna" while moving her arms to the rhythm. Grandpa snorted loudly in her ear once to wake her up and she was justifiably wary of him for a short period.