This week

Claire is back to half-hour naps and waking every two hours or two and a half hours at night. She also seems much more touchy the past two weeks. She will have sudden outbursts when something isn't going her way. Or in the late afternoon she gets upset a lot. I think she's tired and having difficulty falling asleep... she gets very cranky. She seems to really want to be held in the late afternoon and evening and gets mad if I put her down. She will also cry if I take away something that she wants. She seemed like she was having a hard time falling asleep the other day and had her book on her lap (in the swing)and her hat in her hands. She had been chewing on her hat after taking it off. She was fussing and I thouoght maybe the hat was distracting her from being able to sleep, so I took it away. You would've though it was the end of the world the way she screamed and turned red in the face.

The highlight of our week was visiting Jen and her new baby Katherine on Thursday. Since this involved a longish car ride, Claire got two long naps on the way to and from Irvine. We took a nice walk around UCI campus while we were there and I listened to Jeeves and Wooster on CD on the car ride. It was great meeting the baby; she is adorable and seemed very content.

Milk supply is still not meeting demand so we've been giving her two bottles of formula each day. Claire takes 8 bottles on most days. Her biggest meal ever was Thursday and she took 5.5 ounces of breaskmilk. When I pump I usually get about 3-4 ounces... more in the morning and less in the late afternoon and evening. (this is pumping every 2-3 hours around the clock with one 4.5 hour break during the night.) I had one longer break this afternoon because I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joes and hadn't pumped immediately before I left. Sadly, this did not yield a larger volume of milk.

I seem to be finally losing a little bit of weight. I've been trying to walk regulary although some days it's just a trip around the block. Other than that I haven't made much of an effort. We have a bunch of fruit in the house now, thanks to the Joneses who came over last Sunday and brought us a bag full of fruit and other healthy food.


Tummy time is going really well lately. At the suggestion of her physical therapist, I have been doing it several times per day and she is tolerating it for longer periods and even enjoying it sometimes. She especially likes to suck or gnaw on her hands in this position. The therapist was impressed with Claire's improvement since last week with the more rigorous schedule. Claire is also looking like she is just about ready to be able to roll herslef from her back onto her side. She has also been scooting around in her crib lately. I think she is enjoying boeing a little bit mobile.

I am enjoying reading about the Life of St Paisius Velichokovsky, a Russian Monk who became a revered Elder insrtucting the monks using the writings of the Fathers of the curch.

We look forward to our trip to Prescott, Arizona to visit my family and celebrate the Nativity with them. Our friend G is house-sitting and cat-sitting.