Wayne and Rebecca Madsen

The good news is that Paela gained back some of her lost birthweight. The bad news is that she hasn't gained back all her birthweight. The pediatrician said she likes to see babies gain 1-2 oz. a day and Paela just isn't catching up. Unless the pediatrician's scale is different than the hospital's. After our experience with mismeasuring the kid in the hospital, I wouldn't put it past the pediatrician to have a false measurement. Hopefully this Monday we can prove that Paela eats like a ravenous wild beast and the pediatrician won't tell us to supplement with formula. My mom told me that I did the same thing when I was born and didn't gain back my birthweigth very quickly. So our long lanky baby might just have my genes.

Our only woe in life is that we have on our hands a very sleepy baby. She tries to sleep through feedings. We have to prod and poke her. When she goes into deep sleep she will sleep long past feeding times and we have to wake her up long before she's done sleeping. Sleep sleep sleep. We have a snoozer. It was nice to have Rebecca's mom here until the beginning of the week so she could help with our sleeping baby.

Tuesday I tried to make a return to school, but I could barely pay attention during my full school day. Instead, I daydreamed about babies and playing with babies. But I still managed to make my way through a midterm exam. Wednesday morning we played with the baby. She likes to go for long walks and we take her out with us wherever we go -- unless it's feeding time. But that will come as well, once Rebecca can finish her feeding cover. The key is that Rebecca only gets a thirty minute break between feedings because Paela takes an hour to do 30 minutes of feeding and then another 30 minutes to fall asleep. But we try to keep Rebecca as active as possible in those half hour breaks. We took first-week-old pictures out in the shade and everyone should go look at those, because we have a very cute baby.

Thursday, I spent another full day in classes. This time I felt a little more prepared and a little more caught up. Karl and Angela were nice to come over and keep Rebecca company while I was out chatting with colleagues. This week was the last of the FUSE:convseration lectures, so I will finally have some evenings to work on my own projects, as well as support Rebecca.

After some long walks and play with the baby, we learned Saturday morning while cleaning the apartment that she really likes the sound of the vacuum. Nothing quite calms or puts her to sleep like a good vacuum cleaning. However, I don't think our downstairs apartment neighbors would appreciate 1 am & 4 am cleanings above their bedrooms. We were reminded to take note that Saturday was the first night we took Paela out to eat, as opposed to just taking her out and about. I'm not sure this moment is as monumental as others, but at least we have it recorded.

The trick is that today we're attempting to take her to church. We think we have her feeding lined up perfectly, but the key is: can Rebecca get ready in time?