Sweet Candy Cane Kid/Weekend Update

Hallie is getting cuter and cuter every day. This morning she woke up all smiley--probably due to the fact that she removed her cannula again some time in the night and presented it to me (it was in her hands, but not on her face) as a trophy when I got her out of her bouncy seat (where she sleeps, at least until she gets too big for it and her legs dangle over the sides) to change her and give her a bottle. She cooed and made a whole host of new sounds this morning, and did her typical laughing and giggling on the changing table. For the life of us, we have no idea what is so funny about the syllable "oooh", but she thinks it's the most hilarious thing she's ever heard.

She still won't smile on demand, and particularly not for the camera. So it took a while to get this shot of Hallie modellng what has to be my favorite seasonal outfit:





Hallie's personality is generally pretty bubbly and, as they say in South Philly, she's "newsy." While she doesn't get out much, she does see a lot of doctors, and flirts with all of them. And today, as we left our GI appointment, I walked out of the hospital holding her since I had just given her a bottle and didn't want her to send it back up, so to speak. So I got to carry her through the throngs of people at Children's Hospital, and she flirted with all of them. I felt like a proud mama.

And speaking of proud mama, here's the stats that you've been waiting for (I'm sure). She now weighs a whopping 5280 grams (11 lbs., 10+ ounces), up from 11 pounds 2 ounces last Friday, 11 pounds 5 ounces on Monday. She's had a pretty good eating week, though she (and the rest of the family) had a touch of an upset tummy yesterday. But she's now back to normal, and growing like a weed. Her length is somewhere between 22 and 23 inches (57-58 cm) and her head circumference is 40 cm. She's around the 25th-50th percentile for weight (corrected age) and between 10th and 25th for length and 50th for head.

She's been very interactive with her toys lately and has really enjoyed banging away at the Leap Frog musical table we got her for the holidays. She likes pretty much anything musical, and especially musical things that light up. And she's been practicing sitting up a lot this week. She can hold her head up very well, but if we let go of her from the sitting position, she often slumps over to one side or the next after a second or two. She's also having a blast playing in her exersaucer and reaching for the toys attached to it. This not only enables her to stay upright and practice bearing weight on her legs, but also allows both of us to eat dinner at the dining table together. This is a very good thing.

Right now, Hallie is catching up on some sleep and is gearing up for the big game tomorrow between the Eagles and the Louisiana Saints. She and I will hang out on the couch and she'll crack open a cold one (of formula) and root for the home team.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Abby