Bunny!

We're getting ready for some extra special visitors this weekend. In fact, Fiona is so excited about meeting her great-grandparents, her aunt and uncle and her baby cousin that she's been showing off a few teeny tiny smiles for us in the last few days!

When daddies dress their baby girls...

this is what happens!

She appears to be sort of cheering for U of M, but really she just gets excited when she looks at the ceiling fan.



However, she clearly doesn't think the Tigers will be any good this year.

Sleepy baby

Here's our girl having an afternoon snooze

I just snapped this a few minutes ago. Time to tackle the enormous piles of laundry. That reminds me... does anyone have suggestions for getting baby poop out of fabric? I'm terribly lazy when it comes to laundry. Tell me if you know any magic tricks!

My snuggler!

One month old!

Fiona was born 4 weeks ago today! We celebrated by going for a walk in the neighborhood in our new stroller. Unfortunately Fiona was not aware that she was going for a walk because she slept the whole time, but I for one enjoyed the warm air and the chance to get out of the house.

"Hey everybody!"

Proof Fiona is a super power baby

We all know about Fiona and her "Stork Bites" But here is a picture from when she was a few hours old. Starkey has a star shaped stork bite! No Way!

Special Starkey Baby

I immediately had a feeling our baby was special. Like super-power special.

First thing that we noticed when she was born were little red marks on her face. The nurse looked down and said "Oh look stork bites". STORK BITES! Wow! She had no idea who she was talking to. So if you know your heraldry, history, and family name then by God you can see where this is going.
Let's start with that Starkey crest at the top there. Do you see any mysterious animals present? Perhaps a certain harbinger of childbirth? Statements I have read about the Starkey family crest reveal that there is always a stork present. Some sources say Starkey is a derivative from stork-key. The Stork-keys fixed thatched roofs where the storks liked to build nests on top of chimneys. These storks were considered good luck. In western heraldry the stork means filial duty, that is having a duty and a relation to your offspring. The stork is also a symbol of close parental bonds.
The white stork itself is used as a symbol of childbirth. This habit was derived from the once popular superstition that storks were bringers of happiness and prosperity and possibly from the habit of nesting on chimneys is where the idea that a new baby could be dropped down into the house.
The image of a stork bearing an infant wrapped in a sling held in the beak is common in popular culture. The small pink or reddish patches often found on a newborn around the eye's, lip and the nape of the neck are still called "stork bites" They are in fact clusters of veins that fade over time.

Nicknames. I can't help it.

Anyone who's met our cats know that they have about a zillion nicknames that change all the time. Even Dave gets nicknames from me, but I try not to embarrass him by using them in front of anyone. It should come as no surprise that Fiona has not been immune to my predilection for nicknames.

Some stick, some don't, but here are a few so far: sweet pea, sweetness, sweets, princess (I know, I know -- I said I was going to stay away from all that princess stuff but I can't help it), squirrel, squirrel-monkey, squirrlsey, squirrelness, squirell baby and Fi.

Just don't call her FiFi. That is a poodle name.

My squirrelness, with actual squirrel

Happy pacifier day!

I held off for 3 and a half weeks, but I gave Fiona a pacifier today. She spit it out a few times when we tried to give it to her earlier today but now she seems to like it! I have to say that I quite like it too! She seems ... pacified. It feels a teeny bit like I'm cheating, because it soothes her instantly and I don't have to do anything! I'm either cheating or crazy for waiting this long :)

We have noticed this weekend that Fiona is focusing better and can track objects with her eyes. She's also just starting to be able to lift her head up for a few seconds.

Tiny feet! She has Dave's long toes.

Chubby baby!

I took Fiona to the breastfeeding support group again at the hospital and she weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. She also started letting us get a little more sleep at night this week -- she'll sleep 3-4 hours and wake up hungry then will go back to sleep for 3-4 more hours.

She's not going to be this tiny for very long! We are trying to savor every minute with her, even the ones that happen around 4am. :)