Like Father, Like Daughter?

If ever anyone wonders if I am Pauline's daddy, all they need to do is look at us dancing. This has got to be genetic. You can't teach these moves!

2 months old!

Pauline turned 2 months old on Wednesday, May 27! It's hard to believe it's been 2 months already... or, it's hard to believe it's only been 2 months. She has already changed sooo much since she was born.

She decided to celebrate her big day by sleeping through the night. Tuesday night, we put her down in her bed (after feeding, burping, changing, singing, and putting her into her pajamas along with the nightly reading of her "Pajama Time!" book) around 7 PM; she slept straight until midnight, woke up to eat, and went back down until 5. This was so much fun that we did it again last night - we started later, so she didn't go down until 8:30, but she was out until 2, woke up to eat, and went back down until 6. I am frantically knocking on wood as I type this, but I really hope this is a trend and not just a fluke!

Other highlights from yesterday included an outing with Daddy (who had a medical appointment; Tim says Pauline was just great, willing to sit in her car seat in the corner for most of it, and more than happy to let the receptionists look after her while he got an X-ray) and a surprise visit to see Mommy in the office. This is a luxury we won't be able to indulge in once we're in Washington, but it's a great treat while we're in Berlin! I loved getting a mid-afternoon baby fix. And Tim promises that when he and Pauline have things to do in Washington that bring them into the city (museum outings, trips to Eastern Market, etc.), he'll try to make sure they fit into my lunch break as often as possible.

At 2 months, Pauline is developing faster every day, it seems. She's moving her hands a lot more now (and loves to suck on them, though hasn't found her thumbs yet); she's a pro at tummy time; she loves to sit up, if we prop her up a little bit (but doesn't get too fazed if she falls over); she has wonderful "conversations" with us, especially with Tim, where he talks to her and she vocalizes back. (She has an adorable husky voice.) We still have no idea what color her eyes will be - right now they're a sort of variable color that has aspects of grey, blue, green, and brown; if I had to pick one color I'd say greyish hazel, but it really changes. And the reddish hair she was born with is falling out; she has a tiny baby mullet on the back of her head, but is otherwise almost bald now. She's getting better and better at putting herself back to sleep, and is more willing to spend awake time in her car seat or swing (i.e. not being held constantly.) And while she's becoming more interested in some of her toys, nothing compares to her fascination with her parents. The best parts of our days now are the times we spend with her smiling and cooing up at us.

Back to work

Today is my first day back at work. Leaving this morning was pretty much as crummy as I thought it would be. For one thing, I feel horribly guilty - not about Pauline, who is in the best of hands, but about leaving Tim at home! He is an incredible father, but this is going to be rough on him, I think. And for another... it's now been several hours since the last time I heard Pauline, or saw her beautiful smile. I brought my digital camera to work just so I have the newest pictures (which I'll try to upload tonight, sorry about that) to look at when I'm missing my little one. It's good to get a fix, except then I start to cry, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Just 5 weeks of this, though, and it's time that will be so broken up by everything we have to do to move back to the US that I doubt very much I'll have a lot of "normal" work days in this time. I have a few projects to wrap up, but nothing too major. It's a good thing, given how distracted (and exhausted) I am these days...

We are doing more planning and looking forward more and more to our trip this summer. We cannot wait to spend some family time in Cleveland and Omaha, to introduce Pauline to her aunts and uncles and cousins and friends, and show her grandparents how much she's changed since they met her. It's pretty incredible!

OK, back to work with me. Just 4 hours to go until Tim and Pauline come in for our appointment at the health unit - Miss P is due for her first vaccinations. Yikes!!!!