Harriet at Two Weeks (Pictures)

Having reached the ripe old age of two weeks and three days, Harriet Alice Rodgers has developed some preferences in her life.  If you should happen to visit her, this is what you would discover.

Harriet likes:

• Sleeping during the day.  While this perpetual cat napping does send the nighttime routine for a bit of a loop, having moments during the day for Mommy to do other things is helpful.  Harriet usually wakes up at 7am, plays around for a while, and then takes a solid nap from 11am-2pm.  Hooray for some semblance of a routine!

• Her car seat.  I was nervous about the whole riding in the car thing, especially since we drive an hour to church each week.  But she really seems to enjoy being in her car seat and usually drifts off to sleep once we start driving.  Steve and I ventured out on a date night the other evening, and Harriet slept during the 45 minute drive, the hour-long meal, and for 30 minutes of the ride home.  

• Her Auntie Clara.  She actually smiled for reals at Clara on Sunday.  So not fair.  Actually, Harriet enjoys all of her crazy relatives (and I enjoy it when Grandmom comes over to brisk her up and brisk her about during the Afternoon/Evening Crankies [see below]).
• Taking walks.  Maybe it has to do with the whole car seat thing, but Harriet really enjoys our jaunts out in the stroller, too.  On Saturday I needed something at a store a few blocks away, so I loaded her up in the stroller and away we went...until a big scary dog jumped out at us, barked violently and followed us up the sidewalk.  I didn't really feel like having my leg mauled off while I was pushing a stroller, so Steve nicely came and picked us up.  
• Eating.  I was reading an article about knowing what a baby needs by the variances in their grunts and cries.  Harriet just makes the I Need to Eat noise.

• Climbing up the Daddy Mountain.  She has really strong legs (could have told you that based on her last few weeks in the womb) and will push up Steve's body when she is laying on his stomach.  It's pretty silly, but her determination is admirable.

Harriet does not like:

• Baths.  This conclusion is based on her response to her first bath, which occurred yesterday afternoon. She was screaming bloody murder.  Steve was calmly and speedily administering the shampoo.  I was not looking.  And that is why we have no photographic evidence of the event.

• The afternoon and evening.  She turns into Little Miss Cranky Pants until exhaustion or bedtime hits.  This is rough because we parents are usually tired and cranky whenever this time of day rolls around, so we make for a pretty tense threesome.  Grandmom had the ingenuity to flop Little Miss Cranky Pants over on her tummy on the Bobby pillow and firmly pat her behind.  This calmed things down considerably.
• Having to wait.  Especially for her snacks.
• Sleeping in her co-sleeper.  Thankfully, she is fine sleeping next to me at night, and I'm used to it as well, so this hasn't been too much of a struggle.  I feel bad for having a $50 co-sleeper taking up space in the closet, though.

• Having anything on her legs or feet.  Most babies get a kick out of being all nicely swaddled up.  Harriet gets a kick out of kicking everything off.  This includes her socks and pants.  (Yes, I woke up one morning to discover that her pants were in another area of the bed.  I wonder how long it took for her to work those off during the night.)  She will definitely sleep more soundly with less stuff on her body.  (I am still wondering if she is my child....)

Harriet continues to get chubbier in the tummy-tum-tum.  You still can't see her eyebrows or eyelashes, even though her hair is dark.  Her eyes are a stormy blue, much to my delight.

She really is the Best Baby.