ONE MONTH!!

Uh Oh...a Monday post?!  Yes folks that's right...it's late.  After church and lunch at Great Grammie Harrington's, Jes and Bran needed naps (and Aurora didn't seem to want one).  Learning how to tag team snooze capabilities (one out and one in) has become quite the feat.  So for all those wondering where the Sunday post was...when Jes was sleeping Brandon was playing with Aurora and visa versa.

Aurora with Great Grandma Harrington

Week four (that's right, Aurora is officially one month old today) was mostly characterized by Aurora's increased sense of awareness.  It seems that she responds to mom and dad's voices, though face recognition is off: if she's hungry and dad tries to kiss her she attempts to suck on his nose.

The one-month mugshot

and for size comparison

In other news, Grandpa Harrington would be pleased to know that Aurora watched her first episode of Simpsons while sharing a bottle with Dad (no it was not Duff, though Brandon probably wished he'd had one).  There were even moments where we swear she was actually watching the television (we might have a Simpson's fan in the making).

A common question that we get lately is how Twizzle (our dog) is getting along with the baby.  For the first few weeks Twizzle approached the situation as, "Oh, a loud and boring blob of flesh" and generally just ignored Aurora.  Lately, especially when Aurora is crying, Twizzle will follow Jes around, or stare at Jes until Aurora settles down.  We are not quite sure if this reaction means, "hey, you need to take care of baby," or "hey, shut that thing up," but either way, she seems genuinely more interested.

Twizzle enjoying a moment outside

All in all it is amazing that a month has already flown by.  The new parents could certainly use some more sleep, but have yet to really crash as so many of the new parent horror stories seemed to imply might happen.  Please pray that we do not hit that point.  Though we may be tired we are thoroughly enjoying all the excitement, nervousness, and everything else that Aurora brings with her presence in our home.

POOP!

Before we get to the title of this post, I first want to say Happy Father's Day!! We had a pretty low key day: we dresses Aurora up for church and got to show her off and see Brandon's grandmother. Then we grabbed some fast food and stopped at one of our favorite stores before catching the end of his cousins baseball game and visiting with his uncle and cousin. The rest of the day included naps for father and daughter and steak for dinner. All in all, a success.

dressed up (& apparently ready to do the Mexican hat dance!)

So... poop. You know you have officially been inducted as a new parent when poop is not only a regular (haha) topic of conversation, but also a serious (as well as hilarious) way to get to know your baby and whats going on. I am sure Aurora will hate this blog post someday when someone digs it out of the depths of what might be archaic technology, but we are quickly realizing that part of parenting is developing an arsenal of embarrassing photos, videos and stories. How else do you keep children in line? :-P

For those reading who may not have experienced infant poop... it is a different thing all together. It is wet, various colors, and at the moment (I believe due to breastfeeding) they do not smell (we are not so lucky with farts, however). Anyway, Aurora has GOT to be the world loudest pooper, and these poops come rapid-fire. We've learned the hard way that when she gets going, we need to give her a few minutes and wait till she starts wiggling again before we attempt to change her. You see, pooping takes concentration, so we've noticed she gets very still and a focused look on her face (accompanied with some grunts) when she's doing the deed. We've washed the changing table cover about 4 times this week, and that was after we learned our lesson. The only problem with letting her finish is that then she then tends to overflows the diaper (which at the moment are a little big on her skinny butt and may also contribute to the overflow) and now we are going through about 4 outfits a day. While this is messy business, we keep it light and laugh it off. The surprised looks on friends faces when she lets one go is priceless.

In the end though, what we've learned through Aurora's poop is that she is healthy and eating well (and also that she is definitely a Harrington).What we wouldn't give for our own washer and dryer though!

That's it for this weeks update. I'm sure poop will be a continued theme throughout the blog, so be warned!

Two Weeks

Its hard to believe, well... a lot of things. Its hard to believe we are parents. Its hard to believe she's been here two weeks already, and its hard to believe it has only been two weeks. (Ever notice how time seems to drag on in the middle of the night? Especially when you're watching the clock, hoping the baby is REALLY asleep, and not just taking one of those 5 minute power naps.)

Week number 2 for Aurora was filled with meeting new people in her life and collecting some photos that she will love and some she will hate when she is older.

Jes's college roommate Summer was visiting for the week, catching up and helping Jes immensely around the house and with her new niece: holding her, changing her and taking many photos. While being cute, sleeping and eating, Aurora managed to make some pretty awesome faces that are 'rather good'.

Aunt Mandy and Uncle Matt also came over to visit (photo of Mandy forthcoming!) to meet the new addition and also to help make our couch more mommy-friendly. We had been using it without the feet, but it was way to low for us to get up and down while holding the baby. Matt can always be counted on to bring tools!

Finally, Grandma Harrington was able to meet grandchild #2 after a long wait and being there with us during the less interesting beginning parts of labor. As soon as she got here, she waited just long enough to wash her hands before she took Aurora for the majority of the night. 

Its been great and all the love and support from all of you has been wonderful. Though, we are looking forward to trying to figure out how she will fit in/change our daily routine in the next few weeks.