Adjectives I would use to describe my daughter

In an earlier entry I commented that I couldn't wait to get to know her. Here are some words that come to mind to describe her at nearly 4 weeks old (besides beautiful, cute, adorable, etc.):

Observant. She doesn't seem to miss a trick. While being fed, she spends the entire time watching me intently and can tell immediately if anything is different. The other day I happened to have a Sox hat on for the first time while feeding her. It was as if my skin had suddenly turned green. She gave me this look that said, "what is that thing?"

Auditory. Singing to her is one of the only effective ways I know of to soothe her - except for my pinkie, nothing else will calm her once she's worked up. I think she will love music.

Noxious. This one is self-explanatory. Her business is... wait for it... legendary. Not sure whether she takes after Mom or Dad in this department. Actually I am sure but will not say in the interest of marital harmony.

Insatiable. Oh, she can eat. She might give Kobayashi a run for his money if she could digest hot dogs right about now. One of her little personality quirks is that she likes to eat herself to sleep. At bedtime she insists on a bottle and closes her eyes, and then I basically wait for it to stop moving, burp her and put her down.

Distended. Her little pot belly is fantastic. She is just as much Homer Simpson as Maggie Simpson. And her cheeks are catching up to the belly quick.

Content. She never fusses for the sake of fussing. When she cries, we basically walk down the checklist... hungry? (nope) dirty diaper? (nope) gassy? (yep, there it is.) And as soon as we deal with the problem, back to sleep she goes. We are very lucky in this regard.

Self-sufficient. She doesn't seem to be one of those babies who needs to be close to the action. When she's tired, she wants to go to bed, and doesn't care what's going on around her when that happens. Again, we feel very lucky that she is this way.

Jocelyn's First Snow Angel

Jocelyn could not have been less excited about her first encounter with snow ~ maybe it was the snow suit mom had dressed her in??? I bought this snow suit back in September and have been dying for the opportunity to dress Jocelyn in it ~ She was not dying for the opportunity...She lasted about 10 minutes in it!

Cousins Martin & Emily

Cousins Martin and Emily came to visit on Sunday afternoon. As you can see, they were as enamored of Jocelyn as we are ~ or they just love to get their picture taken:-)

A few friends have commented that, based on our past few blog entries, Jocelyn seems to have an inordinate number of aunts. No, Julie's house was not like Little Women, and I was not the only boy in a house that otherwise resembled Little House On The Prairie.

The real reason, which we have kept hidden from all of you for many years, is that Julie once belonged to a tribe of female warriors, much like the Amazons. For many years they fought in epic encounters alongside Achilles and the Argonauts and had expanded their kingdom as far as Helicarnassus. Julie earned accolades for her bravery and had acquired quite a reputation as a skilled markswoman. But after their loss at the Battle of Alexandria, many of these proud warrior queens settled in the Boston area with an eye toward creating female progeny that might one day restore the glory and rich tradition of the warrior tribe. Each so-called "aunt" has accepted a different responsibility for teaching Jocelyn the ways of the elders, including equestrian skills (aunt Amy), handling a spear (aunt Erin), building a roasting pit (aunt Randi) and hunting boar (aunt Claudia).

This is a big reason we feed Jocelyn formula. The prophets have declared that The Chosen One will drink from the cup of Enfamil.

Grammy Gagne has knit Jocelyn a new warrior helmet. Isn't it cute?

Auntie Claudia's and Auntie Erin's Visit

Auntie Erin was visiting from NY and came to visit with Auntie Claudia Saturday afternoon. Auntie Erin is happy to be living close to her family in NY and just a drive away from friends and siblings in Boston. It has been a long time since your Mom and Dad have seen Erin. It was for Aunt Randi's birthday dinner on Newbury Street last June. I have to admit, Jocelyn, I became emotional when I saw her. I would like to chalk it up to the pregnancy but really it was just great to see her!

Auntie Claudia tells us she is training for the Boston Marathon (Again:-)) in April. I kind of guessed because she looks fabulous!! I admit I was feeling a bit jealous when she said she went for an 8 mile run this morning ~ My bit of exercise was a bit fat cat nap this afternoon before she came!!

During the visit, Jocelyn was her delicate little self ~ She has been a bit noisy/stinky these last few days, which Mom and Dad are trying to address by using a new bottle today. The lingering effects of the other bottle were still apparent while Auntie Erin and Auntie Claudia were visiting ~ Sorry Girls!!

Aunt Randi's Visit

Aunt Randi came to visit on Friday morning and Jocelyn decided to grace us with her awake self...Aunt Randi decided she definitely looks like Dave with her dimpled chin. I have to agree with her although you can't tell from this shot:-)

Auntie Amy ~ Our First Outsider :-)

Auntie Amy paid us a visit today after our pediatrician appointment, where we learned that Jocelyn is in the 97% for height...surprise, surprise!!! Grammie slept over last night and drove us to the appointment ~ Thank-you Mom. And Aunt Amy met us at the apartment after that. Jocelyn ate up the attention (lots of snuggling and gliding) she was receiving from Auntie Amy by sleeping the entire time! Maybe next visit she will decide we are worthy of her attention:-)