Julia is 3 weeks old!

Julia is 3 weeks old today!

We cannot believe how fast the time is flying by. And, along with the time passing us by, we are astounded by all the growing and developing our little Miss Jules is doing, too! I weighed Julia today on our scale and she now weighs 8 lbs 4 oz!!! I couldn't believe it..... and I also am not banking on it being 100% accurate, but at the same time, we can definitely tell that she has grown in the past week, both lengthwise and weight'wise (and she demonstrated some pretty solid "growth spurt" behaviors), so maybe it is true!

During this week, we've also noticed some new "milestone" behaviors from her that make us so proud. She has become much more alert (eventhough she's always seemed to be quite the alert little baby), and has started making more "cooing" type of noises and not just cries. Another big thing to me is that she has started to grasp things. The other day she grabbed ahold of a wash cloth that I had and was tugging it back and forth with me, and she has (unfortunately) found my hair to tug onto, as well - at this point I don't mind the hair pulls one bit... but give me a few months and ask me how I feel about them then! Something else she has surprised us with this week is her ability to roll onto her side! I'm very clueless when it comes to what babies should be doing and when (and I need to get on top of all that so I can start being neurotic about following along with how she is progressing). Maybe these things are all happening at a normal pace, but it just seems so early to me to be doing some of these things already... I think this is an indication of how the upcoming months and years are going to be. She is growing before our eyes and I often times at night, while rocking her in my arms, will stare into her eyes and my mind will start wandering into the future where I see Julia getting her drivers license, graduating from high school, starting college, someday getting married, and then having children of her own. It surely will happen fast, so I am making sure to take every day in as much as possible because this life is sure to start passing us by!

I saved the best for last - this milestone is HUGE! This week, we managed to master sleep. Sleep! Sweet, sweet, SLEEP!! Julia has now slept through the night (IN HER CRIB ALL BY HERSELF!) two nights in a row! I am floored and so absolutely proud of her!! And, the secret......... swaddling!

This was our "test drive" Sunday afternoon... can you see her eyes getting heavy?

I stopped swaddling Julia just a couple of days after coming home from the hospital because she always seemed to fall asleep with her arms stretched over her head and, in general, she is always stretching and extending her arms and legs. She would scream bloody murder when I tried swaddling her in those early days - and so it led me to assume it just wasn't for her. After 2.5 weeks of mostly sleepless nights, and after some recommendations, I finally tried swaddling again on Sunday night and VOILA - a sleeping baby! The first night she slept from 10:30pm-9:45am, and last night she slept from 11:00pm-8:30am, waking each night for two feedings. I could not be happier (or more rested!) to have made this breakthrough, and now I'm starting to look forward to each night to see what kind of sleep result we will accomplish! We have such a good baby!!! The next task is now to try and work on some kind of schedule!

Julia all cozy and STILL sleeping the morning after her first night of being swaddled.

The proud and happy Mommy with Julia just after she awoke from her "all-nighter"

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So that's the latest and greatest regarding our Julia - now, what I'm sure you all are really here to see.... more pictures!! :)

All cozied up with her blankie in her swing - check out those sweet adorable feeties sticking out!

Looking at the pictures of herself on the computer with Mommy

Best buddies from the start!

All bundled up for bedtime -- this was our attempted sleep solution "pre swaddle days" where we thought just making Julia extra warm and cozy would work.

Sitting in her bouncy seat...

"shut the blinds, it's too sunny!"

Our sweet pea :)

Julia's visit with Rodolfo and Daniella!

Delaney making sure Julia is comfy

Please be sure to check out those chubby thighs here!

BIG yawn.

Bundled up in her towels after a bath

Getting changed out of her pj's and dressed for the day.

Happy baby!

Silly faces!

Julia in her new ride :)

"I like this car, Daddy!"

This week, I tried to capture the most hilarious faces that Julia makes just after she finishes feeding. We've decided that (in addition to a very extreme "milk buzz" state) she makes a face that looks like Popeye the Sailor! I haven't been successful in getting a good video of it, but I thought these clips were too sweet to pass up - so here you go, you are welcome! :)

Milk happy -

Milk heaven -

Milk buzz -