Rachel's check-up

Rachel's first smile caught on camera.

Rachel had a check-up today and got shots. The shots are always sad but better than the alternative. I am happy to report that she is in the 97th percentiles for height (26 in) and weight (15 lbs 12 oz). At 3 weeks old she hadn't regained her birth weight, and the doctor was concerned. I listened to his suggestions, followed my sister Emily's tips, and I fed Rachel everytime she cried. Apparently it worked. Dominic said, "she's a chunk, not a baby." My sister Ellen commented that "she is perfectly rotund."

By 1 week old, Rachel was sleeping 7 hours a night. So one of the doctor's suggestions was to wake her up to feed her. Well, the alarm woke up Dominic, but not me or Rachel. After 3 nights of that, I stopped setting the alarm. Sleeping through the night obviously hasn't stunted her growth. Nowadays she's asleep by 9 pm, wakes up once to eat, and then wakes up around 7 am. She is a great sleeper.

At 5 weeks old Rachel rolled over for the first time. She has only rolled over half a dozen more times, so I thought she forgot how or gained more weight than her little arms could handle. But no. She rolled over for the doctor! He said she never forgot, she just doesn't want to.

She has a scream that shatters glass. Not really, but it does reverberate around my skull. She has even been known to give Dominic a migraine. The weird part is that she doesn't have an intermediate fussy stage like most babies. Instead she goes from happy or sleeping to 100 decibels in the blink of an eye.

Other than that though, Rachel is a very happy, cooing baby. She is very ticklish and laughs easily. Her older siblings adore her. Samuel likes to hold her and say, "take a picture of us." Benjamin calls her "my baby Wachel." And Lisy likes to join Rachel for tummy time or pat her back to burp her. Sometimes she likes to get all wrapped up, not because she's cold or tired, but just to be swaddled. She especially enjoys lying on the couch, swaddled, staring at the ceiling fan.

Rachel's latest picture, from Sunday