Yesterday my daughter officially turned two weeks old!  It's amazing how fast time flies as a new parent.  I can barely remember what day of the week it is.  Labor already seems like it was ages ago, as if we jumped forward in time.  Right now Emilee is napping, and so I want to take advantage of this quiet time to write.

In two short weeks, here is what I've learned about infants:

When they aren't eating or sleeping, they are going through diapers left and right (sometimes 2-3 in a row), spitting up, drooling on their fingers they've been sucking on, and even that little umbilical cord stump is an additional ordeal.  I've been pooped, peed, and drooled on... and yet, the statement "it's different when it's your own" remains true!  There's something about your own baby that makes all those things not so gross, just natural.  Your initial reaction to an explosive diaper isn't disgust, but rather to quickly clean your poor baby so you can make her comfortable and happy.  Sometimes all you can do is laugh when you hear that ominous rumble coming from your baby's bottom, and draw straws on who gets to change her next.

Infants aren't all mess and work though.  There's those moments when they are asleep, and all you can do is gaze at them in wonder.  So tiny, helpless and CUTE!  Then there's the wakeful periods of time where they are clean, happy, and just staring at you and the world around them.  My personal favorite is watching my daughter play with her facial expressions and make faces.  She doesn't quite have control of her facial muscles yet, but getting glimpses of her expressions is absolutely adorable!  These are the moments you cherish, and it makes all the messy diapers worth it.