We had a pretty good weekend, all in all.

Friday night we met up with the Brandts and Jeremy and Elizabeth for dinner at La Tolteca. Penny was really good - she looked around at the lights and colors for a little while, then went to sleep before our meals arrived so Matt and I not only got to eat, but we both got to eat hot food at the same time.

Amazing, I know.

We had planned to join everyone for a walk in Colonial Williamsburg after dinner, but Penny woke up and was unconsolably upset, so we turned around again after only a couple of blocks. Oh, well. It was nice to get out for dinner and talk to real live grownups.

Saturday was Emma's birthday party. (Yes, it's a couple of weeks late - but she didn't really notice.)

Penny was really well-behaved for that - she got fussy once or twice, but a bottle and a change of diaper solved her problems pretty quick. So the party was fun, though I'm looking forward to next year's, when Penny will be old enough to toddle around and do things, and not just sit, inert, in our arms.

There were some cute pictures taken, but they were taken with Matt's camera, so you'll just have to wait. Kris's sister Heidi took a couple of pictures of Penny that I thought were priceless, but I'm still waiting for them to make their way to me. (Hint, hint, Braz...)

We discovered somewhere in there that she can no longer extend her legs fully if she's wearing her green ducky sleeper (which means she doesn't fit into her blue froggy sleeper, either, as they came as a set). That makes three sleepers she's outgrown already - though she still fits into the rest of her "0-3 month" clothes just fine. The problem is that her legs are so long, she's got to wear the next size up if an outfit has feet in it. So it's a good thing I'd bought a couple of new sleepers recently.

Of course, because they're a size bigger to fit her long legs, her poor little arms and hands get completely lost in the new sleepers. But then, given her tendency to gouge her own face with her astonishingly sharp little fingernails, that may be a blessing in disguise.

Sunday was pretty relaxed, though Penny was in a Mood - she was willing to be calm and happy and sleepy, but only if she was being held. The instant Matt or I tried to put her down, she'd wake up and start fussing.

So we spent the day trading the baby back and forth. I held her while Matt took a shower and did the laundry. Matt held her while I ran up to the drugstore. I held her while Matt went out and killed a couple of enormous spiders I'd noticed setting up shop too close to the house. We took turns holding her while we watched a movie. Matt held her while I made dinner and ate. I held her while Matt ate. Matt held her while I emptied the dishwasher and re-filled it. I held her while Matt put laundry away. Matt held her while I made up our lunches and her bottles for today.

Like that. The only time one of us wasn't holding her, I think, was when we were giving her a bath - which doesn't in any way count as baby-free time. At least she's decided that baths are not an attempt on our parts to drown her or otherwise cause her pain and suffering. She even remains calm when I'm pouring water on her head and it gets in her eyes.

I thought last night was going to be Bad. I woke up around quarter after midnight to hear Penny "talking" over the baby monitor - little grunts and coos and the occasional shout. I could tell from the tone that she was talking in her sleep, but if she's got enough energy going to shout, then it usually means she's only moments away from waking up and getting serious about making some noise.

But after about ten minutes, she quieted down and went back to sleep. That lasted all of about 5 minutes, and then she started talking again. She went on in this on-again-off-again way until about 1:30, when she finally woke up and was hungry. Matt got up and I fixed the bottle while he changed her diaper, and I had a Bad Feeling as I went back to bed.

For almost the last whole week, she's been taking her middle-of-the-night feeding around 2:30 or 3, so it lasts until 6 or so. A 1:30 feeding boded ill. I really expected her to wake up again at 3. And 4:30. And 5:30. Like that.

But Matt came back to bed only a little after 2, which isn't bad for getting her fed and back to bed, and Penny didn't make another sound (at least, she didn't make another sound that woke me up) until 5:30.

My alarm doesn't go off until 6, but I'll take 5:30. That's not so bad.

Matt and I had this amusing conversation at some point this weekend in which he confessed that he felt kind of bad that I always get stuck with the early-morning feeding, and I confessed I feel kind of bad that he always does the middle-of-the-night feeding.

Luckily enough, we both think our own shift really isn't so bad. Matt says, "At least I get to go back to bed." I say, "At least my sleep isn't interrupted for very long." (I usually get up to fix the bottle while he changes her diaper, but I'm back in bed as soon as he's settled in the rocking chair with the bottle in her mouth.)

Matt thinks I get the short end of the stick especially on weekends, because I'm still up as soon as the baby's up, whereas he gets to sleep until 8 or 8:30. I think he gets the short end of the stick on weekends, because Penny slept in until 7 both days this weekend, which is downright reasonable, whereas Matt still had to be up for an hour and change in the wee hours of morning.

But since we're both relatively content with our lots, I guess there's nothing to complain about.

Matt's dad and his wife are due to come to town today, and stay for a few days. They're staying in a hotel, but of course they'll want to see us. Or at least the baby.

I wish I knew more of the plan, though - I don't know when they're arriving, or when they're leaving, or what they want to do while they're here.

Oh, well. I haven't been able to really do much planning anyway, with Penny around as a more or less permanent monkey-wrench, so I'm getting more used to playing things by ear. It'll be great to see them, however we manage it.

--Liz