Claire Helen is one week old

Things are starting to settle down here, or at least the chaos is becoming routinized. Dave Barry says that though people try to make babies out to be very complicated, they really only have three moods: about to cry, crying, and just finished crying. The trick to prolong the third one as long as you can.

Fortunately, however, our baby is pretty good natured. She only cries when she wants something. And since she only ever wants to be fed, to be held, or to be changed (mostly the first one), she is easy to please. It's hard to believe she doesn't know how to smile yet, because she acts like she's smiling all the time. Her coos warm you up, and there's nothing softer in the world than our baby's cheek.

It has been incredibly helpful to have Grandma Ann here. We wouldn't be nearly so cheerful about new parenthood without her help. She does all the cooking, grocery shopping, kitchen cleaning, helps out with the changing and laundry, and is great company. Most importantly, she exudes "new grandma." We also REALLY appreciate how she takes the baby after 7 am, so we parents who were up late can catch up on sleep.

Little Claire is already changing before our eyes. Her face is more expressive, her head is reshapen, and her cord fell off yesterday.

- M & S