Our friends Jim and Lacey came over last night – bearing Italian food – to meet Nina. She pretty much slept through the whole event, so they did not have a chance to see her wild side. I was worried that Nina might spit up on Lacey’s pretty blouse. I’ve basically resigned myself to having spit up on anything I wear. It washes off pretty easily, fortunately.

I feel bad for Willie Randolph and the way his firing was bungled, but I thought the Mets should have canned him after the team fell apart last year. And after hearing the press conference by Jerry Manuel, the new Mets manager (and a fellow Georgian), I predict he’ll do a better job than Willie. Kudos to him last night for the apparent wrist-slap he gave Jose Reyes following the shortstop’s petulant outburst.

In addition to shaking up the coaching staff, the Mets have made another key move. They’ve brought on a new rookie who’s certain to bring them their next pennant.

We got dad a Carvel ice cream cake for Father’s Day – one of his favorite desserts. And Nina gave us the additional gift of sleeping for two four-hour stretches during the night. Yay, Nina!

I broke down and gave Nina a pacifier today. She was crying all morning and would only stop when I did one specific hold (shown to us by our doctor — she basically straddles an arm, which supposedly feels good because it presses on the tummy…Nina absolutely loves it) or when I would nurse her, which she started demanding several times an hour, or too much. It seemed like she just wanted to suck, so I went to CVS and bought a couple newborn pacis. She likes it. John used it to get her to go to sleep after she’d eaten and nothing else would work. We’ll save it for occasions like this and refrian from sticking it in her mouth whenever she cries. I felt bad giving her the thing, as if I had given up on my own abilities to pacify her and her ability to pacify herself. On the other hand, it’s nice to have one more trick up the sleeve to help her sleep. We’ll aim to stop using it in a few months, as my friends Yishane and MIchelle did with their babies.

Happily, Nina’s still sleeping very well at night. She seems to get more tired and ready for sleep once darkness arrives, and get more active as soon as it gets light.

Nina’s Grandma Geri came by today with Aunt Colleen to visit Nina and go out for breakfast at Tom’s Restaurant in Prospect Heights. The restaurant was very crowded, but the extremely nice, patient guy who runs this Brooklyn institution managed to find us a large table so that there was room for Nina in her carrier. She slept through the meal and both ways in the car. Like her mom, she’s a very good car-sleeper.

After breakfast, John went out to Long Island for a wedding that I decided to skip. So tonight Nina and I spend our first night alone. Just us girls! I should be fine. Although I don’t know what I’d do normally without Daddy. When Nina’s not sleeping, even finding a chance to go to the bathroom isn’t easy.

On another topic, I’ve started to notice Nina seeming to laugh in her sleep lately. What on earth is she dreaming about? Any ideas?

Nina’s growing fast. She went yesterday to the doctor, who told us that she now weights 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Two weeks ago she was 6 pounds, 14 ounces. So the breast milk is working. She’s also grown an inch and is now 21 inches long, and her head has grown as well. She got her first shot yesterday, which is why she has a band-aid on her leg. I took the band-aid off today, and she yelped louder than when she got the shot. Oops. Maybe I was supposed to let it fall off on its own. Poor thing.

She’s sleeping really well at night — usually for 3.5 hour stretches. I’ve discovered that waking her up before she starts crying usually helps her get back to sleep after eating more quickly. We’re getting more and more used to this baby and her baby ways.

She’s smiling more often. It’s still hard to tell if it’s intentional or accidental. Either way, it makes us very happy. We are also entertained by the fact that Nina seems to have some of the world’s loudest farts. I’m sorry if this embarrasses her one day. But it’s quite cute and remarkable. I’m glad her digestive system is functioning properly!

My friend Ben makes awesome collages. Here’s one of the latest. There are more on his Flickr site.

I can tell that Nina’s changing, as evidenced by the fact that I’m able to get more and more photos of her with her eyes open. She’s getting increasingly alert. It means she’s a little more work during the day, as she doesn’t sleep quite as much, but also more fun. And she’s developed an iron grip. I was carrying her today and she grabbed the back of my upper arm with such force that I yelped. Ouch, Nina!

We went out for a mid-morning walk, with Nina riding in John’s sling, but pretty quickly turned around and headed back home because of the heat. Today was a good day for staying inside. And a good day for Nina’s summery fish dress.

It’s Nina’s third week of life, and so far it’s been an eventful one for her. Her cord stump fell off, revealing a cute little belly button and making possible her first real bath. We bathed her in the kitchen sink. Nina cried, but not as much as we expected. I’m sure that after a few more of these, she’ll be loving bath time.

After the bath, Nina had her first dinner party away-from-home at the apartment of our upstairs neighbors, the Freis. Their 1.5-year old son was very interested in Nina. He liked gently touching her toes and ear. When his mama held Nina, however, he was less sanguine and started whacking Mom on the leg with a toy drumstick.

Today – Monday – Nina took her first trip to Manhattan since being born there. I had an appointment with my OB, Dr. Wong, and John and Nina came along. We took a cab since it was so terribly hot. All went well at the doctors, and my body’s apparently healing nicely post-c-section. After the appointment, we went out for Indian food and then to Kate’s Paperie to get some cards for Nina’s birth announcement. Nina was very happy in the Indian restaurant but not so at Kate’s. She cried hard when we went in, so we left and took her to a diner to nurse. We gave Kate’s a second try, but Nina burst into tears once again. Seems that Nina is not a fan of overpriced stationery. We got our cardstock and made a beeline for home. Nina’s slept very well the rest of the day, and Mama will sleep well tonight, as she’s exhausted!