Saturday marked two months with our girl. Two months with two kids. Life is hard and good.
I really can’t decide if Nora is an easy baby or a hard baby. Really, I think she’s just a baby. She has days where she is fussy, can’t be put down, and wants to eat every hour; and she has days where she is all smiles and coos, and I think “I could have four more of her.”
She is a good night time sleeper (usually giving me a solid 6 hour stretch, sometimes more), and we’re working on naps. I’m not pushing a schedule until after I get out of school, our trip to the beach, etc. but I’m optimistic about it. She is already falling into a natural routine.
She prefers a bottle over breastfeeding – which makes me feel guilty (even though I know it is dumb) – and may be a bit of a snacker, but she’s growing well and seems healthy. We have her two month doctor visit today, but based on our home scale, she is about 11.5 pounds. She’s wearing size 1 diapers and 3 month clothes. I love all the sweet summer options for dressing a girl.
When she’s awake, her favorite thing is to lay on her play mat. We call the little dangling animals “her friends,” and she is always SO happy to see them. They get more smiles than anyone, but she’s quite generous with the rest of us too – especially in the morning. These days, she seems to like laying flat on her back more than being in the Rock&Play, swing, etc. Fine by me. She does well in the car and stroller (thank goodness), and is usually very happy “on the go.”
Having her feels simultaneously like the most natural thing in the world and completely foreign at the same time. Almost daily I’m struck with a thought like “I can’t believe I have a little girl,” and quite frequently I remember something I will get to do with her one day – things like plan her wedding or watch her become a mother… things that are really really far away – and I almost can’t breathe with excitement and happiness. I’m so grateful for this. Even on the hard days, I’m overwhelmingly grateful.
I’ll write more about Sam one of these days, but he is doing GREAT. I’m so proud of him, and I love him even more than I did before – which I didn’t know was possible. He adores Nora. He wants to be near her ALL the time and says things like “Nora is so cute” and “let me see her beautiful eyes. He also pulls on her legs, tries to roll her over, and must be watched like a hawk at all times. 😉 His last day of school was last week, so they will both be home with me this summer. It too will be hard (of course) but also so much fun. I’m trying to be intentional about planning things for us to do but not over doing it. I can’t wait.
Being back at work is going well too… I like my time there a lot, and it does make me appreciate my time with the kids. (“The kids.” I still can’t get over that.) It also makes my time at home busy and overwhelming. Downtime is virtually nonexistent. It helps knowing that this will be short-lived, but I’m learning to adjust my priorities and expectations every day. I struggle with knowing what to let go and admitting that I can’t be a working mom and a stay-at-home mom at the same time. My life looks different than some of my friends and the bloggers/podcasters I follow. It is what is right for me and our family, but it is still different, and sometimes that is hard. I’m SO grateful for our amazing support system of babysitters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends. I could NOT do it without them. Also, Sam told me yesterday that he likes when I go to work. I’m choosing to think of that as a good thing. 😉
Thanks for caring!
E