Into the Sling of Things

I had planned to pair this post with a few pictures of me wearing Edie in a sling, but Jeff hasn't uploaded them, so that will just have to wait.

At the risk of turning into one of those happy, sappy mom-bloggers, might I just say that life this very moment is pretty nice? Edie is snug in the bed next to me and Maurice is snoozing on my lap. Both are snoring gently in our cozy bedroom and it's rainy and windy outside.

On Monday night Edie slept 5 and a half hours consecutively! It was very exciting. Not only that, but she also fell back asleep after that and dozed off and on until 11am. It was pretty great. Then we had a snuggly day of walks in the rain (with my giant golf umbrella) and bouncing on the yoga ball while watching Oprah. At 7, the girls came over and bopped Edie for me while my arms got a rest and my brain got some adult stimulation (the best kind I might add - gossiping about vacation make-outs, dating, pregnancy talk - which reminds me!! Have I mentioned that Darrah is almost 15 weeks pregnant?! SO exciting.).

THEN, last night Edie slept for 6 and half hours straight! I instinctively woke at the usual feeding time of 3:30am, but she was still sleeping soundly. At 5am, when she was still asleep, I gently poked her to make sure she was still alive. She wiggled so I went back to sleep. She didn't wake until 6:30am and then as an added bonus nodded back off after eating and is still sleeping as I type. It's amazing what a difference some extra sleep does to your outlook.

Oh and also, I weighed Edie in at First Weeks today and she's a whopping 10.5 pounds! Chunky monkey alert.

Dear A-Hole That Vandalized my Car this Weekend,

Seriously?? You broke my back seat window just to steal the Nordstroms bag in the back seat? That's IT? I can't believe you had the nerve to do that RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Probably while I was up in the middle of the night feeding my brand new baby. Did you know that 3 months ago someone stole my car stereo while I was at work (perhaps you noticed the big gaping hole in the console where a stereo normally goes)? And did you also know that 6 weeks ago someone stole my car and the car seat in it? And then YOU had to come along and shatter my faith in humanity by bashing my window in and stealing the lovely baby shower gift I'd just purchased my friend for her shower today.

I hate you,

Jill

Chaos before Progress

The nurse that runs my Moms group on Wednesdays is named Ann and she's this super calm, grandmotherly type. This week I mentioned at the group that Edie has started this new, odd habit of flailing around while breastfeeding. She even does it with the bottle now too. It's only been for the last week or so, but while she's eating, she's thrashing around and making noises. She's also been wide awake more often during the day and a little more unpredictable during the evening hours before bed. A few other Mothers with kids the same age as Edie said they've actually been having the same issues, one of them has also been struggling with suddenly unpredictable sleep patterns. Ann reminded us that before babies reach a developmental milestone, there is often chaos in the home. She called it the "chaos before progress theory". She said the week before a baby will roll over or learn to crawl, their sleep schedules, eating, and general fussiness levels can go haywire. Then the following week, they'll do something amazing like roll over for the first time and things will return to normal.

Well, Edie gave us her first "social smile" yesterday! They say babies usually give you their first real smile around week 6, and we're just about there, so this makes sense. Previously we were just getting accidental and gas smiles. But this smile was in response to me smiling big at her and saying her name over and over. She watched me smile and clearly imitated it right back at me. Her smile made me smile big and laugh out loud, which made her smile again. We did this three or four times in a row before it dawned on me to try and get a video. Of course by then she was over it.

Now if only the chaos could fade.

A Belated Thank You

I can't thank our friends enough for all the lasagnas, enchiladas, casseroles, soups, salads, muffins, take-out deliveries, and banana breads that have been delivered to our house this last month. In the last 5+ weeks, I've only had to make 2 grocery store trips, and even then just for milk and cereal. I haven't cooked anything more complicated than a bowl of oatmeal since Edie was born and honestly, I don't know how we could have made it without all of your help.

I feel so grateful to have the best of friends and supportive family. It's corny, but Edie has come into this world with the best built-in community ever. Yesterday was a rough day with the Eedster. By the time the girls came over at 7, I was pooped. But the second they swooped in, Edie was taken from my hands and bopped and cooed at until 10pm by her surrogate aunts and I was able to do things like pee, drink a glass of water and eat dinner (granted dinner was a piece (okay 2 pieces) of pie, but whatevs!). Because of them, I was able to recharge and felt myself again by the time they left.

Thankfully, we had a good night last night and today has been great. Edie went down at 11:30 last night and didn't wake up again until 3:45am. She's taken to waking around 3:30 most nights but only for a groggy meal at the boob and at the risk of an overshare, can I tell you how much I love that she has taken to breastfeeding in the side-lying position? This means that I can nod off a bit while she eats and my sleep is only mildly interrupted. After her midnight snack she has taken to falling right back to sleep and not waking again until around 7am. I don't even have to get out of bed! I just plop her into the bed with me for the 3:30 feeding and then plop her back into the cosleeper afterwards. Or, if I'm totally honest, sometimes I keep her snugged up in bed with me for her second snooze. And yes, I'm fully aware that I'm tempting fate by bragging here. In fact, Edie has been napping since 5pm and it's now 8pm, so tonight could very well be a doozy. Hopefully not, because we're aiming for another 10am mom matinee tomorrow.... wish us luck.

Today was H to the ARD

Edie is just now falling asleep for her first nap of the day and it's 5pm. I thought newborns were supposed to sleep at least 16 hours per day? She has been hyper alert all day, super fussy and needed to be in my arms at all times. I didn't get lunch until 2:30 and I'd only had a piece of toast for breakfast. Thankfully, "girls night" is being resurrected tonight and I'm hosting. This should mean plenty of Aunts to bop Edie so that I can ... I don't know... maybe go to the bathroom? I don't think I've peed yet today.

and PS: how is it that I'm barely able to get a bite in all day, spend all day lifting a 9 and half pound lump of baby over and over, and yet this baby weight is still clinging to my ass like a life raft in rough seas?

The Car (and photo catch up)

Edie runs hot and cold with the car. Most of the time she loves the car and falls asleep quickly and easily with the motion and noise, but one out of every 5 trips or so she totally loses it. Sometimes it's because she's hungry and doesn't want to wait the five minutes it will take us to get to our destination and be fed. I'm always telling her that I won't starve her, but it's funny how babies don't seem to really get that, right? My Mom group is in Madison Park and I have to drive through the Arboretum to get there and back. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pull over into one of the many parking lots sprinkled throughout the park and feed the E before we can go on our way. Other times, her car flip outs seem to be totally unexplained; she's recently fed, changed and napped and rejects food and pacifier when offered. Those car trips are SUPER fun.

On Saturday I got a bee in my bonnet about having a "family outing" and convinced Jeff we should go to the Ballard Market and stroll the shops and stands with Edie in the Ergo. Well. We got about five minutes from the house and Edie royally wigged out. We pulled over and I got her out of the car seat and walked the block with her to calm her down. I finally soothed her, frantically hooked her back up into the car seat and Jeff put the peddle to the metal. The calm only lasted a few more minutes and then we repeated the whole scenario. Finally, we looked at each other and decided to throw in the towel and u-turn it for home. Of course as soon as we made the turn, she totally fell asleep. Jeff u-turned it again back in the direction of Ballard. We finally got there and.... guess what? I'm totally retarded because the Ballard Market is on SUNDAYS!!! At that point we were both spent and just turned around and went home with our sleeping baby.

So you can imagine our trepidation while strapping her in the next morning (yesterday) for our first big car trip to Bellingham. But this time we planned ahead a little better. We gave Edie a bath right before we left. She loooves bath time, but usually exhausts herself with a few minutes of hard crying when we pull her out and then falls asleep hard. And it worked! She slept like an angel the first hour and sucked on her pacifier the last 30 minutes. We left her at Grandma and Grandpa B's house (my parents) for some bonding time and hit up the Bagelry for lunch just the two of us. An hour or two later, we swooped back in, picked up Edie (who we were told behaved swimmingly) and then met up with the Culver clan (aunt and uncle, great Aunt and Grandparents) for a visit. Again, Edie continued her angelic behavior and - gasp - even slept the whole way back to Seattle! So I would deem our first big day trip a total success.

And now that you've read my super boring story, I will reward you with many photos.

Can you tell what I'm doing in this picture? I'm using my Hooter Hider! The Hooter Hider is an excellent invention - it's a privacy blanket for breastfeeding in public! I used it at my parents and at my sister-in-laws yesterday. It has a great adjustable strap that goes around the neck and then there's a hoop-like thing at the top that allows you to peek down at your babe and make sure you've got a good latch (and to check if she's just napping instead of eating, as Edie has a tendency to do). Anyways, it worked beautifully and fits easily in the diaper bag (very light weight material). So while this looks like it's just a picture of me, Edie is actually hiding under there enjoying a snack.

Aunt Kathleen with Edie and her cat Sage, who like Maurice, refused to give up his lap spot.

Grandma and Grandpa Culver:Great Aunt Wendy
And since we were apparently a little eager to have lunch by ourselves yesterday, we didn't take any pictures of Edie with Grandma and Grandpa Bruton (although I have no doubt that they documented the visit themselves with about 1000 photos). In fairness, I'm posting this picture of them from their first meeting with Edie:

Jeff likes to come up with creative ways for Edie to spend her "tummy time". The other day I came upstairs to find this:
Some pictures of her marathon nap on Friday night (notice it starts out light and gets dark):



And one more from another nap. I love this outfit but every time I put her in it, she pees all over it, so maybe I'm not getting the hint.

On Being Late

This last week or two, I've made an effort to schedule some sort of activity for Edie and I during the day, every day. We haven't really graduated to more than one activity per day, but I find that having one big outing keeps me from feeling stir crazy in the house and also seems to stimulate Edie.

This Monday, we had our pediatrician's appointment and then I took Edie in her Ergo to University Village for some shopping and lunch. I can't remember what we did on Tuesday, but I'm sure it was awesome. Every Wednesday we have First Weeks for 2 hours, and yesterday we went to the Mom's matinee in Bellevue where we saw Love Happens. Today, I went to a breastfeeding group meeting (for women to meet with a lactation expert and problem solve) with the Eedster where she proceeded to poop immediately upon arrival and then pee all over her clothes while I was in the process of trying to put a new diaper on her. After the group, my new friend from the class and I grabbed lunch with our daughters.

For all of these activities my biggest struggle is just getting out of the house. Getting the diaper bag clean, making sure I have bottles and a clean change of clothes for her, finding my cell phone and getting her in the car seat, not to mention making sure that the stroller is in the trunk. All of these things take FOREVER. Yesterday morning I had to get out the door in time to make it to the movie, which started at 10am. This was a Herculean feat. I used to pride myself on getting everywhere on time. I strapped Edie into her car seat at a little after 9am - everything was going pretty well. Then she decided she was starving. And when baby wants a snack, baby gets a snack. And actually, snack is the wrong word because Edie doesn't believe in them. She likes an appetizer, entree, pallet cleanser and dessert. She's a classy lady and she likes a leisurely meal. I started stressing out at the idea of being late, but when I finally got to the ticket booth, the Mom I was meeting was just getting there too and there were at least 10 other strollers in line behind me. Turns out being a Mom = being late.