Lissie's been home for a couple of weeks now, and she's rapidly adjusting to life outside the womb. Moreover, Rupert is also rapidly adjusting to life with a newborn. Their first interactions were priceless, and Ru has quickly learned his role as protector of his new little "sister."
Of course, life with Lissie has been an adjustment for all of us. The first few days, especially, were...interesting. We hadn't yet mastered the art of deciphering her cries - and, especially at night, it made for two frustrated parents! Top that off with the fact that I was still recuperating from surgery and wasn't allowed to do much for those first few days - well, I felt pretty helpless.
Fast forward three weeks (wow, has it really been three weeks?!?), and we've all settled into a pretty steady routine (where's the wood to knock?). Justin's back at work, and Lissie and I are managing life at home pretty well. She's learning the difference between days and nights, and that at night she's allowed to sleep a little bit longer between feedings (thank goodness!). She's not stressing out about tummy time nearly as much as the first few attempts:
And, in fact, she even managed to roll over from her tummy to her back once (almost twice)!
She loves being read to - she's especially interested in the rhythmic sounds of poems. She loves being held - by anyone, she's not picky. She loves her My Little Lamb swing and being swaddled.
She doesn't love going for walks in her stroller, even though Mommy makes her do so every day for exercise. She definitely doesn't love her crib. She hates being put down, even when she's sleeping - and will wake up when you try. She's not so fond of baths, but she's at least starting to get through them without tears.
As for me? I love being her mother. I love knowing that I'm able to provide her with all the sustenance she needs to survive. I love it when I can read her cues before the tears start to fall. I love Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block techniques (total lifesaver!). I love her. Oh, And I love being able to see my toes.
It's not all rosy of course: I'm not much of a fan of the choppy sleep (naps at 9:30am - really?) and having to be super organized about what gets accomplished each day. I miss being able to leave the house whenever I want (Lissie's only been to Mass and the pediatrician's office and probably won't get too much more outside exposure until her two-month vaccinations), and I miss eating a relaxing meal with Justin (usually one of us is rushing to eat so we can get back to our daughter - we even had a date night last week and couldn't enjoy it much since we wanted to get back to her so fast!).
So, yes, the last three weeks have been life changing. And, yeah, there are things I'm going to have to adjust and get used to, but this little one is totally worth it:
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