It's hot. I know, it's summer and I live in New England, but damn. These heat waves and the constant humidity suck. We have air conditioners, thankfully, but electricity isn't free. Plus I would like to go outside and get my baby in the fresh air, but the air is so not fresh. It's just gross, like walking into someone's armpit.
Money is tight these days and I am really feeling it. Not working and spending my days with my baby is nice, but the nagging feeling in the back in my head is moving to the front. I need to get Hazel on a nap schedule that doesn't involve only sleeping ON me, because I can't do much when I am acting as her bed. I have so much to list in my long neglected etsy shop, and it would be great to actually sell all the beautiful clothes that are taking up all of our closet space. We desperately need to have a yard sale, too. Our garage is packed with stuff, so much that we can't put the car in it. Our neighbor had one a couple weeks ago, barely advertised, and made $200 in just a few hours, so we really should get our asses in gear and DO IT.
I guess I am still having a hard time getting things done other than taking care of my baby, but my brain is ready to do more.
In baby news, our little girl hit six weeks on Sunday. She has started smiling A LOT. She hasn't laughed yet, but she is SO CLOSE. I think te first thing she will laugh at will be my hair. For some reason, she is very entertained by my hair. Perhaps because it looks like shit? Our very nice friends who have a one year old came to visit last weekend, and they brought me a gift card for a haircut at a nice salon. I can not wait to have a proper haircut! I don't remember the last time I went to a salon. Three years ago? Maybe. Anyways, back to the baby.
She is SO long. With her cloth diapers on, she can already fit into some 3-6 months onesies. They are a little baggy up top, but the ones that fit up top have to be stretched to get over her diapers. It's amazing how much she is changing. She holds her head up pretty well already. She does not enjoy tummy time. She prefers my right boob over my left. She took bottles two days in a row but is now not interested. As much as I would like her to take them, no problem, so that I can go get that haircut or have a couple of cocktails, I did feel a little pain in my heart when she took the bottle. MY BABY DOESN'T NEED ME ANYMORE. I blame it on hormones. I really do want a bloody mary or three.
Kiki is definitely warming up to Hazel. I have a lot of blurry photos of Kiki leaning against me while Hazel sleeps in my lap, and occasionally rubbing her face up against Hazel's feet. This all happened just today, so I guess that's a pretty good time line if I were to compare Hazel to a new kitten that Kiki had to get used to.. big kitten who doesn't need to share the cat pan. She doesn't love her yet, but sitting on the couch with my two babies sleeping on me is pretty awesome.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Five weeks.
That's how long my baby has been living outside of my body!
It's still hard to believe. I haven't had the urge to write here, but it's quiet this morning and I've got a little time to myself so here I am. There are other things I should be doing (folding laundry, making breakfast, working on the baby book) and other things I want to do (go for a walk before it gets balls hot out again, paint my toenails, read) but I will take a few minutes to empty my head.
Our baby was born June 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm, weighing in at a solid 9 lbs 3 oz. She was, and still is, a LONG baby, 21 inches are birth and now 23 1/2 inches. Our doctor told us she is off the charts for her height, which is explains why her arms look long and skinny despite weighing almost 11 pounds now. She has a lot of hair on her little head. It's not clear yet if she will be a ginger, but it's looking that way to me. Her eyes are dark blue right now, which will change. I wonder what color they will be, if she will be a blue eyed girl or have hazel eyes like me and her father.
Speaking of hazel, that is her name. Hazel. She was maybe a Jane up until she was born, but somehow her size and scowl (which she got from her Dad, for sure) made it pretty obvious that a Jane she was not. We waited over a day to decide on her name, so at the hospital her little bed was labeled Babygirl McCullough, which is a pretty awesome name, too. Ultimately we knew she was Hazel, or Hasel, if you are from Germany.
I won't go into the details of her birth, unless I know you and you want to talk about in person over lunch that you bring me, but I will say it was painful and crazy but pretty fast (first contraction around 7:30 am and she was here by 6:00 pm, with a total of 35 minutes pushing) and that I couldn't have done it without Trever or Mary, our wonderful nurse who knew just what to say when Trever didn't. Speaking of him, he was so awesome during labor. No fear or nervousness ever showed on his face or in his voice, he was the rock I needed him to be, and I was so grateful. We fell in love with our baby as soon as we saw her, of course, and our lives are forever changed because of her.
She is now five weeks old. She is just starting to smile. We are adjusting to the laundry routine of cloth diapers. I am actually getting used to the lack of sleep. Some days are harder than others (she can be pretty fussy, as babies are known to be) and there has been lots of crying and tears (hers and mine) but we are finding our groove as a little family more and more each day.
What you really want to know, I'm sure, is how Kiki is adjusting to all of this. Well. She spends a lot of time under the bed and in our closet. She doesn't care so much for the sound of a crying baby. She is curious, but every time she smells Hazel's hair when I am nursing her on the couch, she goes running. But each day she spends a little more time NOT hiding, and she spends a lot of time sleeping under the chair in the nursery. Her meows have gotten louder and more insistent. It's hard to believe that's possible, but it's really as though my cat is yelling at me. She does seem pleased to see me scooping her little box again, though. I don't know if she will ever really warm up to Hazel, but as long as she can co-exist with her and still be content, I will take it. Those first couple weeks when she wouldn't come out except to eat or pee were hard. I felt so many feelings: sad that my cat was miserable and wouldn't sit with me, guilt that I was sad about my cat when I had this new baby, and then all those other feelings you feel when you have a newborn baby. I couldn't look into Kiki's eyes without crying. And then I would think about Roo and look at my baby, forget it. Blubbering idiot over here.
Now Kiki and I are both learning to take advantage of our quiet moments together, and to make the best of the non-quiet times. Sometimes she will lean against me while I am nursing Hazel, and I can put on of Hazel's little hands on Kiki's body, and she will sit there calmly. Patience and baby steps, right?
If you follow me on Instagram or we are friends on Facebook, you've seen plenty of pictures of Hazel already. Maybe I post some on here later, but for now just find me on IG, username: bontielou, and you can get your cuteness fix.
Okay. I think I'm good here for now. Later internet, I am going to snuggle in bed with my family.
It's still hard to believe. I haven't had the urge to write here, but it's quiet this morning and I've got a little time to myself so here I am. There are other things I should be doing (folding laundry, making breakfast, working on the baby book) and other things I want to do (go for a walk before it gets balls hot out again, paint my toenails, read) but I will take a few minutes to empty my head.
Our baby was born June 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm, weighing in at a solid 9 lbs 3 oz. She was, and still is, a LONG baby, 21 inches are birth and now 23 1/2 inches. Our doctor told us she is off the charts for her height, which is explains why her arms look long and skinny despite weighing almost 11 pounds now. She has a lot of hair on her little head. It's not clear yet if she will be a ginger, but it's looking that way to me. Her eyes are dark blue right now, which will change. I wonder what color they will be, if she will be a blue eyed girl or have hazel eyes like me and her father.
Speaking of hazel, that is her name. Hazel. She was maybe a Jane up until she was born, but somehow her size and scowl (which she got from her Dad, for sure) made it pretty obvious that a Jane she was not. We waited over a day to decide on her name, so at the hospital her little bed was labeled Babygirl McCullough, which is a pretty awesome name, too. Ultimately we knew she was Hazel, or Hasel, if you are from Germany.
I won't go into the details of her birth, unless I know you and you want to talk about in person over lunch that you bring me, but I will say it was painful and crazy but pretty fast (first contraction around 7:30 am and she was here by 6:00 pm, with a total of 35 minutes pushing) and that I couldn't have done it without Trever or Mary, our wonderful nurse who knew just what to say when Trever didn't. Speaking of him, he was so awesome during labor. No fear or nervousness ever showed on his face or in his voice, he was the rock I needed him to be, and I was so grateful. We fell in love with our baby as soon as we saw her, of course, and our lives are forever changed because of her.
She is now five weeks old. She is just starting to smile. We are adjusting to the laundry routine of cloth diapers. I am actually getting used to the lack of sleep. Some days are harder than others (she can be pretty fussy, as babies are known to be) and there has been lots of crying and tears (hers and mine) but we are finding our groove as a little family more and more each day.
What you really want to know, I'm sure, is how Kiki is adjusting to all of this. Well. She spends a lot of time under the bed and in our closet. She doesn't care so much for the sound of a crying baby. She is curious, but every time she smells Hazel's hair when I am nursing her on the couch, she goes running. But each day she spends a little more time NOT hiding, and she spends a lot of time sleeping under the chair in the nursery. Her meows have gotten louder and more insistent. It's hard to believe that's possible, but it's really as though my cat is yelling at me. She does seem pleased to see me scooping her little box again, though. I don't know if she will ever really warm up to Hazel, but as long as she can co-exist with her and still be content, I will take it. Those first couple weeks when she wouldn't come out except to eat or pee were hard. I felt so many feelings: sad that my cat was miserable and wouldn't sit with me, guilt that I was sad about my cat when I had this new baby, and then all those other feelings you feel when you have a newborn baby. I couldn't look into Kiki's eyes without crying. And then I would think about Roo and look at my baby, forget it. Blubbering idiot over here.
Now Kiki and I are both learning to take advantage of our quiet moments together, and to make the best of the non-quiet times. Sometimes she will lean against me while I am nursing Hazel, and I can put on of Hazel's little hands on Kiki's body, and she will sit there calmly. Patience and baby steps, right?
If you follow me on Instagram or we are friends on Facebook, you've seen plenty of pictures of Hazel already. Maybe I post some on here later, but for now just find me on IG, username: bontielou, and you can get your cuteness fix.
Okay. I think I'm good here for now. Later internet, I am going to snuggle in bed with my family.
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