The First Week

Upon finding both boys down on their hands and knees, peering at a cheerful, kicking Lambchop on the quilt on the floor of the living room, I asked them what they were doing.

Ramekin: Mommy, we're just looking at Lambchop because she's so beautiful.

Me, speechless.

Needless to say, things are going pretty darn well, all things considered.

The boys adore her, and don't seem to mind the attention she requires.

Like Boo before her, she's not a crier, only crying when she wants our attention and usually stopping instantly when she's picked up. My midwife even remarked on how easy she was to calm with a bit of head rubbing by mommy when she was being examined.

The exception, of course, comes when her eyes are bigger than her head and she insists on more food, even though I suspect/know it's not a great idea. Then we get a bit of wind, and resulting upset. It's an occasional issue only, though, and we're working on finding the right balance re when to humor her and when to try to distract her from wanting more.

Lambchop, while a typically confused newbie when it comes to sleep --clearly believing that daytime is for lots of sleep, with intermittant alert cuteness, and nighttime between 11:00 pm and 3:00 am is for a bit of fussing for cuddles-- is actually a good little sleeper. Like all babies, when the option is available, she loves being cuddled while she sleeps. But G and I knew not to cater to this at all times so she'll be a good overall sleeper. And she already is, I think. She's currently sacked out in her moses basket upstairs. And she'll happily sleep in her bouncy chair for a few hours at a time, or on a cool quilt on the living room floor in front of the slightly breezy open patio doors (we're having a heatwave here). And I think I've already cracked the nighttime solution, believe it or not, after discovering she prefers to sleep on her side after feeding.

She's obviously a good eater, based on her grumblings for extra feedings at times, happy to inhale any offered formula or pumped milk.

needless to say, we are grateful that the healthy formula option exists. As for breastmilk, well, mine didn't come in like it should have. Again. Which wasn't really surprising, and almost comedic, since I've done this baby thing twice before and the same thing happened both times. Hence, starting formula within an hour of birth for Lambchop and Boo before her. But I am managing to pump out about a full feed's worth a day now in total, and I think I can get it up to almost two if I keep at it. So at least she's getting the benefit of enough immunity protection to keep her healthy and enough volume to keep her growing.

And if my boys aren't considered the epitome of healthy children, having been started off the same way, then there's no such thing as healthy children. Because save for the occasional runny nose, neither of my boys have been sick since early December (1/2 day, Ramekin), or October (1/2 day, Boo)!

Defensive position over. ;-)

So it's going well. G is still off this week on paternity leave, which is nice. And we putted around with Lambchop yesterday afternoon doing some errands while the boys were at nursery. She slept through the whole trip, except for our mid-afternoon stop at a cafe where we all had a leisurely lunch.

Of course, I fully expect things to get more hectic when G goes back to work next week and I'm left in charge of three little people.

shudder

But I'll deal with that then.

Gratuitous photo op of my lovely, lovely Lambchop.

Oh, and we've almost nailed down a middle name. We're stuck between two, maybe three, at the moment. Once that happens, I plan to do a naming of the Lambchop post of some kind without actually posting her chosen name. I'll see what I can do clue-wise. Or temporary post via comment-wise. Hmmm.

And, if I can find the private time (we have inlaws with us at the moment), I'll post how well her birth went, because it was, hands down, the best labor experience I've ever had. A truly nice, calm one to end my baby-making days on.