The storm of the century is moving in here, and as I watch the snow fall I am feeling very happy. I am happy that we live in the city now vs. way out in the country so I know our road will be plowed in a reasonable amount of time. If the power goes out, we will still have water because we are not on a a well anymore, and thanks to our sweet phones we will even have internet access, at least until our batteries die. We are even within walking distance of a grocery store, so if the $120 worth of groceries that I impulse-bought today (I already had enough food for days, but if everyone else is buying up all the milk and toilet paper, I need to buy things too!) don't last us, Will can just walk over and pick up whatever we need. I say "Will" because he is taller, and if we get 30" of snow I probably don't have the physical endurance built back up yet to take on such a trek. Also, I braved the grocery stores today with Emily and Charlotte, I ended up having to breastfeed my baby while standing in a 30-minute long line at the grocery store, and I withstood the confusion of having a lady with a full beard butt in front of me in line (I would've said something, but I usually make it a point not to pick fights with people who have beards) so I feel like I've served my time already.
But most of all, I'm SO happy that I've already had my baby and I don't have to worry I'll go into labor as 30 inches of snow is falling. And not being able to leave the house gives me an excuse to just lay around and enjoy my baby (It also helps that there's another adult here with me to give me a bit more time to relax). This time around, I don't think I'm sleeping much better (Charlotte will only sleep at night in the guest bed with me, the crib is super-lame) but I am feeling less exhausted than I did with Emily. Emily used to cluster feed in the evenings, and it stressed me out SO badly, but Charlotte cluster-feeds all day long and it doesn't really bother me much. I think it's because going from only having to think about yourself and your husband to having to spend 24 hours a day devoted to a tiny, new person is a huge wake-up call, but this time around I'm already awake. I also know how short this phase is, so I'm not falling into the "This will never get better! She will never stop eating/start sleeping through the night/stop crying!" mindset like I did before. Instead I'm trying to enjoy my baby while she's tiny, and watching the changes that happen every day. I am way more into enjoying the phase she's in this time around, instead of being anxious for her to hit milestones. She has already smiled purposely which I love, but I also love how solemn babies always look before they get super-smiley. Her eyes get more focused every day, but I love when she tries to look at me and her eyes cross. I am rubbing my face on her head at every opportunity before it turns from delectably soft baby fuzz to silky toddler hair (still good for face-rubbing, but you don't get exactly the same effect).
Emily is still doing great...aside from the fact that she's had a nasty runny nose pretty much ever since we brought Charlotte home. This distresses us quite a bit, especially since Emily loves to snuggle her sister, and also because Charlotte has gotten pretty sniffly the last couple days. Let's hope my antibodies keep it from getting any worse! But Emily is a great big sister, she hasn't shown any jealousy at all, she loves to rub Charlotte's fuzzy head, and whenever Charlotte cries Emily says "She needs her mama! Nurse her, mommy!" Between Emily and the ever-vigilant Mingus, I definitely don't need to worry that I won't notice when Charlotte cries.
I'm still in the kinda crazy early days before Charlotte settles into a schedule, but we'll get there soon. And while I'm fairly content to just lay around looking at my baby, Emily would benefit from some time out of the house but I confess I am afraid of all the germs lurking out there. I wanted to take her to the park the other day because it was supposed to be 50 outside and I feel like there are less germs on an outside playground where the sun can kill them than on the nasty indoor playgrounds at the mall and fast food restaurants, but the day ended up being 35 and rainy. Now I don't think all this snow will be gone until the pool opens on Memorial Day, so I guess I'd better get over my germophobia or else find some sort of nice sterile robot-child to help socialize and play with Emily because she'll end up going stir-crazy before long. It's really tough to protect a brand-new baby when you also have a 2 year old who periodically eats the ice out of the seafood displays at Giant and enjoys licking the freezer doors at Wal-Mart. If only kids were born knowing and practicing proper illness-avoidance procedures.
So until the weather warms up, I'll force myself to venture out periodically, but the bulk of my time will be spent snuggled up watching the best entertainment there is. No, not the Superbowl, or the Oscars, or even the Olympics, although I definitely need to find a way to watch all of those things. Not even Home on the Range (THE worst Disney movie ever) even though it plays at our house at least twice a day because it's Emily's favorite. I'll entertain myself by watching my kidlets grow and change day by day, and revel in how lucky I am to be able to do that.
1 comment:
That, and Rome.
Post a Comment