One month

I am pretty stoked to report that we have officially made it through the first month. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to be able to very quickly report the same on the 2nd month. Newborns are just not my jam.

Don't get me wrong--it is pretty amazing to get to do some serious snuggling with the likes of Beatrice.

The first month of Bea's life was pretty sublime compared to Matilda's (at least from my perspective). And I hate to compare. But Bea was a champion nurser, finishing her meals in record time and making it much more reasonable to consider nursing her anywhere.

Because of the above, she started sleeping longer at night much quicker. We were getting pretty solid 5 hour stretches within a week (8P-Midnight or 1AM). She didn't require any hoochie coochie or paci plugging in between night feedings. But went back down relatively easy.

And during the day...there was lots of sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

Beatrice has an expression of curiosity when she is awake. Always raising her eyebrows..

..as if to say, "Oh hey, Mama. Whatchya doin'?"

Nate and I have declared the first 8 weeks as survival mode. Which for us means no apologies for take-out, pick-up or PB&J dinners. Bedtimes that have an 8 in the beginning of them. And really honest conversations about what we need to keep surviving. Like my request for some Bea-free time tonight.

One of the requests from Nate was some extended nights at work so he could get caught up. He has been doing amazing getting home to help out with the witching hours.

And so, Pop Pop was called up to duty and he headed up to Minneapolis to get the three girls. The morning we left he got strapped with a 3 hour Bea nap....tough tough work.

And then, just a few days before Beatrice's 1 month birthday, we went for our first road trip back to Viroqua. And this time, Mom got to try her hand at a Bea snooze in the Moby.

Just before 4 weeks, Bea got struck with some serious witching hour infliction. Lots of soothing required. And her soothing of choice seems to change frequently. It was moby wraps and disco music/dancing. And the last few nights it's cool weather and a paci. So we keep trying things. And she definitely keeps letting us know if we are right or now.

Unfortunately, Bea also had her first Readycare appointment this month as Typhoid Tillie brought home a nasty cold and pink-eye. And so we had our first trip to the doctor where BOTH girls were seen a mere week after we were home from the hospital....

And so we celebrate the first month coming to a close. And the fact that we are still standing as a family of 4 (and that we have avoided Matilda crushing Bea's skull to this point). The good thing about the second time around is that you have full knowledge of all that is to come. And yes there are some "oh yeah, we have to do that again...", but from what we have learned, it just keeps getting better.