Simone's Concert

Simone had her last violin concert of the year last night. She plays well for a first year student, but I don't think she'll want to play next year. She prefers the piano, and she hates the concerts; she gets very very nervous. She stood up next to her classmates before they started and I could see how upset she was. The boy next to her made some jokes and helped her calm down a bit. It's funny, but she doesn't get that nervous when she's acting, even if she has to sing or dance. Maybe she feels better prepared for those, or feels he has more skill.

Andromeda was a good baby. I nursed her in the car before the show, and she didn't cry until the last song. I had her dance on my lap, and smiled, "Yay!" when everyone clapped. I wanted to show her that listening to music and clapping was happy fun even though it was loud and a bit startling.

Baby Reaches!

Andromeda reached for me for the first time yesterday! I think she knows her name, and she might understand "Daddy". Not so much "Mommy" but I understand that she might still think of herself as a part of me, and so Mommy doesn't have as much meaning. She's starting to take more concrete naps, but I don't want to say much about that. It seems whenever I mention Babby's sleep, she changes it, LOL. She naps best on my lap and often wakes when I put her down, though, and I don't want to jinx it, she does sleep in her crib at night.

Simone's Birthday

Simone's Birthday has gone well. We took her to her favorite deli for lunch, then got her pizza for dinner and cold stone for dessert. She got lots of nice presents (thanks to all who gave).

She's had a party at school, a party at Nana's, and she's to have a party at Cal Skate.

A New Ritual

Starting this week, though it may be irregular at first, I'll post one or two of Simone's favorite drawings per week.

This Moment--Napping

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama via the Leaky B@@B. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. (I'm late this week, sorry!)

This Moment - Highlights

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama via the Leaky B@@B. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The Murkiness of the Early Days

On the murkiness of the early days. I don't know if all new mothers experience something like this, while their lives are adjusting to the new course, but in the first few weeks after Andromeda's birth where like emerging from a fog. Perhaps it stems from lack of sleep, but I think it's more than that.

The first few weeks are what is traditionally called the "lying in" period. At first, a mother lies in bed to recover from birth. In our culture it is more admirable to jump right out of bed and try to go back to work, but I think mothers need this time, especially if they're breastfeeding. A mother must focus on feeding to regulate her supply and be successful at breastfeeding, and this can mean not getting up from bed/chair even if she feels like it because baby feeds almost constantly.

Then, a mother stays at home for a while, figuring out how to deal with baby along with the rest of her family, whether it is just her and baby, baby daddy, husband, older children, other housemates. Nothing will be the same ever again; it can't, there is a new person where no one existed before. This takes adjustment on everybody's part. The mother must figure out how to go to the bathroom, shower, eat, while taking care of baby. How does baby fit into everyone in the household's schedule?

For me, it was a time of frustration, lack of sleep, learning to breastfeed, getting used to everything. It was awesome, truly awesome. Ollin had to take Simone to school in the morning, and only I could feed Andromeda, so I did what I could to protect his sleep. Even so, our schedules took a beating. I'm proud that Simone didn't suffer; she was to school and home and to bed and up on time.

After the first few weeks, Andromeda began to sleep longer and more regularly, I learned how to breastfeed her well, and we got back into some of our old habits. Things did go back to normal; plus one.