Time flies when you're changing diapers and rocking little ones to sleep...Our little Erica is 1 month old today, and it's weird to have this happen so soon, but it's hard to think back on how Laura and I spent our time before Erica arrived!
I don't even know where to begin to find words to wrap up and describe this first month because it has been so awesome! The only bad thing that I can speak of is our lack of sleep...and I'm a huge wimp with this. Laura has taken the night shift for me, and has only awaken me on occasion to help her get Erica back to sleep...she has been such a trooper with her middle of the night feedings. I've only lost a little over an hour on some nights, but apparently I need all the beauty sleep I can get! She has been a pretty good sleeper...once she gets to sleep! Some nights she'll give us anywhere from 3-5 hours of straight sleep, and our record is almost 6 hours straight!!!
Laura has been such a champ. I remind her daily how awesome she is at being a new mom. She gets Erica fed like a pro, and Erica has this funny, almost drunk-like look in her eyes after particularly long feedings...and then she has these lazy eyes as if she just finished eating a huge Thanksgiving feast! She's also developed a routine of feeding and making a huge mess in her pants at the same time!!! For me, since I can't feed her, she torments me by getting changed and then immediately have major dumps in her pants...sometimes before I can even get her back into her clothes! She is also a puking machine! We're starting to figure out her habits/behaviors. After a feeding, if she won't burp or spit up, she'll get cranky within 20 minutes and then scream until she pukes a ton or poops. At night, she'll usually take at least a half hour to get her back to sleep. She seems to keep herself awake in fear of missing out ("FOMO" as a friend of mine has called it after dealing with this with her infant son). With other advice from friends, I've had some luck swaddling her up tight, with her arms wrapped up and she goes out pretty quickly then. She never likes her arms bundled, but at night, her arms get flying and she seems to work herself up. However, once those arms are tucked into a blanket, she seems to relax much easier!
I can't thank all of our friends and family enough for all the things they've done for us and given us this past month. It's definitely humbling to know how many people care about our little family and we are truly lucky to have all of them (all of you!) in our lives! It's safe to say, Erica will not have a shortage of clothes for the next 3-6 months, blankets and other essentials for a long time to come! The gifts seem to come in waves...we seem to finally get caught up on a round of "Thank You" cards, and then another batch of gifts come in, after we figured we couldn't get any more...our friends and family surprise us with more!
My life as a teacher has resumed for almost 3 weeks now. My first day back was the first day I've ever had that I didn't want to go to work as a teacher! Each day seems to drag on and I feel like I'll never make it home to see my girls. The students are sweet and ask about her often, and they're curious as to when they will get to meet her. The funniest thing has happened in my classroom since Erica arrived...If you recall from an earlier post, we loved the relaxing music in the hospital. When we got home, we missed it. I asked a friend what she did for music with her newborn and she told me about a radio station on Pandora called "Rockabye Baby"...it plays lullaby versions classic rock songs and other recognizable tunes like some Journey, AC/DC, and "Wonderful World" and other timeless hits mixed in for good measure. Well, my students have been given some time in class to work on projects, and I asked them if they wanted some music on while working. I told them about the station and they weren't too happy about it...but when I put it on, they started to like it. I've played it quite a bit since then, and we've started to play little games to see if they recognize the tunes that are playing! I'm not sure if this link will work, but if it does, see if you like the tunes from Pandora... http://www.pandora.com/station/play/1390215588345370273 The best part of my day is coming home to my girls. I always greet Lexi first and get her hugs and kisses before heading in to see Laura and Erica for some more hugs and kisses.
Erica seems to be growing a little more each day. Her days in her little plastic tub from the hospital for her baths are numbered. Almost 2 weeks ago, she weighed 9lbs 7oz. Yesterday she had her 1 month check up, and she weighed 10lbs 2 oz and was 23 inches long! Apparently, she's a little lean, but off the charts with her height when compared with her weight. It's great to have a healthy baby! She's already starting to outgrow some of her sleepers too!
Lexi is adjusting well to Erica too. From her first night of staying far away from her after the initial sniffs, to licking her hands each time she's near her in hopes of hitting the jackpot of dried up puke or drool!!! She also ventures into her room while she's in her crib and just looks around to make sure everything is alright. We still keep a close eye on her when she's around Erica, but it's cool to see how she is coming around. Erica sometimes startles when Lexi barks, and Lexi sometimes gets sick of hearing Erica cry for extended periods of time.
Laura took Erica home to North Dakota last weekend by herself. I went turkey hunting (I bagged a good sized Tom, and helped my dad call in one for himself too!) while she went on her own adventure. Erica slept the whole way to Fargo, and then slept the rest of the 2 hours to her grandparents house. She spent the weekend being passed from arms to arms, getting her picture taken countless times and going to church for the first time. Her great grandparents loved meeting her for the first time, and her grandparents were happy to see her again as well. The trip back wasn't so easy. Laura had to stop before getting to Fargo for a feeding and a couple of diaper changes, and then had to stop south of St. Cloud to feed, get pooped on and then had to stop in Maple Grove to cool Erica down from a hot back seat (our SUV doesn't have vents, and the airflow wasn't too great, and the sun was on her for a while...both Laura and I felt bad for her!). Laura said she'd never do that trip alone again, but after doing the math and calculating a perfect trip 1 way, and a crappy trip the other way, it averaged out to a descent road trip and one hell of a display of Laura's fierce independence and willingness to take on any challenge while still being an awesome mom!!!
Well, I wish I had more updates or detailed stories to tell...but it's all been so great. Both of my girls are healthy and happy...and Lexi seems happy too! Being a dad is waaaaay better than I thought it'd be...and words can't quite describe why, but I've noticed that all the other dads I talk with know what I'm talking about!!! Thank you all so much for reading my Daddy Diary. When I have more time, and don't need to be attending to Erica or something around the house, I promise I'll try to spice up these posts a bit. Thanks for your best wishes, thoughts, and/or prayers. Take care!
PS...enjoy some pictures...
Erica with grandma, mom, and her great grandparents...one of her namesakes, Great grandma Jean
Hanging out with great grandpa Frank
Enjoying the April snow with dad!!!
bro great job on being a dad
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