She's been a delightful baby. She is in a very nice, predictable rhythm that started very early. I remember her spending most of our hospital stay in a dreamy, drowsy bliss... and we soaked that up and just focused on keeping her little tummy full (but not too full) and enjoying the quiet time with her. Once home though, I pretty immediately began encouraging "awake time" after each feeding during the day, and that quickly led to a nice pattern of spaced-out feedings, good napping, and nighttime sleepiness for her. (The same cannot be said for Elsa. I made the mistake of continuing to set my alarm in 3-hour increments and waking E up for night feedings well into her first month of life. I definitely blame that for the trouble we had getting her into a good rhythm of nighttime sleep.) With Ava being Baby #2, I feel like the bit of experience we now have under our belts has really helped us out! We feel confident about how to address her needs and soothe her when she's upset, confident about the eating and sleeping patterns we want to establish with her... and just overall equipped. And as a result, we're enjoying a very happy newborn!
One thing I love about the "eat, wake, sleep" method (as opposed to the "eat, sleep, wake" pattern... which often ends up being the default if mom and dad don't purposefully encourage the former) is that we get to enjoy Ava's awake time when her tummy is full and she is the most happy. She looks around, makes cooing noises, and is very peaceful. I know that if I were to let her just drift off into a nap immediatley after every feeding, I'd be missing her best (happiest) moments... and I'd have her awake during the moments she was starting to become hungry and fussy. Instead, she takes good, solid naps during those.
See what I mean? Full, happy, awake babies are so much fun!
You might recognize "eat, wake, sleep" as a Babywise principle. It is. But it's pretty much the only one I adhere to. I'm not a hardcore Babywise Nazi... I think that parents should snuggle, hold, feed, and enjoy their babies as much as possible while they can... and I think being too hardcore about Babywise can really mess with that when people get too hung up on it. But one thing I do enjoy is the predictability of knowing that baby is able to eat according to a loose schedule and is able to wait a few hours between feedings instead of every hour or something... that would drive me crazy.
Change of subject: There have been many unexpected perks of not nursing. It's a lot easier to pull on whatever clothing I want each morning, without having to worry about ease of access to my boobs. It's also nice that Chris can take charge of various feedings when I need a little break (on weekends he even takes the 4am shift, woohoo!) And of course I can vividly remember the painful knots that would form in my mammary glands when I was too engorged with milk... I don't miss that. And as for the bonding: I still feel like feedings are a special bonding time with Ava, even without the nursing element. I still get to hear her sweet noises and be close to her for 20 quiet minutes, multiple times a day. I'll take it. No complaints here, except that I wish she could receive 100% breast milk, just for health reasons.
One other funny thing, one night about a week ago, I felt "phantom" let-down pain. It was the middle of the night and I was feeding Ava a bottle in the dark. She was making little sucking noises and her head was resting against my left breast, and all of a sudden I felt the "let-down" sensation on that side. And it stuck around for awhile! Such an interesting and odd thing... I wonder what the science is behind that?
Another interesting thing about Ava that's different from Elsa... we've discovered that Ava does not prefer the Rock n' Play sleeper/bassinet thingy. She sleeps much better flat on her back (rather than inclined.) It's a good thing I'm married to Chris, who is able to scientifically approach problems and suggest solutions. Ava was acting so fussy and cranky at night when she'd sleep next to our bed in the Rock n' Play... and then she'd nap great in her crib during the day. It never occurred to me that she might be uncomfortable in the R&P (my brain was just stuck on the fact that Elsa slept so well in it.) But sure enough, the night we moved her to a pallet flat on our floor, she slept SOOO much better (and longer between feedings!)
Now for a few Elsa reflections. She is growing so much in these few short weeks since Ava joined us! What I mean is that she's learning new mannerisms as she shifts from only-child to big sister. She loves to hold, rock, and burp her stuffed animals now. She loves to put them down for "tummy time." She's very intuitive... when Ava cries, she runs to find her a pacifier. One morning, Ava was crying because she was hungry, so Elsa and I went in to get her up. Elsa leaned over the bassinet and started saying something to Ava, and when I got closer I realized she was saying, "I knnnoooowwwww... I knnnoooowwwww." (Which I realized is something I say to Ava when she is upset.) How funny that Elsa noticed it and was trying to use the same phrase! I'm noticing that Elsa takes her cues from me and Chris about lots of things. She holds both Ava's cheeks and gives her big juicy kisses and says things like, "That's my baby sister!" which I can only guess she gets from watching/listening to us.
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Another Elsa reflection (not necessarily Ava-related) is her intuition/perceptiveness. She picks up on EVERYthing. (Maybe this trait is common to all toddlers, but I feel like Elsa is especially perceptive.) If you are three rooms away and you stub your toe and inhale sharply, she calls out "WHAT HAPPENED?!?" from the other room. If you say, 'Aw man!" under your breath, she'll stop what she's doing and say, "Are you okaaaay?" It never fails.
One more thing I want to remember about Elsa. She loves to dance! Loves it! She gets so excited when music of any kind starts playing, because that's her cue to start turning in circles. I definitely want to enroll her in a dance class when she turns 3. :)
So anyway, we're slowly getting the hang of life these days. I feel a bit cabin feverish, because I've only recently turned a corner in my recovery and felt good enough to move around more freely without pain/irritation "down there." Another reason for my cabin fever is my own hermit-like tendancies... I usually think it's way too much trouble to bother with getting diaper bags packed up, and both babies dressed and in carseats to go somewhere, hence we've gone practically nowhere. It's a double-edged sword because going nowhere is starting to drive me crazy... but going out isn't appealing when it involves so much hassle (and also screwing with Ava's awake/asleep time.) Speaking of cabin fever, Chris is going to stay home with the girls tonight so that I can enjoy going out to dinner with friends. Looking forward to that!
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