In case you didn't know...

Life with a baby isn't always roses and sunshine:

hee hee.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Second Time Around

Parenting the second time around is a little bit different. Yes, there's still the lack of sleep, the mountain of diapers, the spit up, the crying, and the love... but there's also so much more of the "whatever works" kind of attitude.

When Lili was born, I read and took all the advice about breastfeeding and took a stance firmly against pacifiers. Supposedly they only confuse babies. And no bottle feeding until 6 weeks old, that the bottle must come from daddy so as also not to confuse the baby. I took no advice from actual real life mothers who told me: Nah, give 'em a bottle from day one! That way they can never refuse it! What's wrong with pacifiers? Ton's of kids use 'em!

Lucky for us, Lili found her thumb and is now a bonafide thumbsucker. It's been a saving grace. She never loses it (except when it got cut that one time), and she can always decide when she wants it. We have yet to get to that stage where we need to wean her from it, so I have no comment there.

You've all read that Mira's a screamer. She gets very upset very quickly. She also sometimes wants comfort in the form of sucking but doesn't want any milk. How do I know this? Because I try to nurse her and she cries and comes off. And from me, there's no way to get no milk. There's a lot of milk there. So, in a fit of desperation yesterday, I shoved the dreaded pacifier into her mouth. And guess what? She liked it. And guess what else? She doesn't get confused between it and me. And lastly? It helps put her to sleep. In five minutes. As opposed to pacing around the house with her for 30 minutes or more to get her to sleep and then praying she doesn't wake up when you put her in her bed. It's amazing. It's a life saver. And I'm afraid I will become too dependent on it. Not her. Me! Where's the fine line? How and where and should I control the useage of it, or should I just say... Hey! It makes her happy, just use it! Thoughts? Suggestions? Experience? Pass it on to me, please!

she's even cute with the controversial orange thing in her mouth

Oh, and as for the bottle thing... She's had one from Keith (because I wasn't home!) and one from me, and it's working out great. Next time I need expert advice? I think I'll talk to someone who doesn't call themselves an "expert"...

Pregnancy Pal #2

Seems like I was pregnant and due around the same time as a lot of my friends! Here's us meeting set #2... An old friend growing up who happens to luckily live near us now had her baby boy about a day after Mira was born, and we got to meet J this morning:

mira's new boyfriend!

And, well, A and I definitely DON'T miss being pregnant:

I can't believe this was only about a month ago...

Dentist!

Okay, so I have no witty title for this post... But! Lili had her first dental cleaning this morning, and she was a rock star! While other kids wailed in the adjoining rooms, Lili opened her mouth wide and was a model patient through the whole thing. I rather think she enjoyed it. They started out staining her teeth pink to see where our problem brushing areas are, and Lili got to pick out a new (purple) toothbrush. She choose grape toothpaste for her cleaning, and she was enthralled by the orange dental floss. It was a very colorful visit overall, and she didn't complain once. I'm very proud of her.

Sisters!

After kind of a rough day, this is the kind of thing that melts the heart:



We had a busy fly by day. The morning whirled by, mostly because I slept until almost 9(!) thanks to Keith taking Mira early in the morning and then Lili later in the morning.

Lili and I spent the afternoon together at a High School production of "Cinderella", which was kind of fun during, but turned into total melt-down on the drive home because Lili was so tired.

Mira did very well at home with just daddy and didn't even need a bottle while we were gone. It gives me hope that I will get to see New Moon sometime soon.

But when we got home from the play, both girls were wailing and Keith and I were dragging. The rest of the evening was tough, as Mira wouldn't be put down at all, and so by bedtime we were all a little strung out.

When we tucked Lili in, she asked if Mira could lie in her bed too, and there you have it: the 2 minutes where no one was whining or crying, and we could appreciate being parents!

Womb Friend

Today, Mira (and Lili and I) got to meet a friend that we've been waiting for 9 months to meet! One of my friends from the Moms Club was due with her baby girl the same day as I was, but baby C was 5 days late. Her big sister, L is a good friend of Lili's and so we went over to their house this morning to meet Mira's new BFF and to let the new big sisters play together.

Amazingly, both babies were happy at the same time for a few minutes (C more than Mira) and so they hung out together while we cleaned up the playroom:


Lili and L were also occupied together for a while, coloring: