my last day as a mother of one {Part 2 of 2}

Exactly two weeks ago today I gave birth to our precious little baby Gil, an adorable bundle of love.  Of course, that bundle of love has currently had me dancing for the last two hours to keep him happy and get him to go back to sleep.  (Welcome to my new life!)  While I would never go back to live without this precious baby, I must admit that this day I am in the process of chronicling — my last day as a mother of one — is looking very restful right now!

I know this last day with just Lena and myself was an unusually good one; we had no errands or activities on our plate and spent the entire day enjoying each other, mother and daughter, and peacefully playing, eating, walking, and talking together.  I also know that these days will come again, perhaps in six months or so, once Lena and I and Gil all have a routine.  But until then, this day with just Lena and myself is very much a thing of the past, even though it still seems close enough to relive in the blink of an eye.

Anyway, back to the agenda at hand.  We’re picking up again at lunch, where I had leftovers (veggie enchiladas and blood orange salad) and Lena had Ramen (so easy…), blueberries, and yogurt.  We shared an apple.

Lena: “My?”  (Meaning “more” noddles.)

Me: Drink your soup, Lena, and then you can have more.

Lena: *gulp gulp gulp*

After lunch I got to wash the lunch dishes, something which I knew then would be impossible with two little children.  (I was right.  So far it is impossible.)  Lena occupied herself for a few minutes while I did this… apparently by climbing back up into her high chair and shaking her water cup upside down.

I try to make my household tasks into a game and include Lena as much as I can.  Helps me get more done!  In this case I had to get the stubs of candle out of the top of the candlesticks.  She enjoyed playing with the bowl of warm water while I dug out the soft wax.  Then we set up the candlesticks with fresh candles to be ready for dinner that night.

Time to do something that she wants to do.  We spent the next hour or so playing on the living room rug.  One part of playtime was all 150 blocks through the shape sorter.  Whew!

Siena, our Maine Coon kitten and ever-present companion.

Bathroom break.  Lena’s playing with a jar of chocolate chips, one of which will be her “teet” (treat) when she is finished.  We’ve since moved to giving her a goldfish after each successful trip to the toilet, which works extremely well if you only dole out goldfish as a reward!  She loves them and always wants the parent who is with her to enjoy a goldfish as well.

Good girl… cleaning up after herself.

And back to playing, this time with the kitty and also the punch and drop toy we got her for Christmas.

Naptime again!  These very yellow photos are due to the mellow, sleep-inducing (we hope) lamplight in her room.  Siena snuggles down in her new favorite spot until I nudge her out so I can snuggle there with Lena for storytime.

Two naps in one day… I know I’m blessed!  I use the 1.5 hours to clean the bathroom…

… put a few more things in my bag for the hospital…

… and do some dinner prep.  On tonight’s menu: Sausage, Potato, and Fennel Chowder with fresh sausage from a butcher in town.

She’s up again!  Someone’s happy to see her.

She helps me finish up a little dusting, which for her means using a paper towel for about 3 seconds before announcing that it is “tash” (trash) and running off with it to find a garbage can.

Back to the kitchen to finish up dinner before Elliott gets home from work.  Lena tries a sip of my “doose” (juice), Pom and sparkling water.  She’s not a huge fan.

We’re in the bathroom again when Daddy walks in!  Lena runs to him for a hug, telling him excitedly that she just earned another “teet,” which earns an extra enthusiastic hug and kiss from him.

I stopped taking pictures at this point.  I think I thought the routine would be the same with two babies as with one once Elliott got home.  But I forgot that newborns don’t go to sleep at 7:30pm and wake up at 7am like Lena does.  I forgot that they like to be held, especially while you’re eating dinner.  I forgot what it’s like to put your baby in the Moby wrap and rock from one foot to the other while you wash the dinner dishes.  I forgot that I might be nursing a newborn in the evenings while Elliott and I are watching Downton Abbey or dong Bible study together or attempting to blog.  Basically… I think I conveniently didn’t realize how much a newborn would transform our whole lives, not just the 9-5 weekdays that Lena and I spent together.

So yes, the newborn is here.  Gil is here, all adorable 8.5 lbs of him, with his beautiful thick hair and sleepy blue eyes.  He has completely transformed our lives in every way, and it is taking an enormous amount of sacrifice so far.  We’ve sacrificed having free hands.  We’ve sacrificed our free evenings.  We’ve sacrificed sleep… oh, so much sleep.  We’ve sacrificed snuggles with our daughter (and turned them into double snuggles, which aren’t always easy to do!).

But we’ve gained so much.  Welcome, little Gil.  How will our days look with you in our pictures?