Life with Alex at one week

Tuesday--We are all adjusting to little Alexander and his place in our lives.  He has been surprisingly mellow and only cries hard when he is offended by a diaper change or a sponge bath.  Of course, no one lets him cry hard.  We pick him up, replace a pacifier which he really likes, and give him to his mom who is doing great at nursing the fourth time around. 

Life slows down.  I have been content to just sit and hold him or lie down and look at him.  Right now I am drinking a cup of tea--not my usual "cup of tea."  But it seems right for now. 

We get through the nights.  Michael takes a turn, Laura takes a turn, and I have taken an early am turn when Alex joins me in my bed.  Laura's night is especially interrupted into fragments but we try to get her the rest that we can.  I have the feeling of those memories of never sleeping as one would like--partially because of the little guy--and partially because I so much want to sleep that it doesn't come easily. 

Ruth just observed that Alex is not in her mommy's tummy any more and he is not going to pop back in.  Laura agreed.

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Thursday--I think I blog when life is quiet.  Life is not quiet here all that often.  It is quiet this morning with the three older ones in school and Alex sleeping somewhat restlessly near me.

I do want to remember some things about this week and this will help.

The older children are very affectionate to Alex and love to see him and touch him.  Ruth, in particular, has expressed a frequent need for her mother to do things for her, but I think she is often that way.   This morning for example, she said, "I want Mommy to put the butter on my waffle," and there was no way to appease her.  Yesterday she expressed her feelings directly to Laura, "You're always doing things with the baby."  At that point, I took the baby--even though Laura was desperate to nurse him--and Laura snuggled with Ruth.  Ruth pretended to nurse her monkey while Laura nursed Alex, but her helpful big brother pointed out that he was at her belly button and that was the wrong place!

The days go pretty well with the help of  Promise, a wonderful nanny.  Laura has hired marvelous nannies.  She does so with great care and pays them well.

 The bedtimes are not smooth.  I try to help with baths, snacks, and cuddles, but sometimes it is accepted more from Grandma than others.  Jasper and Ruth do not need much sleep; Sam is easier to settle down.  I try to protect Laura from their meltdowns but it is not always easy. 

Alex is one week old.  He has regained his birth weight and more and the doctor said they could skip the one month check up and wait until two months.  Laura particularly timed her appointment for the doctor who has six kids of her own and would be more "chill."  I had great joy in going along with her to see how well Alex is doing. 

I slept better last night--looked at the clock virtually every hour--but went right back to sleep.  Some would call that a bad night--for me, it was just fine.  I might even be so bold as to drive to downtown Philly and visit the Museum of Art. 

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A successful trip on I-76 downtown and back to the Museum where I saw the African-American exhibit (not as many Jacob Lawrences as I had hoped) and also the large and famous Eakins paintings of the Gross Clinic and the Adkins Clinic--seen many times in books. I liked this Hicks painting of The Peaceable Kingdom 

Jim scanned my lasagna recipes and I made supper tonight.  It was pretty good!