Saturday, March 29, 2014

Postpartum crazies

Tired and shoulda gone to bed a while ago (down #1), I ask Dylan to remind me about details of this potential getaway week in July because that's nice to think about before bed. He does (up #1), and then I remind myself that this means Adeline will live in routine-less chaos until then (down #2). There's so much going on between now and when she's 6 months old that there's no time to cater to the details of when she's napping (down #3). We have to pack this house, find a new one, unpack there, welcome Susan & Gerry, go to the beach with the Brauds, go to Philly for a wedding (!), keep unpacking, and then have another week somewhere else (down #4). Then I told him, "By then, Ada's 6 months old, and summer will be almost over ... which doesn't happen in New Orleans! <insert awesome happy dance here> (up #2,3,4,5)

The "ups" win.

Success after a hard week

Friday was excellent. It was made possible, of course, by 2 morning cups-a coffee and an afternoon tea, though, after an impossible (slight exaggeration...) 2 nights with Adeline. Given her pretty good track record, Thursday night's cry-eat-scream cycle that lasted hours seemed ridiculous, and we only slept from 2-5am. So back to the good day, right? The Momtime group I go to Fridays was cancelled for Spring Break, so we improv'd our own Momtime, complete with a quiche, monkey bread, coffees, and fruit. Heidi+Molly and Nicole+Will were over for most of the morning. It's great to see Paul play with a little boy! Seems all his contemporaries are girls, and he discovered that a friend loves cars as much as he does? Wow! Shortly after they left, I put Paul down for his nap - just put him in bed and walked out! - and I nursed Ada down. Both. Kids. Asleep. Simultaneously. I was so excited I couldn't sleep, so I read instead. It was awesome. After naps, there were lots of coos and laughs; Paul's even started laughing at Ada's funny noises. Dylan came home in the evening, we had our Friday skype session with Susan & Gerry, had a fish dinner, and put Paul to bed at 8. And Ada went down at 9:30 after only mild evening crying. Whooooa - quiet house at 9:30?!

We slept great - all of us. It's incredible what that can do! We sat down to a blueberry pancake breakfast and enjoyed a little outside time - it got into the high 40s. Spring's definitely near, so say all the budding trees and grass, even though there are still mounds of collected snow.

The uplifting tail of the week came after a pretty rough one for me. I'm sitting here trying to think of what to relate that could've been "that bad", and nothing is even coming to me. Perhaps I blocked it out or perhaps nothing was really all that bad; I just felt worn out and that "is this how my life is going to be forever?" feeling.

But with days and nights like yesterday's and today's, I hope so!



I forgot to mention the 2 month check-up (and vaccines! which added to the week's sufferings, I'm sure). Adeline weighed in on Tuesday at a whopping 9lbs 13oz, is 22 inches long and has a 15 in head =). Atta girl!
(For comparison's sake, and since they have the same birthdate, Paul, who was 8#4oz, 21.25" long, and had a 14" head at birth, weighed 11lbs 8oz & was 24" long at 2 months.)

Saturday, March 22, 2014

3 weeks down

Eventually I'll stop counting the weeks managed but probably only once it feels more normal, which will likely include cooking again, nap routines, etc. <--- I wrote that sentence as early as Monday or Tuesday and saved it as a draft, but here I am on Saturday the 22nd already feeling a bit more normal. The meals brought by the Momtime-moms have finished, and I'm already seeing bits of time where I will be able to cook. Focusing on that may seem silly to some, but preparing the family meal together with Paul was such a focus of our day before Adeline; and doing it together was always satisfying because he could be included and "help" while I could spend time "playing" with him as well as doing something productive and enjoyable myself. I've really missed it. I did take just him grocery shopping once, and that was nice! Funny how taking a toddler to the store seemed so easy when just 3 months ago it was a bit difficult.

Now, to recount the week ... welp, the weekend started with a touch of mastitis. I rolled my eyes in yet-another-thing fashion, but keeping it empty and using a warm compress actually fought it off! Hoorah. We were late for Mass - again. Been the trend for, oh, 'bout 8 weeks now. We celebrated St. Patrick's day (barely) with homemade shamrock cookies and a Finnigans. (Sidenote: another reason I'm antsy to get back in the kitchen is so that we can get back on board with following the liturgical year feasts via FEAST! We'd only just begun at Advent.) Dylan spent Wednesday in the Cities for a lawyer continuing education thing ... which made my day very long. He's been very giving, though, in taking Ada in the evenings, and I've gone to bed shortly after Paul this week. Starting to kick the fatigue, I think. We've been working on his bedtime, though, too, trying to back it up. I've long since limited his nap to only an hour and a bit so that he can go to sleep at night at a reasonable hour, but we're still getting him down just before 9 sometimes. He's nuts. We're trying. 

Paul. Paul is the best big brother. Have I mentioned that before?? He swayed to music holding his baby doll like I held Ada, and he tried to share his pancake with her. He always has to kiss her g'nap or g'night, and he even airplaned his own cookie to himself. Ok, so that doesn't have to do with being a brother, but it's pretty funny. He also participates on Skype a lot more now - he says "herrrOOOO ___", and says most of our families' names! Then he promptly says buh-bye. We'll work on that. He's been saying so much lately. Oh, and we gave him his 2nd haircut. A much better one since I've had much more practice on Dylan since the first (mistake). 


Adeline is growing; gosh, she's growing. She smiles! But only when I make "seriousface" at her. And she coos, too. She's been with us a whopping 8 weeks now - an old pro. Really, though, those eyebrows and contemplative looks - we can't get over them.


Perhaps I should mention - officially - that we're looking to move to New Orleans. Before June. We're scouting the local realtors' websites for rentals, and we've decided to put off buying until we know the areas well and Dylan, ya know, has a job. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

2nd week alone success

The difference between Pre-Kids and Kids
  • pre-kids: appointment at 10:05. Current time 9:35. Oh, good, I can make a quick grocery run before getting to the doctor on time.
  • with kids: appointment time 10:05. Current time 9:35. Oh-mah-gosh, let's go! Shoot, we're gonna be late. Man, diaper change. Shoes? Ok, where's your coat?
That was our scene on Tuesday before Paul's 2-year check-up. We did actually barely make it in time. And then had to wait. In any case, Paul's healthy! He's a little skinny-man =), but we knew that. He's 26 lbs, 34 inches tall, and has a noggin the size of a desk globe at 20 inches. That's the 20th, 25th, and 85th percentile, respectively. Lots of brains in there. And he's so sweet - he curls up behind the nook of my knee with his Decke (blanket) when I nurse Ada on the sofa. I made a memory there, for sure.

Adeline sure is changing! She's even given us smiles and, I believe, a first (precious) coo.

This is how I've managed so far: Paul gets up around 7ish, and we dress and get breakfast just the two of us. Afterwards is my "Paul time" until he cries out excitedly "Beebee!" at hearing her cry. Lil' Bit stays asleep until about 9ish when she either wakes up on her own or I need to wake her (for a doc visit, Paul's class, or Momtime ... seems I wake her on those days, but when she has all the time in the world, she wakes herself then anyway). She nurses and then sleeps more until Paul's down for his nap, which has worked out very well, if I may say so myself. Even if she'd been awake and stays so through lunch, Dylan bounces her over lunch, and she falls asleep. Then, she conveniently wakes about 20-30 minutes into Paul's nap, leaving me with that time to doze myself. Yes. When she wakes, she nurses and then has some "free time" on the floor in front of the fire. Once Paul wakes, we either read, play, or head outside for a walk. A walk? This week's had walking weather, I know! There were 2 days in the 40s+, so we met (very pregnant) Heidi and little Molly for a walk on those days, Paul in the Burley & Ada in the Moby. We all anxiously wait for Dylan to get home, and then there's family play time ... more like getting ready for dinner and/or doing laundry and, this week, giving haircuts. 6 o'clock is dinnertime - delivered twice this week, thank you!! - and we've been working on backing up Paul's bedtime, so he's bathed at 7 and is hopefully asleep by 8:15 or so. Little Miss Adeline is a night owl, though, and keeps us on our toes - literally. Making laps around the dining table - until about 10 or 10:30. Then she gifts us with a 4-6 hr stretch of sleep. 


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Welcome!

Thanks for reading and getting to know the Knolls. The States-side Knolls, anyway. Dylan and I love and live with 2-year-old Paul and 6-week-old Adeline in Minnesota, and I'm starting this blog in an effort to keep you, our dear family and friends, in touch with our goings-on ~ now that they've gotten a little crazier with the addition of baby #2. This first entry will be a recap of life since little Ada joined us, but please visit Tiny Busy Bee for a summary of her busy birthday weekend back in January.

Since then, we've seen 6 people to visit, one fall in an icy parking lot, one smashed pair of glasses, 8 cases of stomach flu, a baptism, 3 delayed and/or cancelled flights, icy driving conditions, the bar exam, at least 3 nights of inconsolable newborn crying, 2 nights of 6 hr sleep, delivered meals, the first week home alone with 2 kiddos, and Ada's first smile. Plus a bunch of other little things, but those are the major ones that stick out.

Now for a few details. Nana visited, joined by Gran Susan and then Pappy, Tante Ginny, Uncle Pete, and Uncle Ryan. With the exception of Susan and Ryan, everyone suffered from a 24-hr(ish) stomach flu, starting with Paul and working its way through the family to me, Dylan, Ada, Nana, Ginny, Peter, and finally Pappy. It was horrendous and needs no further chronicling. Better to discuss why all these folks were up in Minnesota in the first place during one of the nastiest winters in a very long time: Adeline's Baptism! She was baptized by Fr. Jim Steffes at St. Augustine's on February 16th, and it was lovely to be able to share that with the family - especially Gin & Pete, her godparents.

After her baptism, both of Paul & Ada's grandmothers got to spend a little more time with them while the others flew back South. Once Susan could finally return to Australia (after many changes of plans given the weather!), Dylan left for New Orleans for a week of taking the Louisiana bar exam, after which he enjoyed his very first (very small) taste of real Mardi Gras. He even brought me home a piece of king cake for my own tasting. Then Nana went back home after her longest stretch of being away from home - away from my dad and her dogs for 4+ weeks! 

Next up on the challenge list (as if the previous glitches weren't enough in the early postpartum weeks) was to manage both Paul and Adeline all by myself during Dylan's work day. How was I supposed to do it? Literally do it? Where does one go when the other needs x? How can I prepare lunch, just sandwiches? In an effort to help me ease the transition, Dylan came home for lunch everyday last week. Just to break up the day, if nothing else. But we 3 did alright! Out of 5 days, I only had one hairy naptime -- just had to figure out the Paul wants Ada next to him when he naps. And the other tasks just got slowly done. It obviously doesn't hurt that Dylan has neither bar prep nor study to do in the evenings anymore, so he took on much more. It's been awesome!

And now Adeline's 6 weeks old, that arbitrary, nonsensical date when things magically return to some degree of normalcy and "postpartum" is no longer a necessary label; someone at church even said she's not a newborn anymore. Anyway. It's been 6wks since our lives drastically changed, and they have indeed taken on a (slightly) more normal feel. I do still wonder how I'll manage to cook like I did pre-baby #2 ... but I guess I wondered that after baby #1!

Please sign-up to follow this new blog, and you'll receive an email (I think) when I update, which I intend to do once a week or thereabout.

Our good friends in St. Paul, Pete & Denise, came down for a visit this weekend and shot some (excellent!) photos of us all. Here, a few examples: