Life Since Noah

My boys at Thanksgiving dinner.

I can't believe that Noah is one month old already! Time has gone by so fast, even faster than it felt when Joey was this little. My whole maternity leave has felt like one long weekend, what with not going to work. Dan's been back to work since the week after Noah was born, and we don't always have someone over visiting so frequently it is just me and the boys. I love saying that, "the boys". Plural because I have more than one, such a blessing! I don't get nearly as much done around the house as I did before, even while 40 weeks pregnant I still managed to do some things. The only chores that get done on any kind of a regular basis are laundry (for what should be obvious reasons) and dishes because we don't have that many place settings to begin with. Other than that, I'm lucky if I get to vacuum once a month. Luckily, Noah likes being worn and I can put him in the sling and actually not be stuck on the couch the entire time Dan is at work. Some days. Other days I am stuck on the couch with the exception of going to the bathroom or getting food for Joey.

I wouldn't have it any other way though. They're close enough in age that they will (hopefully) get along most of the time as they grow up. Joey is already a fantastic big brother, he tries to share his toys and likes to come over and "talk" to Noah. Joey has also been spotted attempting to give Noah fist bumps, so sweet! This isn't to say that Joey has been an absolute angel since we brought Noah home, he is still a toddler and just because we brought him a brother doesn't make him any less of a toddler. We still deal with crying fits on a daily basis, thankfully though they happen at home *most* of the time, but overall he is still a great kid (as if I could say anything else about my own child). Today I caught him spitting milk on the carpet (something that happens more frequently than I'd like to admit, we can't figure out why he does it) and took his milk cup away from him and told him for the millionth time not to do it. I couldn't get to the soggy milk carpet puddle right away, but before I could do anything, Joey comes over with a burp cloth and starts wiping the carpet himself! He got hugs and kisses and a high five from me for doing such a good job (he actually missed the puddle completely, but we hadn't even asked him to clean it up so the thought totally counts!). This wasn't the first incident of cleaning either, he's actually pretty helpful when it's something easy. The other day, he had pulled all of the wipes out of the case and they were all over the living room. While I was putting them back (seriously, they go on butts, they don't need to be sterile), Joey ran around and brought me each and every one to put back in the case, without me asking him to! He's also helped my grandmother sweep her patio, I may have to invest in toddler-size cleaning tools...

Noah is doing fabulously! He was 9lbs 12oz at his 1 month checkup, which is 2lbs 11oz above his birth weight! He's still wearing NB-sized clothes, though some of the 0-3mo stuff is starting to fit, 3mo is too big but probably not for much longer. He pretty much nurses and sleeps all day long, but his awake periods are getting longer and we've started to get hints of social smiles from him, but nothing caught on camera so far! I love love love gummy, baby smiles and it looks like Noah is going to have dimples like his brother and daddy *heart melting*. He's also a champion pooper like his brother, nearly every single diaper I change is a poopy one, good grief! It was several months before Joey switched to his every-few-days schedule, in the beginning it was just like this. I would like at least a few changes in a row to require only one wipe, that would be nice. I do have to say that Noah's diapers are considerably better in the smell department than Joey's are (thank you solid foods, /sarcasm). I keep meaning to pull out my cloth diapers and see if Noah fits them yet so we don't have to buy quite as many, since we're now buying for two kids. I get big boxes at BJ's where they're cheaper, but it's still pricey. I am thankful that we're not buying formula, both for financial reasons and health reasons. Joey only just recently had his first cold--the first time ever that he was sick! Going over a year without being sick once is pretty amazing and I'd like to keep that trend going with Noah and hoping to get through this cold/flu seasons without any more illnesses for Joey too.

Christmas is in a few days and I'm so excited! This is the first year that Joey will have some idea of what's going on. He doesn't really know who Santa is yet or what the deal with the presents is, but he loves seeing the decorations everywhere we go and he especially loves Christmas trees. Also pulling ornaments off the trees, we have to watch him with that. He likes opening presents, he still doesn't care so much about what's inside, he just looks for more paper to tear. Christmas morning will be fun :) Maybe next Christmas I'll have finished knitting stockings for ALL of us, I'm super slacking, only Dan and Joey have stockings right now. Even then, Joey's doesn't have his name on it yet and Dan doesn't know where his is. We're super on top of this haha. I'm almost done with gifts, just a few finishing touches on a couple and I'll be done. Yesterday we braved the crowd and the late bedtime and took both boys to a friend's "End of The World Party" (supposedly the world was going to end yesterday according to some ancient civilization's calendar) and we had a blast! Joey was exceptionally good about not pulling their ornaments off their tree and entertained himself by eating chips and climbing up and down their stairs. Noah slept almost the whole time, only woke up to eat once and I took that opportunity to change him as well. I loved getting out of the house and talking to other adults, it would have been nice to stay longer but we opted to head home prior to any major meltdowns from Joey (who was slightly upset to leave, but not as bad as he could have been had we waited longer). Our plan was mostly a success, Joey fell asleep in the car on the way home but woke up a bit later. I'll have to talk about our night time routine a little later, but Noah is asleep right now and I'd like to take advantage of that and knit with this awesome yarn Lyndsay loaned me to see if I like it :)

Knitting Bucket List

As I sit here and rock Noah to sleep (eventually please??), I'm looking at pictures of my past knitting projects and wondering if there's any kind of "bucket list" out there for knitters of things every knitter "should" learn or do. I'm finding diddly squat other than Pinterest boards and blog posts. So, here's another blog post with my personal knitting bucket list:

1. Knit a sweater

2. Knit a sweater that I'll actually wear more than twice - cardigan in progress, that's a sweater!

3. Knit a scarf

4. Knit myself a scarf - need to just suck it up and finish one

5. Learn how to do cables

6. Learn how to do lace











 7. Knit a shawl














8. Knit a pair of mittens

9. Knit a pair of socks - I knit two Christmas stockings, that's a pair!

10. Knit myself a pair of socks

11. Actually finish knitting something for my kids

12.Knit a blanket


































13.Knit a hat


























14. Learn how to do stripes - see previous pictures, I love stripes!

15. Finish a colorwork project

16. Quit my job and open a yarn store - I wish!

17. Learn how to double-knit

 
More later, the baby's finally sleepy and so am I!

Noah's Arrival - Part 2

After Noah was born, I did have to get out of the tub to get cleaned up. Of course at that point, I was holding my new baby so I didn't care where I was. With the help of the midwives and Dan and my doula, while holding Noah, I got out of the tub, was toweled off, given a blanket for Noah and walked over to the bed. Walking was not fun, but I was soon given ice packs and things started to feel a little better once they were numb ;) Noah and I stayed skin-to-skin for a long time after we got out of the tub, a standard practice at the birthing center and one that I loved. When I had Joey at the hospital, first I had to tell the nurses that I wanted to do skin-to-skin after he was born and we only got to do it for what felt like a really short time before he was whisked away to get cleaned up and checked out. Noah came out pretty clean, thanks to being born in the water I'm sure, but the midwives were not in any hurry to take him away from me. We even started breastfeeding when he made fussy noises, he latched on and sucked like a champ, everyone was very pleased to see it :) I even still held him while getting stitched up, I almost didn't need the stitches but I would have healed up funky without them, so I got 2 haha.

We stayed the minimum of four hours, where my postpartum nurse did final checks on us (made sure I used the bathroom and that Noah didn't have any respiratory issues), and then we headed home for some much needed rest! I tried taking a nap at the birth center, but it wasn't my bed and I was still too wound up from the delivery. We ended up getting home just after midnight and Joey stayed at my parents' so that we only had to worry about getting up for Noah that first night. Noah slept better than Joey did his first night and for that I was grateful, we still have nights where I wake Noah up to eat because he enjoys sleeping so much. That happens less now that he's two weeks old and loves the boob, but sometimes.

Recovery this time around has been SOOOO much different. Between staying at home, not being pumped full of drugs, and knowing what to expect, I've had a much easier time recovering than I did with Joey. If you had asked me the day Noah was born what I would do for the next baby (hospital with epidural, or no drugs and go home early) I wouldn't have known for sure what I would pick, but now that I'm a couple weeks into recovery and feel almost 100%, hands down I'm going back to the birth center! Joey has been amazing with Noah. We're still working on how to be gentle, but for the most part he is wonderful! When the home visit nurse came over a few days after Noah was born, Joey was extremely protective of Noah when she pulled out the stethoscope and was listening to the baby breathing. Joey did not like the strange lady putting something on his baby! Joey also likes to show off Noah whenever someone comes into the house, just like he likes to show off some of his toys ;) He's even better about seeing Noah nurse than I expected. The first couple of times he was jealous, but now he knows he needs to share and even waits patiently for it to be his turn! Sometimes Joey is in full-on toddler-mode and needs some nom-noms right then and there, and we're working on making tandem nursing more comfortable for me since the boys are two different sizes, but for the most part having both of them nursing isn't as difficult as I thought it might be.

Noah's first couple pediatrician appointments went well. His first was a few days after he was born since the birth center doesn't have a pediatrician on staff and there were a few things he needed to have done. Then our pedi likes to see babies a week after they're born for a weight check, where we found that Noah was not only back to his birth weight but had surpassed it! At that point, his cord stump had fallen off but still looked a bit funky so the doctor used silver nitrate to help cauterize it and seal it off. We went back today for a second treatment of the nitrate because his bellybutton is deep and there was one tiny spot that needed just a bit extra. At today's appointment, Noah weighed in at over 8lbs! That means he gained more than one pound in 17 days, which is awesome for a breastfed baby (usually they will gain weight slower than babies who are given formula).