Babyness

It's hard to do much blogging with little miss Pumpkin capturing most of my attention and we have had many visitors in the form of grandparents and aunties. But now that I have a minute, here is a random collection of thoughts from a new mommy ...

Pumpkin is the cutest thing ever and I don't think the pictures even do her justice (I know, I know, every mom thinks this about their own child). I love her so much and lay in bed watching her to make sure she's okay and Chris comes in to tell me I need to get some sleep. (What's that?)

We were home from the hospital probably three days before I realized I could lay on my stomach and play on the floor with Scoop again. Hooray! Also exciting:

• Turkey sandwiches. I realize not everyone gives up deli meat during pregnancy, but I did (with the exception of one microwaved-to-steaming sandwich at work) and after Pumpkin was born I sent Chris to Deli Towne with an order to bring back to the hospital and it was so great. We've been eating turkey sandwiches a lot ever since. I still have not had caffeine. Baby steps.
• Sleeping on my back. I'm a natural back sleeper and I (like all pregnant ladies I'm sure) did not sleep comfortably for weeks at the end of my pregnancy so it's nice now to sleep comfortably in any position I choose, even if it is lightly and in small chunks.
• Clothes without elastic waistbands. I fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! Also my wedding and engagement rings, which I hadn't worn in a while. I should note that only one pair of jeans really fits - the rest are snug and I have a ways to go to get back to my old self. Also, I'm pretty sure my maternity wardrobe was more extensive than my pre-maternity wardrobe so I'll need to be finding some new things for work. But I didn't expect to get back into my jeans so soon so that was a happy moment.
• Walking. One day when Chris was working and company was gone I got out the stroller and took Scoop and Pumpkin for a walk around the block without running the dog over. This felt like a pretty big accomplishment.

Can you believe that Pumpkin will be one month tomorrow? It seems like it's gone by so fast, and yet it also seems like we've had her forever. She is growing fast - she put on a pound in just the last week! And seems to be learning and doing more things all the time. One night I was holding her while she slept and she actually giggled in her sleep - it was so adorable. She has a really strong grip and seems like she can see things better all the time. It took three weeks for her umbilical cord to fall out, and that was exciting because now she can wear more of her clothes and take baths - she was not a fan of the sponge baths but loves being in the warm water. This week I trimmed her nails for the first time without incident which felt like kind of a big deal (getting her dress on yesterday was a more traumatic event) but she can still scratch with them so, like everything else, I will be needing more practice to do it right.

Pumpkin is not on any kind of a schedule yet so we will be attempting that during the next two weeks before I go back to work. (Going back to work is kind of a touchy subject. I cry every time I think about it. Luckily my job is understanding and I can bring Pumpkin in with me if I need to. Also Chris will be home with her two days a week. Also I can go to the daycare as much as I want and nurse her while I'm there. Still, I am quite emotional at the idea of being away from her all day.) She has, however, over the past few nights, slept for four hours at a time so that has been nice.

So, I guess that's it for now! Coming soon (or, eventually) we'll post about our visitors and Pumpkin's first trip to Quincy ... stay tuned!