Adventures in Parenting: Week One

We've survived our first week as parents. We've laughed, we've cried, and we've learned quite a few lessons...

Lesson 1: Unless you want to wash the changing table cover on a daily basis, ALWAYS put a clean diaper under the baby before the dirty one has been removed. Molly loves to wait until she's completely bare to let the poops and pees fly. This usually causes the designated changer to erupt into screams while Molly stares up, confused by the uproar. Occasionally, it's been bad enough to lead to an impromptu sponge bath, which causes Molly to join in with the screaming.



Lesson 2: A quiet, content baby is not a goal you should strive to achieve. She WILL cry and often there's no easily identifiable reason for it. She's fed, clean, warm, and comfortable. She just needs to cry. And for that reason...

Lesson 3: Grandparents are gifts from God! When all your baby wants is to be walked, rocked, jostled, snuggled and kissed, it's great to have the extra loving arms of grandparents around to give you a break.



























Lesson 4: Little girls love their daddies! Molly's fussy time is usually between 8 and 11pm. During that time, if she's not being fed, she wants to be with her daddy. Molly has fallen in love with Eric, and vice versa. Whether he's reading Reader's Digest to her, playing her a mix of his favorite 80's rock, or rocking her with his signature "airplane method", she's never as content as she is with him!
































Lesson 5: Who needs booze when you have milk?! I've never seen a human being look more drunk than Molly does at the end of a feeding. We call it her "milk coma". She turns into a floppy, sleepy ball of jello. She reminds me of Templeton the Rat in Charlotte's Web after he's feasted on the carnival food at the county fair. Ahhh...the life of a newborn...eat, sleep and be merry!




Lesson 6: Adjusting to life outside the womb is hard work. Sometimes Molly acts like she'd still like to be in her warm watery home. She loves to be snuggled close to her Mommy in her Moby wrap. Quite often, the Moby wrap is the only way that we could sit down together to eat a meal. And if every other avenue fails to get her to sleep, the Moby is sure to work. It makes sense that she'd like to be snuggled up. Afterall, that's the positition she's been in for the last few months. Even when she's not all wrapped up, Molly still assumes her curled up position. We call this pose her "praying feet". It must have been a favorite of hers in utero because she ends up in this position quite often.



Yes, the first week has held its challenges, but mostly it's been filled with joy. It's been absolutely amazing to get to know this brand new little person. It's hard to imagine that she's been living inside of me for the last nine months and now, all of a sudden, here she is...a whole new person, completely dependent on us to provide her with all her needs. We've been having a great time getting acquainted, learning about her needs and her personality. So far, we've learned that she's a spirited little lady who knows what she wants and when she wants it! She has pushed her boundaries from the very beginning. She's not content to lay still...ever! (unless she's in a deep sleep) She's much rather be kicking those little frog legs or attempting to roll over or crawl (yes, crawl!!!). All the grandparents agree, this one's going to be a handful VERY early. She may look more like her daddy, but she's a wiggler and climber like her mommy. My own mom had her hands full when I walked at 9 months and climbed soon after. Quite often, she'd walk into a room to find me attempting to climb on the table, the piano, the back of the couch, even to the top of the refrigerator once! Molly appears to be planning to give her mommy a taste of her own medicine! We've loved meeting our little girl this week and look forward to falling deeper in love with her in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Here are a few more pics...just because we can't stop taking pictures of our little snuggle bug :-)




Aunt Joy meets her namesake, Molly Joy.

Eric gets Molly ready for her first outing...a trip to church on her one-week birthday.

Molly likes to sleep the same way her mommy always has, with her hands tucked right up under her chin. No matter how tight we swaddle her, those little hands find their way out. One night we woke up to find that she had pulled her arm out of the sleeve of her nightgown and stuck it up through the neck of the nightgown, just to get that hand up under her chin!