Josie Jo, kicky piano and snuggy bunny happiness

Song for a Fifth Child

This poem is so great. Thank you Barbara!

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

 Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
 Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
 Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
 Sew on a button and make up a bed.
 Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
 She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

 Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
 (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
 Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
 (Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
 The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
 And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
 But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
 Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
 (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

 The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
 For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
 So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
 I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
__________________________________________

When I first got home from the hospital, someone was sending around this article. It really struck a chord with me and I try to be mindful of this every day. When the girls are being sweet and just hanging out quietly, I could reach for my phone and check facebook, but I make an effort to remember that they will never be this age again, and to put the phone down and enjoy their smiles and cuddles today.

12 Weeks Old

Happy 12 weeks little ladies! And to celebrate, they decided to get some sleep! Josie is doing her usual sleeping through the night, and Alex just went from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.! Mommy and Daddy appreciate it!

with Josie

My sister Stephanie was here visiting this past week and it was super helpful - between her, her boyfriend Dave, my other sister Becky, James and I, and on occasion the nanny Brittany, we were a well oiled machine. Everyone was eating well, showering and getting projects done around the house. We even ventured out and had lunch a few times, with, and once without (thanks to Brittany), the girls. 

Stephanie with Josie

Stephanie and Josie

Stephanie and Josie

Alexandra!

This week the girls should be discovering their hands. They both have a head start here - Alexandra loves to put her hands in her mouth, and usually that means she is hungry, though she is doing it more and more now that she has started drooling. She always has a big grin, and between the big smiles, her sticking out her tongue and drool, she is really darn cute. She also loves to cuddle, I can't get over how she hugs you when you put her up to your shoulder.

Alexandra enjoying her elephant mobile and waiting for her photo shoot!

Daddy putting Josie into her photo shoot outfit!

Lexie having a great time!

Josie has also discovered her hands, and yesterday, I watched her as she spent the entire day trying to use her hand to put her pacifier in her mouth. She would get frustrated and need you to do it for her, but she is very close to figuring out this trick on her own. Its pretty amazing that she's figured this out. 

Josephine!

Josephine and her dinosaur! EEKE!!!

I'm just loving this stage - it has a lot to do with both the sleep and smiling. I really don't function well on little to no sleep, so getting enough hours in a row, and even getting some deep sleep, has really made the difference in facing the day's challenges each day. In the past 12 weeks, we've dropped from 20-24 total feedings a day to 10 - 12.  Also the girls' smiles, baby coos and reactions to their care takers makes the daily challenges and tasks feel less thankless than they did that first month.  I really look forward to "wake up time" each morning when we say good morning to the girls and they play on their play mat and kicky piano, it is when they smile the most and are so much fun! 

Josie playing kicky piano

Lexie looking longingly at kicky piano - they both get a turn!

Starting to Forget

Everyone told us to sleep in the hospital while the nurses took care of the girls. First off, that was impossible - they come and bother you every 20 minutes to poke and prod at you, your children, at the monitors in your room, and anything else they can come up with an excuse to poke and prod. Second, I didn't want to sleep, I just wanted to stare at our new babies. I just stared and stared at them. I made a mental picture of their little faces poking out of their burrito wrap swaddles.

Today Josie smiled and coo'ed - it was the first time she really, no doubt, socially smiled and made intentional noises of happiness. We've also noticed she's getting bigger and filling in. I was cuddling with the girls and holding them tight today and realizing that the mental picture I took of them in our hospital room, room 1414 (also their birth date), is fading. Those little tiny faces. Lexie's little "oooh" expression, her wrinkled brow, Josie's scrunchy face, the red birth mark on her nose, how fragile and tiny they were to hold. I couldn't hold them! They were too small! I felt like they would break in my hands. Their diapers were bigger than their bodies!

I love love love the girls now. I love their little personalities, I love their strong necks and kicky legs, their laughs and smiles. But I am glad I didn't sleep.

Josie
(who has somehow lost the ability to suck her fingers,
wish she would, so we could  stop having to replace her pacifier!!)

Alexandra

Josie

Lexie

Josie on the left, Alex on the right

Josie on the left, Alex on the right

Josephine and Alexandra - 11 weeks old now!!

I feel like every week, I think "Holy shit! __ weeks!" So yeah, 11 weeks, wow!!!

This week, the girls really "woke up" - they are interacting with us, they are playing with their toys, they are looking around when we walk around with them, and were really into it when we went for a walk this week.

The girls seem to really recognize me now and give big smiles in the morning. The downside to this is that they also seem more "mommy needy" and I have some unhappy babies when I put them down. This was not great when I was by myself earlier this week. When one baby would sleep, I would go ahead and put the other in the baby Bjorn so I could get some stuff done around the house.  It was very challenging to take a shower though. My sister Stephanie and her boyfriend Dave are visiting and they are cuddling the girls and playing with them, and that helps!

Hanging out with both girls on the couch.
Josie was so smiley that evening!

Lexie in the Baby Bjorn while we folded laundry - she is SO CUTE!!

Josie

Tummy Time on the couch

I went out (for real out) for the first time since the girls were born and attended a hockey game. I was so nervous about it, I had three people watching the girls, checked in a million times, and even left the game before it ended so I could beat traffic and make it home. All was good, and I bet that next time, it will be easier.

I last put gas in my car at New Year - so I guess I'm saving money on gas?