Our first night in the hospital was easy breezy. Albert woke up every three hours ON THE DOT to eat and I got enough sleep to power through the next day. We snuggled and stared at each other for hours that morning until the nurse came to give him his first bath. He did not enjoy it, but I was glad the nurse did it right in the room, right in his bassinet, and she was F-A-S-T! I mean, the whole thing probably lasted less than two minutes, start to finish. She was a pro!
Then she took his little footprints...
...Then his first (and most important) visitors arrived!
I couldn't wait to see both of the girls, but for some reason, when I saw Margot - my last baby - something pounded in my heart and I just wanted to wrap her up forever! Sylvia has this big sister gig DOWN PAT and I knew she'd love this baby, but I really wanted to cushion this little fall for sweet Margot. I couldn't take my hands off of her when she was there. She was smitten with the baby, of course, and she had a great time visiting. The extra love was more for my own peace of mind than anything else!
Mom had been taking care of the girls while we were at the hospital. She was dying to hold this little guy, since she didn't get to hold him the night before!
Professional Big Sister
Mom crocheted the blanket and hat for baby Albert. It's the softest, warmest thing he owns and we've used it TONS since his arrival!
Margot had some important business to take care of while we were at the hospital...
She's an eye poker, there's just no getting around it. Sylvia did her best to keep Margot at bay, but...
We read Albert his first book in the hospital. A family favorite: "On The Night You Were Born," by Nancy Tillman. If you haven't read it, you need to. Right now. It's the sweetest book ever (although...her "Spirit of Christmas" is another favorite and she has a new one called "The Crown On Your Head" that made me weep when I read it at Meijer, so you've been warned.)
His first official non-sister, non-Grammy visitor: UNCLE JOHN! No surprise. John LOVES babies. He sent me a text first thing in the morning to ask if he and Jess could visit. It's funny, because I remember visiting him in the hospital when he was born.
More snuggles with The Little Middle
Mamie arrived with Albert's Dou Dou Bear (two of them, actually, because one just isn't enough). My girls are obsessed with their dou dou's. Sylvia has pink bunnies and Margot has pink bears. They come from a French company called Kaloo and Mamie Brigitte buys them at a small store in Madison, Indiana. I'm sure Albert will love his as much as his sisters do!
Gran and Grandpa came to see us that evening, along with Uncle Jordan. Since I'm a slacker, I have NO pictures of my dad with his first grandson! Or Uncle Jordan, who came all the way from Louisville. Luckily, they're family and we'll see them again, so I'll take lots of pictures next time!
We went home on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend adjusting to life with a third child. The girls are totally in love with baby Albert and if we're not careful, Margot will try to feed him Cheerios, so we have to watch him like a hawk! Sylvia likes to color next to him when he's on his play mat, and they both love to sing to him and talk to him and rub his tiny baby head. (I've decided his tiny head makes him look like a hippie. I don't know why, he just has a hippie shaped head!) Albert likes to sleep and eat and sit in his vibrating chair all swaddled and cozy. He's been sleeping like a champ, too - all day and all night. I'm convinced that once we hit his due date he's going to wake up and become a raging party animal, but so far...he's pretty chill.
On Monday, his first house guests arrived...Stella and her mama, Lindsey!
I won't pretend to know which day of the week our trip to the park took place. It all runs together anyway, being a teacher who is off during the summer, but throw a new baby in the mix and my brain is totally mush. Anyway, I decided to venture out with all three kids just to see if I could do it. We went to the park (it's only 5 minutes away from our house) and the girls had a blast while Albert slept. After swings and slides, we agreed to venture down the nature trail for a little while...
Fossils and Flowers: Margot is obsessed with rocks and Sylvia is obsessed with flowers. This makes a nature walk extremely exciting and a little bit frustrating because we stop every five seconds for one reason or another. I didn't mind one bit, though, because I wasn't out for a power walk or any form of exercise, I just wanted to have fun and kill some time while the baby slept.
We went to visit GG one night last week for pizza, baby snuggles, and tree climbing. GG is my Grandma Neltner. I could write a book about her life (and probably should!), but for now, all you need to know is, she loves babies, but prefers them to be a little older than "newborn." When I took Margot to her house two years ago, she confessed to me that she's never cared much for BRAND NEW babies. She likes them a little older. Which might explain why she thought Margot was the most adorable and amazing thing EVER on the day we brought Albert to see her!
Grammy got plenty of snuggles, too!
Then my kids climbed this tree.....
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| Sylvia took her coloring book and crayons. |
On another day last week (don't ask me which one, they all run together!), the weather was too cool for any kind of outdoor water play, but sunny enough that we HAD to get outside. I decided it was time for a walk in the creek. Don't ask me why I thought this was a good idea - probably because the baby brain has completely skewed my judgement. Walking in that creek is probably the grossest thing I've ever done. All I could think was, "What if there are germs?! Or diseases?! We could get malaria or some other crazy Oregon Trail disease! At the very least we're going to get a TON of bug bites and we're going to get wet and this is a TERRIBLE IDEA!" But you know what? The girls LOVED IT. And no one died or got sick. And I didn't step on a snake or even a bug. I tried to take pictures. It was tough because I hated every second of this stupid adventure.
We started by walking down the hill....which I hate doing because we have to walk back UP.
I mentioned to Sylvia that it was cooler than usual. She chose her outfit accordingly. Margot has worn the same jacket for three days and throws a bloody fit if anyone tries to take it off. Whatever.
Between yard and creek there is a barrier of POISONOUS PLANTS OF ALL SORTS!
Rock walking. So far....I'm okay with this.
OH MY GOD, GET OUT OF THE WATER BEFORE YOU DIE!!!! Or...."Heeeeyyyy, is that fun? Hooray! You're in the creek water!"
"Look, Mommy! Another deep part!" Which wasn't deep at all but she was far enough ahead of me that I almost had a heart attack.
We finally left the deadly creek and headed back up the giant hill. We stopped at the "tree house" which is just a tree with some boards nailed to it that Sylvia likes to climb.
And our final stop was Daddy's awesome new garden! This I can handle. It's planned. And maintained. And there are nice, neat rows of FOOD! This garden has single-handedly saved me from the baby blues. I like to stare at it from the windows sometimes. Cucumbers. Green beans. Girls playing in dirt. I can totally handle this and I LOVE IT!
Aunt Lori and Abby came for a visit. Albert slept....
And finally, today my friend from work, Megan, came to see sweet Albert! I took Albert to a fundraiser on Thursday night and Megan waited so patiently to hold him but when she finally got him he was fussy and it was time to go, so I was glad she stopped by today to hold him while he was more agreeable. While he easily sleeps anywhere we put him, he does prefer to be held and he curls up into the sweetest, snuggliest ball of a baby that you could ever hope to hold!
Last night, Ann brought Cecilia and Jonathan by to see baby Albert and we were all having so much fun (in other words, the kids were running around like crazy) that I didn't even snap one single picture! I'll have to do that next time they come, because Jonathan and Albert will probably be best friends for life.
Phew! There you have it. Almost two weeks of post-baby madness at our house! I'm convinced that summer is the best time to bring home a baby. My daily dose of sunshine, warm temperatures, visitors, and lots of things to do have helped me stay sane and keep the baby blues at bay. Don't get me wrong, I've had a couple of meltdowns, and some days are much harder than others, but so far....these three kids are turning out to be the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me. I can't wait to watch Albert grow and learn and interact with his sisters. He's a lucky little guy, and I'm a lucky Mama, to be surrounded by all this love!
1 comment:
I can't believe how much you've already done with 3 kiddos! Way to go super Mom! I loved all the pics, what a cutie Albert is!
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