The first month home

Well, it has now officially been 1 month since Clare was born. While the first 2 weeks are a blur of feedings, diapers, rocking and more feedings, the last couple of weeks have started to feel somewhat normal. I am actually able to tell you what day it is and am able to differentiate between night and day (win!), which I'm taking to be a good sign. For someone like me who loves for things to be regimented, it was very hard to not be on a schedule....and we're still not on one, but we're at least able to function and are starting to get in the swing of things. Clare now knows that she is supposed to sleep at night (thank you, white noise air filter!) and is starting to be more alert during the day. She is feeding every 1-3 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night...nursing has by far been our biggest challenge. It's hard to know exactly when to feed and how much she is getting at each feeding. But, it's what is best for her and each week it seems to get a little easier. Once her feedings start to space out some more I think it will be even better. Then I won't feel like a 24-hour per day dairy cow.

Picture of Clare on March 15th...1 month old and getting some love from Marley! (Thanks to Aunt Maggie and Cousin Cady for the outfit...it says 'Current Family Favorite' :)


To sum up our daughter's blossoming personality at 1 month of age, here is a list of things that she loves and things that she does not love so much:

Clare LOVES:

1. EATING!! Just like her mother she can eat all day, everyday. That's my girl!
2. Movement. Baby Bjorn: Best invention ever.
3. The vacuum cleaner/hair dryer. O, providers of white noise. How we worship thee.
4. Being held. She is so cuddly and does not like to be put down while awake!
5. Walks. We try to take a family walk everyday, weather permitting. She enjoys being outside and usually falls asleep soon after we start our walk (see #2...)
6. Death Cab for Cutie. Yep, you read that correctly. Other than white noise Clare prefers to listen to Death Cab for Cutie when she's calm. After all the U2 and Coldplay I exposed her to when pregnant, she prefers one of her father's musical selections. Go figure.

Clare does NOT love:

1. Her car seat. It's like we're torturing her by putting her in this seat...and she lets the whole neighborhood know how she feels about it.
2. Sponge baths. I think she hates these because she's cold...now that we've started to fill up the tub a little more with water she doesn't hate them quite as much.
3. Lying on her back. Startle reflex + not being held = one unhappy Clare.
4. Pacifiers. Unfortunately for us, she typically rejects the pacifier. Occasionally she'll take it but usually it does not soothe her. She'd prefer to eat instead!

Taking a nap with Dad...such a cuddly little baby!


Last weekend Andrew's sister, Erin brought up our niece, Hannah to meet her cousin for the first time. Hannah had been anxiously waiting for this visit...we had to wait a few weeks before they were able to meet since we're still in cold/flu season (per doctor's orders). She was so excited to finally get to come up. She was able to hold Clare a few times, run around with Andrew in the backyard and give Marley some much needed love and attention. Our nephew, Ian, didn't make the trip up but hopefully he'll get to meet his new cousin soon!



On Thursday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day and my dad's birthday. Clare and I joined dad and mom at DBA BBQ in the Highlands for lunch. Clare slept on the drive in and for the first half of lunch. As luck would have it she woke up right as our food arrived! I was able to feed her a bottle and then a case of the fussies sent us to the car to head back home. It was our first restaurant outing since she was born and it was good practice for me to take her out. I think I need to do this more often to become more comfortable with soothing her when we're outside of our comfort zone. But we had a good time celebrating with dad and Clare was able to showcase the adorable St. Patrick's Day outfit that Beth bought for her!