The Pope Kiddos: 1 month!

Abigail is a month old already. I would have sworn we just got home from the hospital.

At one month she's:
Around 12 lbs.
Wearing 0-3 month old clothes.
Wearing size 1 diapers.
Likes to be held.
Likes to look out the living room window at the big tree out front.
Likes to be in her car seat if it's moving--hates red lights.
Loves to be in the wrap (& this makes me feel like I'm still pregnant).
Goes to sleep "for the night" at around 11:30 PM and sleeps until around 9:30 AM (just briefly waking up 3-4 times to eat).
Spits up, belches & farts a lot.
Has a really cute squeak in her cry.
Is often fussy in the evenings before she falls asleep for the night.
Loves to be held. Doesn't really like to sit on her own.
100% breastfed (& no bottles yet either).
Loves to take baths a have water sprayed through her hair.
Grunts a lot. She will grunt back to me when I talk to her sometimes.
Has an occasional hint of a smile.
Can roll up onto her side to eat while laying in our bed (since ~1 week old).
Can move around by wiggling.
Loves looking at our big wedding photo on the wall by the glider just like Lily did.
Sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed at night and in her bouncer, swing or on someone during the day.

Abigail is a joy as we expected. She still sleeps for a large portion of the day but this also means a lot of cuddling time, which is so nice. She's a big eater. It's nice being the only one that can calm her sometimes (although I'm sure that's frustrating for everyone else at times). The plan is to pump some milk so other people can feed her if necessary. It would be really nice if Scott and I could go out at least once while my mom is still here (but we only have 10 more days). I can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater. I know we haven't seen one since we've been in New Haven and that's been 8 months. (An aside: a friend told me to see a lot of movies before Lily was born because I probably wouldn't get the chance as often. I didn't realize how good that advice was. We never saw a lot of movies in the theater before kids but now I miss it.)

This should be a post about Abigail, but I have to mention Lily briefly. She loves her sister so much. This may all change soon, so we're enjoying it now. She wants to hold Abby all the time. She soothes her when she's crying. She uses the same nicknames for her that we do ("sweetheart", etc). Although occasionally she does tell me to put her down in her bouncer if she wants to do something with me or needs my help with something.

Being a family of four is definitely different and definitely more difficult. Abigail gets neglected at times; much more than Lily did. I'm sure she has to cry more than Lily ever did because sometimes I have to attend to Lily at the same time. But hopefully we're a little better at parenting this time around so maybe we're a little better at soothing her and figuring out what she needs. Our car is a lot tighter on space now. We only have space for one extra person now and with our new double stroller, the trunk space is really limited. We'll have to upgrade at some point. But it's wonderful having a baby around again. And seeing Lily as a big sister. And having this little person in our lives that we're getting to know.

I should mention that we haven't really had to adjust to two kids completely yet. My sister, Melody, and niece, Bella, were here for Abigail's birth and a week or so afterward. Unfortunately for her that meant she was here when I was really huge and uncomfortable and then when I was recovering from childbirth so she got to do a lot of hanging out and not much fun stuff. Shortly after she left my parents arrived. My dad for a week and my mom for a whole month. By this time I was feeling more myself so we were able to do a few fun things while my dad was here. This also means I've only done a couple loads of dishes since Abigail's birth and barely any laundry. Obviously I'll have to figure out how to fit these things into my routine once my mom leaves. Maybe the biggest help has been with our morning routines though. Abigail doesn't go to sleep until around 11:30 each night, which means I usually don't get into bed until around midnight and then I'm up every 3 hours to feed her. She is willing to sleep in each morning, but Lily isn't so much. Lily is usually up some time between 7:30 and 8:30, but thankfully I haven't needed to get up that early. Lily gets up and plays with Grandma for a couple of hours while Abigail and I sleep in. And even with all of this I'm still tired, so I can't imagine what I'd feel like if I had to get up with Lily every morning. I foresee morning cartoons in mommy's bed in our future (after grandma leaves). This has also been a big help to Scott. He finished one fellowship application right before Abigail's birth and it working on another now, so he's been leaving a little after 8 every morning and hasn't needed to come home until later since I've had help cooking meals and doing other things. Cooking was difficult enough with just Lily, especially since she's at the age where she likes to help with everything and our kitchen really isn't big enough for this. So we've been really lucky to have my family here to make the transition easier. And the grandparents on the Pope side will be out at the end of the month to help out even more.