The First Three Weeks

By this time in Benjamin's life, I had made three posts already! Oh Felicity, you poor second child.

We only stayed in the hospital for 24 hrs with Felicity. We were anxious to get home where we could take care of Felicity AND Benjamin.

One of her Coming Home pictures.

People keep asking me if Felicity is a "good baby". All babies are good. That is what I tell them. Who is going to say they have a bad baby? I know, what these people are really asking is if she is an easy baby or a hard baby... does she sleep well? Eat well? I tell them these things too... after assuring them she is a good baby regardless of my answer to these questions. 

Felicity took to breast feeding very easily. We have had no real latch issues or supply issues. My milk came in about 40 hrs after she was born and she adjusted to it easily. She does like to click her tongue sometimes when she eats, but she still is clearly getting enough food. And, as with Ben, she only takes a few minutes to eat fully from one side, and usually one side fills her up. Sleep wise, she does fine for a newborn. She has had a couple of nights where she didn't want to go back to sleep after waking up at 3 or 4am... those are exhausting. We have also had a couple excellent nights where she slept for a 4 hr chunk. But, mostly its waking every 2-3 hrs. Pretty standard stuff.

Her first night at home. Originally I used a blanket swaddle, then a Halo Swaddle Sack, then one night she spit up on it and I didn't use any swaddle... and she slept the same. So no more swaddles for Felicity.

She isn't a screamer for the most part, though she is louder then she used to be. Really, she only cries if we put off her food too long (either because we want to change her diaper first or because I am hoping she will go back to sleep...) or occasionally if her diaper change results in a mess and outfit change. (Or if her brother smacks her in the head, but that is a separate issue).

I guess that is an issue I can address next!! Ben has been a doting brother. He really loves to hug and kiss her. His hugs really are him rubbing his head against hers, which I can understand because (1) I do that to him and (2) her hair is SO SOFT. He tries to hold her hand, tickle her toes. Mainly he just likes being close to her. We have had two incidents where he made her cry, and thankfully neither in the last week or so! The first one was our first incidence of sibling on sibling violence. Ben was frustrated that we turned off his movie, and decided to take this frustration out by smacking Felicity in the head. That was not fun. At least three of the four of us ended up in tears (though Felicity is no worse for the wear). The second was, as far as I can tell, an accident. I didn't see it. Benjamin says he "pushed to hard" on her, and I have the tendency to believe him. 

Ben's first time holding his little sister.

Felicity's nickname is Squeaker, or Beaker the Squeaker. She makes lots of little squeaking noises, and has since birth. Her dad occasionally calls her Fiji, an interpretation of how her initials would be pronounced. She likes to be held, she likes when her dad sings soccer fan songs and football fight songs to her. She does not mind the car seat. She likes being warm and cozy. She likes to sleep in the late morning the most.. (like right now). She sleeps well in the Moby wrap as well. 

Tummy time!!

 

She does have some oomph to her muscles! Pretty much the day we came home she did a "sit up" in my lap where she curled up and forward. She does well with head control, and, believe it or not, she has already rolled over once!! Front to back. I have been looking for a repeat performance to assure it was not a fluke, but no such luck. She comes close frequently though, just wiggling her little torso and twisting it every which way when she gets upset in tummy time. 

First bath!

She had her first bath! Her umbilical stump fell off rather abruptly, and left some oozing, so we let it heal a bit before doing her bath. She actually didn't mind the bath at all! Nice warm water! What she didn't like was coming out of the warm water!! She also doesn't like having her eyes covered, so when the hoodie towel (or any hoodie or hat) falls over her eyes she becomes upset.

Play Time!

We have not been cautious at all with taking her out... hopefully that does not come back to bite us. She HAS already had a small cold (gift from her brother I think). It was nothing serious. She has been at Target multiple times as well as several other stores, the mall, and many restaurants, both of our workplaces, and other offices (like to get her added to insurance), and of course to the park when it has been warm enough, her brother still needs to play!! 

Overall, the transition to two kids has gone smoothly. DH does most of the stuff with DS so I can focus on her, but we occasionally switch off, both for the sake of bonding and our sanity. The big upcoming challenge will be when I return to work. I have a "plan" for how to get ready (pacifier at 1 week, pumping at 2 weeks, bottle and nap schedule at 4 weeks), but even with that, learning to get out of the house on time is guaranteed to be a challenge! Wish me luck. Allow me to leave you with one more picture, just because she is cute.