Feet are your second hand. Wait...we have two hands so third and fourth hand I mean. You will be amazed at the acrobats you can do to pick things off the floor or table with your feet while holding a sleeping baby.
Old people (and I mean OLD) don't have a filter in public and will tell you what you are doing wrong. Dale has gotten stopped on two separate occasions by old ladies. One scolded him for not covering Harper with a pink blanket so people knew she was a girl and another was shocked that we would dare take a 5 week old out of the house. "20 years ago you wouldn't take a baby out of the house until they were 6 months old." Lady, if we still did stuff that was acceptable 20 years ago, babies wouldn't be in car seats and I'd still be listening to Ace of Base on my Walkman. (Maybe not all too hateful.) I'm so sick of the "is your baby a boy or girl question that I won't leave the house without a barrette in her hair. They even ask when she is wearing purple so the barrette is a must!
I never understood how people, moms especially, could get so upset the first time or week they had to drop their baby off at daycare or the first night away from their child. Well the daycare first week was not fun. It was hard to trust well essentially a stranger to take care of my baby for the next 8 hours. Sure, she's been doing this for 30+ years but does she know what to do when my baby cries? Is she prepared to rock her to sleep every time she's ready to go down for a nap? Is she going to have enough of my breast milk to keep Harper satisfied? These questions and many more were all I could think of the whole first day back at work, plus I missed the crap out of her. When you spend 2+ months with someone you grow attached and don't want to lose them. This feeling of protection and love (different from the love I have for my husband since I know he can take care of himself) was new to me. I'm not sure I will ever be 100% ok with dropping Harper off at daycare but for now, this mommy is managing. Now for the first night away from her..we will have to handle that hurdle when it comes.
Showers are a luxury. I'm pretty sure I've become that stinky lady that doesn't realize she smells. When I'm at home with Harper for the day I'm lucky if I can squeeze in a shower. you have to prioritize items to do while the baby sleeps and shower often doesn't make my list. Don't worry coworkers, now that I'm back in the office full time my daily routine includes a shower. For awhile I was content with every other day or the occasional longer, yuck. Good thing Dale can't smell and Harper has no choice.
A trip to Target to pick up a prescription turns into a cart full of clothes/toys for Harper. I'll admit, I could never leave Target with just a prescription in the past. That purchase would normally include a new shirt or running shorts for myself. But now, it's all about stuff for Harper. Today's visit was no exception. I ended up leaving with three toys, four pairs of baby socks, a tiny skirt, three pairs of little tights and a 2T shirt. Yes, a 2T shirt that my daughter can't wear for 2 years. My rationalization...It's sooo cute and on clearance. This opportunity won't happen again. Fingers crossed I still like it in two years.
Dale is an amazing father. I always knew he would be, but I think there is that fear in the back of every pregnant woman's mind of "will the father feel the bond/connection to the baby right away?" Dale was instantly in love. He had tears in his eyes the moment Harper arrived. (I'm sure he loves me telling people that.) He has been a huge help to me by constantly getting me things while I'm feeding Harper. He has no problems with getting spit up on or changing her diaper. Let's face it, wiping up someone else's poop is true love. He also enjoys having her fall asleep on his chest most nights. Every night we have the same routine: we put her in her crib, Dale leans over and gives her a kiss and I say, "Goodnight, Peanut Butter. We love you." I know it's a corny ritual but it's just us being us. I think it kills Dale to go to work each morning. I know he would much rather stay at home with his baby girl. Something that did shock me was he started posting pictures of Harper and changing his status message on Facebook. Both of which were unheard of. Not to mention that I had to show him how to update his status. (Once again I'm sure he loves that I'm sharing that.) One thing is for sure, Harper is going to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.
Babies have the strangest ability to gather tons and tons of lint between their fingers and toes. It is crazy how often I am cleaning them out. Where does all this fuzz come from and why doesn't that happen to adults?
I love coming home and smelling Harper. Very strange...I know, but she has this baby smell that I can't get enough of, especially if I've been gone all day.
Most importantly I've learned that being a mom is awesome and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Now if you ask me again when she is a teen, I might have different answer. Ok, probably not. :)
Cute pic time!
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