Dum ditty Dum ditty Dum Dum Dum

Dum ditty Dum ditty Dum Dum Dum

That's the sound I hear all day, every day.  O.K. maybe not all day, but it seems that if Violet isn't nursing or sleeping (usually next to me or in my arms) than we're constantly patting her back/booty to pacify her.  I am suddenly very aware that she is starting life out very spoiled and very used to getting her way.  (Watch out Audrey - there are one, if not two little girls about to challenge you for your throne!)

Students have only been back from Christmas break for a day, which means that Joel has only been working outside the home for one day, and I feel that this one day has told me so very much about the rest of the winter:

• Violet likes to be held about 95% of the time...awake or asleep it doesn't matter...
• Violet likes her pacifier about every hour and a half...a.k.a. her mom...she won't take the plastic kind...
• I am going to have a tricky time deciding when to let Violet sit and cry so that I can follow through with Benjamin (ie: picking up) and when to let it slide
• Benjamin LOVES affirmation
• My goals and standards need to be lowered exponentially in order to not finish the day/week in depression.  Things like Getting Groceries may be the only accomplishment of the day...and things like Ironing may take 2 or 3 days before they get checked off the list...things like dusting and mopping may be seasonal activities...
• Long hot showers should NEVER be taken for granted...
• It isn't the infant that you have to contemplate when thinking about having multiple children, its having the time of day for your toddler while an infant is literally attached to the hip (or boob).  
• T.V. isn't so bad

Well, with that said, I really have loved getting to know my little girl, watching Benjamin develop an interest in his little sister, and attempting to lovingly parent both at one time!  Violet is growing so fast (She's over 10 lbs!) and Benjamin has more and more curiosity and love for her each day.  He's still jealous sometimes, but now that she can make eye contact with him, he's quite smitten!

Violet's schedule is unknown...at least kind of.  I'm so sleep deprived that I can't really remember day to day specifics. I think I'm going to start charting it, so that in the next couple weeks I can notice trends.  Sometime around 3 months I think I'll get her on more of a schedule/routine.  For my sanity if nothing else.  Every night seems to be a little bit different.  Violet usually hangs out with her dad from 10-12 so that I can get a jump start on sleep for the evening...then i feed her 12 or 1ish...the rest of the night varies...she gives me 2, 3, or sometimes 4 hr break with her last feeding around 6ish.  About the time we finish Benjamin awakes and the day begins.  The rest of the day is highly unpredictable and just depends on if I'm holding her or not.  The only certain fact is that she'll want to eat when Benjamin eats...and usually when I'm eating too :)  She definitely would snack all the time if I let her.

I just packed up a box of all her newborn clothes.  She suddenly looks ridiculous in her NB pants, with her muffin tops hanging over the top, and high water bottoms.  Our professional picture day didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I'm sure that Rebekah, our photographer, got some excellent shots anyway.  Violet cried for all our family pictures, Benjamin wouldn't stop playing awkwardly with his upper lip and nose, he didn't want to cooperate with a decent pose for the sibling picts, and Violet started crying again by the time we got to her individuals...It was a disaster, but yet I can't wait to see them!

Tomorrow will be 7 weeks and I hope to start keeping better record of how our little peanut is changing!  Heck, maybe I'll even get her a baby book one of these days!