In my life.
My new life has begun! Cook is back at work, Dutch is at daycare all day. I'm not working or doing anything at all other than parenting Skipper all day and doing the Big School Project. My daily goals are pretty achievable:
Just before Skipper was born, a coworker of Cook's told us that he'd been surprised by how much of the difficulty of having a second kid was actually due to the need to care for the first kid. "Babies are easy!" he said. Now I believe him. Other than the whole not-breathing thing, caring for Skipper has been a breeze. Now we know that newborns are really odd, and even though this baby sticks her tongue out all the time, squeaks and quacks, and has wandering eyes, she's probably going to turn out okay. I know how to breastfeed. I have already nursed this kid while standing up and wearing her in a wrap (in a bus shelter!), I've nursed her in the dark, I've nursed her lying down - all stuff I came around to much later in the game with Dutch. I know my nipples are not actually going to fall off, and that they'll feel much better in four or five weeks. I also know that Skipper is in some ways much easier (so far) than Dutch was, better able to self-soothe and to de-escalate when she gets upset, so I can be grateful for that.
- Do 3 hours of BSP work
- Wash the breakfast dishes and wipe the counters and table
- Do 1 small household task, like making granola or doing laundry
- Get dressed and brush my teeth and hair
- Eat more or less properly
- Check to make sure Skipper is breathing no more often than once every 10 minutes
Just before Skipper was born, a coworker of Cook's told us that he'd been surprised by how much of the difficulty of having a second kid was actually due to the need to care for the first kid. "Babies are easy!" he said. Now I believe him. Other than the whole not-breathing thing, caring for Skipper has been a breeze. Now we know that newborns are really odd, and even though this baby sticks her tongue out all the time, squeaks and quacks, and has wandering eyes, she's probably going to turn out okay. I know how to breastfeed. I have already nursed this kid while standing up and wearing her in a wrap (in a bus shelter!), I've nursed her in the dark, I've nursed her lying down - all stuff I came around to much later in the game with Dutch. I know my nipples are not actually going to fall off, and that they'll feel much better in four or five weeks. I also know that Skipper is in some ways much easier (so far) than Dutch was, better able to self-soothe and to de-escalate when she gets upset, so I can be grateful for that.
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