Adjusting

Lily is 6 weeks old today. Hard to believe it’s been 6 weeks already! I’ve been asked numerous times how we’re “adjusting” to having a 4th, and the truth is I think the boys have had to adjust to this more than Nick or I have. Once you already have a child (or 3), your life has already done the major adjusting so adding another isn’t that big of a change.

Sure, it’s been hard getting used to less sleep and the diapers are annoying. I’ve had to adjust a little to trying to figure out when the little munchkin will want to eat, and that’s been a tough one because a non-scheduled baby is mighty hard to figure out!

Lily sleeps well about 50% of the time I’d say. She’ll have days where she’ll sleep in loooong stretches (we’re talking 5-6 hours of sleeping and 6-7 hours in between feedings) and then she’ll have days where she hardly sleeps at all and is cranky. The same is true of her night sleep – some nights she’ll only get me out of bed once and others she’s up so many times I have to call in Nick for reinforcements and I pray she doesn’t wake her brothers.

She’s definitely eating well because I’ve noticed her cheeks filling out and a little chub on her tummy when I gave her a bath earlier this week. The other night she put Nick’s arm to sleep pretty fast while he was holding her! Should be fun at her 8 week appointment to see how much she weighs.

Lily cracks Nick and me up with her constant wide-eyed expression. Her eyes are seriously huge! I’m determined to try to capture that with my camera some day, but so far have had no luck. She’s starting to make little baby noises (other than crying) at random times, which is adorable as well.

She amazes us with the head control she has already (she was already picking her head up and looking around for 5-10 seconds at a time when we brought her home from the hospital) and as I mentioned yesterday in my 365 post, she rolled over from front to back! Nick says she’s an overachiever and I’d have to agree. She’s going to be one of those kids that starts walking well before they’re 1 – I can see it coming. She’s got to keep up with her big brothers!

Speaking of her big brothers, they still adore her. I’d say Tyler adores her the most though. He’s constantly coming up to kiss her or pat her head. He refers to her as “baby Lily” and is constantly updating me on whether or not she’s awake or asleep. The other two love her too, they just aren’t as into hanging out with her quite the way Tyler is right now.

They do a great job with her and with being as helpful as they can (namely, throwing away her dirty diapers), but I know it’s been an adjustment for them. They’re not fans of having to be quieter on some days or being asked to not throw things around the living room. Actually, they were never really permitted to throw things in the living room except for balls and pillows but now they seem extra annoyed when I tell them to stop throwing stuff. Oh, and I haven’t been giving Lily much time on the floor because it just isn’t safe with the three of them constantly wrestling, so they’re not fans of me telling them they have to chill for 15 minutes so Lily can have some floor time too.

I realized yesterday afternoon that I haven’t posted any videos of Miss Lily yet! Here’s 30 seconds of Lily. I won’t be offended if you don’t watch because honestly, babies are not that exciting, especially if you’re not the parent. 🙂