Two Weeks Old!

It's all Elka all the time around this house.

We're all smitten.

I am perfectly aware of how fortunate I am to not have had one single jealousy issue from either of my older girls as this new baby has moved into our lives. It's been an extremely peaceful transition. Martin went back to work on Tuesday and while the thought of being the sole caretaker of three young children was a little scary at first, it turned out to be a piece of cake. This might be because Elka is The Perfect Infant and my big girls are The Perfect Preschoolers. I don't know. But whatever the reason, the past two weeks have been AWESOME.

We spent the babymoon period with Martin home from work hanging out outside. The girls ran in the sprinkler, we ate lunch on the patio, we took a few family outings. Mostly we just hung around and were happy.

And that's what we're still doing! Elka's most wakeful time is first thing in the morning when she's awake for 2-3 hours. She's so fun and alert and since it's morningtime, Anja and Greta are usually happy and so excited to hold her and fuss over her and help change her diapers and clothes... they LOVE having a baby sister. (Greta is kind of obsessed with the idea of throwing up and has been for a long time... she thinks it's awesome that Elka might just throw up at any time, for no reason. She's also really interested in poo, so she loves to see the pooey diapers.) And since Elka is still a newborn and sleeps most of the time, AND since she's a third baby and sleeps really well despite the screeching, drumming, fighting, more screeching, etc. of her older sisters, it's easy for me to still pay attention to the big girls all day long. Today was the first time I've had to put them off, when Elka was tired and fussing (I say "fussing" but it really just means she squeaks a little more) and wanted to be walked to sleep, so I had to tell them I'd read to them when Elka fell asleep. Which she did, in like two seconds, and everything was fine.

I'm telling you, this easy newborn stuff is incredible. I've never had an easy newborn. My newborns have always been the type who cry all the time... you know, to the point of not really being able to leave the house. When Anja was a baby, we would strategically plan our outings to take place only while she was asleep because if she woke up, that was it. It was a constant scream-fest the entire time she was awake for the first few months of her life. But we thought that was normal! And when people (*cough* my sister *cough*) would say how much they loved newborns, I always thought they were lying because the newborn stage was SO HARD. But now I see what she means! If all babies were like Elka (and apparently like my sister's kids) I would love the newborn stage best of all too! 

Oh, and by the way, I think Martin is going to start hiring himself out as a postpartum doula. He cooks, cleans, takes care of older children, brings home fresh flowers, and NEVER complains..... I think we could make a lot of money from him.

I can't believe it's been two weeks already!

My next post will be on the unfairness of pregnancy.