bernadette: one month old.
sweet bernadette, you are such a joy. but with being the third child comes third child problems. i'm just letting you know right now that you will probably never have an update that's on time. it's not going to happen, i know that now after your brother, but just know that it's because i'm most likely spending time with you and your siblings instead of on my computer. and know that when i do post an update, it's because i opted to do that instead of cleaning or working.
now that i've expereienced three babies, it's so fun to compare and contrast where they're alike and different. spoiler, my babies are all very alike, with their own little idiosyncrasies that i'm getting to know.like her sister&brother, she is very gassy. she handles it very well though, or maybe we just know how to help her through it better. unlike her sister&brother, she takes very regular naps. she's up for about an hour, then will nap for around two hours until she gets up to eat again. sometimes she can be tough to put down, but i've gotten pretty good and have found a decent combo to get her down as quick as possible. if i didn't have two children rampaging through the house, i probably wouldn't think it took long at all! she is usually up and fussy from 8-9pm, but has been eating and then going to bed until about 1am or so. if i go to bed when she does, i'm feeling pretty good. we have our bad nights (and there have been a few haha) but i'll take three hours between feeds at night, because i know they'll get longer soon. i saw in the other kids' updates that they had already given me 5-hour stretches by this point, so they win that contest...she can catch up in that category anytime she wants.
she is such a chill baby, she loves watching her siblings already, and they are more than happy to sit and talk to her while i warm up dinner or get dressed. i can't wait until she is even more aware and engaged, because she will be totally content to watch their antics and action. we mostly get our alone time at night and when grandma takes the older kids, and i love that. i've really tried to enjoy solo time with each baby when i get it. i also very much enjoy the quiet time routine i've established. when William goes down for his nap in the afternoon, Amelia goes to her room for an hour of quiet time, and almost alway i get some overlap with Bernadette's nap as well. i look forward to that half hour to an hour of alone time more than almost anything. yea i'm using it to get laundry or paperwork done, but still, it's BY MYSELF.
each time you add another child to the family, the dynamic changes. for us, it's been a change for the better each time. Bernadette is just a ray of sunshine in our lives, she is the source and recipient of such love every single day. her arrival has brought the other two closer together as friends and playmates, and has brought Mister Man and me closer as partners in this parenting madness (probably because we're outnumbered now!). if Amelia taught me how to be a mom, and William renewed my confidence in my mothering, Bernadette has made me a veteran mom. i know what i'm doing now, and i don't question my choices with her or her siblings nearly as much. yes, i'll whine about my lack of sleep, but i don't freak out about that or things like interrupted baby naps anymore. i know that everyone will make it through to the next day unscathed even if things don't go to plan, and that is a gift that only she could give me.
we love you to the moon and back you little sunshine!
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