Mayne, Party of 3: Mama's 30th Birthday + Evie's First Week

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Mama's 30th Birthday + Evie's First Week

Here I sit on my 30th birthday, in a suburb of the city I was born in, on our new loveseat that arrived last Tuesday, in our new house that we bought last year, cradling in my lap our new daughter who arrived last week. I love the mixture of the old and the new. Most of my close friends turned 30 this year as well and I know some of them have found the turning of the new decade of life to be either depressing, eye-opening, or a chance to set new goals. Me? I confess I have hardly thought about the fact that I am now in my 30s instead of my 20s. The events of the last 9 months have kind of overshadowed that.

Of course, as I mentioned in my last post, I have thought about my own Mom's journey in welcoming her daughter (me) 30 years ago today. (Hats off to you, Mom!) She had my 6 year old brother at the time, but I can't imagine caring for a newborn is any less overwhelming your 2nd time around - and in fact it's probably significantly more difficult when you have another child at home. This time 30 years ago my Mom was holding a 2-hour old me, and what a doozy of a week she had in store for her as I now know.

The first week of Evie's life has been quite a roller coaster. She lost more weight in the hospital than we would have liked, and since bringing her home, my life has revolved around trying to nurse her and make sure she's been eating enough. Fortunately at her first doctor's appointment yesterday she had gained back a quarter of a pound, so we are definitely doing good.

Evie is such a sweet baby. She hardly ever cries (even when getting her feet stuck for so many blood draws!), and she is a snuggler. She loves to be held close to your shoulder and will tuck her little legs up underneath her while you cuddle her. Snuggling is Seth's favorite thing to do with Evie. They have watched quite a few movies while cuddling on the couch this week.

She sleeps a good amount of the time but when she is awake, she's very curious, taking in the new sights. She makes these adorable little bird noises instead of crying. She sounds almost exactly like a peacock (which you can hear here at 16 seconds in: Peacock Cry). Perhaps I'll be able to catch video of it next week.

My favorite thing to do with Evie is to smother her with kisses after changing her diaper or her clothes. I'll kiss all over her face and neck and she'll open her eyes and mouth wide and look at my face or my hair falling over her. It's such as precious moment.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this week.