CC's second (going on third) week

Random things I've learned about life, myself, and my daughter in the past 2 weeks....bullet points necessary:

-Cecelia loves to be held and loves to walk around. Sort of hates sleeping when not in someone's arms. Also hates her car seat for anything longer than 10 minutes. Can't blame the girl when she just looks so tiny in that seat right now!

-Her hair is awesome/amazing still. BUT it gets really greasy and weird after 3 days without a bath, so we've been giving her a little spa treatment to fluff up that head of hair every few days. Works like a charm. And as you will see in the pictures below, it's sorta kinda red. I will die if I have a red headed daughter----cannot handle the cuteness!

-She has a clogged tear duct, just like her big brother used to get. Crusty eye plus greasy hair equals even more baths. Still adorable despite the crustiness, though.

-Her cord broke off on day 14. Yes, broke off. The longer stump part is gone but the little black part is still inside her belly button. Very odd, but I pulled a 'first time mom' move and called the Pediatrician about this and apparently it's normal and will eventually fall out all the way. Weird. Let's remember that Truman's cord stayed put for a record FOUR WEEKS. Hoping his sister doesn't follow in his footsteps.

-Another interesting fact: the same night her cord broke off, she reached up and grabbed a handful of her own hair and proceeded to pull the heck out of it. She freaked out and looked at me like I was to blame, and she would NOT let go of her mane. I had to get Nate to physically unwind her tiny fingers from her hair. Silly girl. If her hair does fall out I will partially blame Cecelia. I still pray it stays put but realize it might very well fall out soon. Which is why I'm taking lots of pictures of the spiky treasure we have before us right now.

-My mom left on Saturday, day 12. I sobbed the ugly cry and seriously can't explain how amazing it was to have her here with us. She made the meals, grocery shopped, did laundry, cleaned and played with Truman non-stop. I know I can do this motherhood thing on my own, but it sure was a lot easier with my own mom here. Good thing she is coming back in 3 more weeks. I had a great few days home alone with just Cecelia while Truman was at daycare and Nate was at work. Today is my first day with both kids home alone for 12 hours while Nate is working one of his long days. So help me God. Obviously, it's going well so far if I'm working on a blog post while Truman is playing with trains and CC is nursing. I'm really good at nursing while typing, apparently. And this post is taking about 5 times as long to write compared to my past posts.

-I took CC on 6 errands on our first day home alone together. That was sort of a dumb move on my part but we had a list! A list, I tell you! And all 6 stops were super close together but still, that is when I decided my daughter sort of hates her car seat. Plus it was a hot 85 degrees outside and she was annoyed with me carting her in and out of the hot car so many times. Had to make a nursing stop in the dressing room of Old Navy (where I found a cute one piece swimming suit! My first one piece EVER, but it's really necessary for this summer considering I just had a baby 2 freaking weeks ago. ) Had another emergency nursing/calming a crying baby pit stop in the back seat of my car while sweating. Fun times, I tell you. And of course she slept for hours after that, very content and happy.

-She is spitting up more than I remember Truman doing in the early weeks, but then again---I feel like I blocked a lot of things out from the first time around and maybe they are about the same in many ways. But she will spit up a little bit after some of her feedings. Then at 13 days old she for real gagged and spit up a TON, all over poor Lois. It really freaked me out but I'm pretty sure she is fine, just had a gag reflex that would not quit. Then she had one other episode of a lot of puke that didn't seem to bother her but it went all over me and her and seemed like a ridiculous amount. It hasn't happened since then but I'm still watching her like a hawk to make sure there isn't a real issue. I realize that true reflux is no joke and probably not what we are dealing with since it's only been bad two times, and she doesn't spit up *that* often. I probably need to keep her more upright after feeding her and maybe I should be more diligent about burping. Always something to worry about.

-Also, while I'm being a worrying mom, she still has to work really hard to poop or burp. Like, she is the noisiest, gruntiest baby ever! I do remember Truman going through this though, and once she poops or I get her to burp she is happy as a clam. Nothing like your little angelic baby girl, who seems as delicate as a flower, grunting and ripping a huge fart to ruin your perception of a proper lady:) It's even more awesome when she goes cross-eyed, turns red, and arches her eyebrows while ripping said fart. I think she got this from her daddy.

-She doesn't really like being swaddled. She isn't a huge fan of the pacifier. But sister does love to nurse and is doing a stellar job at helping with my engorgement. I'd say she takes both sides more often than not, usually 10-15 minutes on each side. Pretty phenomenal if you ask me, and I feel like she is looking fatter by the day. Love it.

-Night time sleep: going surprisingly well! She's gone from waking up every hour to stretching it to 3-4 hours at a time. The big question is whether or not she falls asleep easily after her feedings/diaper changes. Most of the time she is kind to me but sometimes she just wants to party. But overall, I feel pretty well-rested in the mornings considering the broken sleep. I mean, waking up just twice a night with a newborn is a pretty amazing gift if you ask me---hoping it lasts and I didn't just jinx myself by writing about it.

-Awake times are getting more frequent and lasting longer. I'd say she is probably awake for 30 minutes at a time, a multiple times each day now. But of course, there are times when she is awake for hours at a time with just 5 minute naps here and there. That is when she gets pretty fussy and overtired and it takes a lot of 'work' on my part to coax her to sleep. She's definitely a content baby most of the time but when she is fussy, it's really frazzling and I hate seeing her cry. Again, I think Truman was the same way but like I told Nate the other day, I barely remember him crying at all in the early weeks. Nate reminded me that Truman did, in fact, cry just like his sister. It's amazing what you forget with time. :)

-Nicknames so far: C, Sister, Sis, Cease (weird, but it just flows out sometimes), and of course CeCe. When strangers ask me her name I do love to say 'Cecelia' though. It just suits her so well.

-Speaking of strangers, the day of the many errands was one that was also her first day NOT wearing pink. Now, remember, she is in her brother's red infant car seat, with his bright orange pacifier clip and a blue elephant hanging on the handle (a little boyish, yes). But anyway, that day she didn't wear pink I had 3 people ask me HIS name or when HE was born. Not cool. And now I will be making her drip in pink with pink bows on her head at all times. Not really, but maybe. We'll see.

-Truman is still an amazing big brother. When Nate brought Truman home from Lori's yesterday, the first thing T said when he entered the room was not, 'Hi, Mommy!' or anything like that. It was, 'Baby, is?' Which in Truman speak means, 'Where is baby?' Still loving his gentle nature with Cecelia, how he kisses her and tells me to feed her any time she fusses.

Photo dump time again! These are from weeks two and into her third week now...what did I do without my iPhone/Instagram/internet at all times when I had Truman??

Such a Truman face...


At the playground, watching big brother run around. Very surreal since I hadn't been there since I was VERY pregnant. So happy to have her out instead of in.


A giant flower headband, made by Go Go. Many more where that came from.


Oh, hi!


The crew.


dying over dressing her up each day.


ruffles and bows. Sigh.


So little in this giant (boyish) car seat.


Wide awake at 10pm when I was ready to go to bed. Good thing she is cute.


Pre-bath hair plus an adorable outfit.


Very red hair here!


This is the life...little lounger.


Peaceful angel. Who grunts and farts.


Proud big bro.


Proud daddy.


This is what she was wearing when people called her a boy. Still love the outfit but must figure out a way to incorporate some pink next time.




-one last thing. Today is June 13 which I just realized is the one year anniversary from my D&C. What a difference a year makes. And thank you, God, for this amazing blessing in our lives.

UPDATED:
I can be found on Instagram with my new name: mrsjuliagoolia. Love that site.