Pyjama party!

The H had cooked a nice meal for us last friday night, and we were going to eat it "properly" by the table with some nice wine, and have a little bit of "us" time when baby E was sleeping. I went upstairs to put on something appropriate.

On my way down the stairs I start to giggle when I realize what I was wearing.

Appearantly "something appropriate" for a nice meal these days is a well used and over sized pyjamas and warm socks...

Performance review time!

This time of year is usually a time for performance reviews out there in the "real world". Back here at the animal farm I wanted to give my new tiny boss an "upwards review" of how it's been working for her these three months now. I guess my probation time has just expired, and since I have not recieved a notice in writing I assume I still have the job as her mum!?? (which is a great thing as it is VERY likely that I am loosing my other job next week...)

Upwards review for the first three months:

Strengths:

1. Motivational Skills.

You are very good at motivating - you just smile and gurgle and it is worth all the hard work!

2. Creativity

You do bring out a lot of creativity in me that I didn't know I had. A lot of new dances and songs have been invented together for instance...

3. Fun.

You are very fun to work for. Most of the time!

Areas of improvement:

1. Clarity and direction:

It would be great if you could give some more clarity of what to expect ahead of time so I can prepare... rather than just jump into a growth spurt from one day to another for instance...

2. Consistency and timeliness:

Some more consistency and timeliness would be very helpful actually. There has been many an occasion where your sudden change of mood etc has led to cancelling important meetings around town as well as being late for our appointments....

3. Communication:

Yes, there are some nuances to the screaming but it isn't always easy to figure out exactly what it is you want... again som more clarity and communication would be great!

So baby E. Your turn now. How am I doing?

"NEW MUM, MAY LACTATE IN PUBLIC"

So, baby E is now 9.5 weeks and we are enjoying our time together. She is in a super cute phase where she smiles a lot and is much more interactive and independent every day making it possible for me to take showers etc which my surroundings have appreciated very much (especially considering the puke and poo that sometimes gets hurled my way....) I have even made it out of the house ON MY OWN for the first times!!! I have been to the hairdresser ON MY OWN, and to the gym twice ON MY OWN!! It felt absolutely wonderful and strange at the same time.

I was missing a sign on my forehead saying "NEW MUM, MAY LACTATE IN PUBLIC" or something to explain why I get sweat stains on my boobs in the gym, and why I am generally behaving weirdly... After first being visually pregnant for quite a few months, then always having had a new baby in tow - my strange behavior is always accounted for, and I just get understanding looks and interested comments... without the bump AND the baby I am just plain weird.....

Ah well...

Prada vs Haglof

Baby E and I are enjoying all sorts of coffee/lunch/playdates with other new babies and their mums locally. Lots of different groups. Yesterday I made an observation regarding the style of mums from different countries, in this case Italian vs Swedish. Met with a bunch of Italian mothers and babies in the morning. I immediately felt totally underdressed and "like the poor cousin from the country" in my jeans and red feeding top and windjacket. They were all "prada" with high heels, jewellery, designer bags etc and talked about their tummy corsets and maternity nurses. However later in the day I felt right at home meeting up with a group of Swedish mums. I hadn't met them before but needed no introduction as saw a group of very practially dressed healthy -(and good-) looking women. It was Prada vs Haglof if you know what I mean :-).

Equally nice ladies though - just lightyears apart in style....

The Milk Monster!

Third week with our wonderful baby E now and I am constantly exhausted, dazed, drained and very very happy. Seems like I could attach her to me like a little monkey baby though, as she would prefer to be feeding ALL the time...

How can something so small, eat so much I wonder???

Welcome to the Animal Farm!

It feels like we have created our own little farm.

I am the cow... muuuu. Feels like I do nothing else but breast feed...

Baby E, is a super cute little piglet (she makes cute piglet snuffly noises)

Mike is the proud peacock or rooster, parading around showing off his offspring to anyone who is remotely interested. We have had neighbours come in to see baby E, people we normally don't really talk with, and when I was resting with baby E on the sofa one day the postman comes in to say hello to her.... no joke! He is just the proudest father ever!

Cocooning

Baby E has now been with us for five days and we are loving every minute of it. Yes, we are sleep deprived and are having more "constructive" discussions than usual, but generally just.... happy... and fighting to get "Baby E time" :-) The H has two weeks paternity leave and then she is just mine... ha ha ha.

I had NO idea that I would be so utterly in love from the start. I thought it would take some time, as I have not been that interested in new born babies before, but baby E is very interactive, cuddly, cute and just the sweetest. Just lying with her on my chest is pure bliss... She is an angel and so far very easy to handle (knock on wood...). Breastfeeding is working just fine, and I am also healing psysically quite well. Went out for our first walk outside the house today for example and made it all the way to the pub down the river for lunch. So we are slowly slowly starting to withdraw our cocoon and enter the real world together.

Many many thanks for all the lovely messages, flowers and gifts from our friends and family around the world by the way! Baby E certainly feels very welcomed to this world outside my womb!