Memories in the Making: I like her a LOT! (okay I LOVE her a LOT!)

NonaJane is 3 weeks old today! What?? Craziness, I know.


Sometimes I feel bad when I'm busy, so I replace myself with this monkey so Nona doesn't have to feel alone. Might this cause attachment issues??? I doubt it.

Yes, that is Jack heavily draping his arm across Nona's face. But he claims "I AM being NICE!"

The only part of me that can believe NonaJane is already 3 weeks old is most likely my boobs (TMI??... probably so but I'm running the show here so I can say whatever the heck I want. I refrained from saying my nipples, BAM I just said it so deal with it.) Anyhoo... after a few weeks of toughening up I think we've made it over that hill. My body is also finally recovering from some complications with my c-section. Due to a hematoma, my incision re-opened. It was emotionally draining and pretty stressful to walk around with a gaping hole in my abdomen. They said they couldn't just "sew me up" as I so kindly asked them to do because it needed to heal from the inside out. So instead we got to shove sterile gauze in there to fill the space and absorb any blood and fluid. After 2 weeks of packing the wound and frequent doctor visits it looks like it is finally healing! hallelujah!!! Thanks to my mom, my neighbor, and my lovely husband who all got the joy of cleaning and packing my wound each day. Jack Jack took particular interest in this, and sat and intently watched the process each day. He didn't seemed bothered by the blood, the hole, or any of it. Maybe we have a Doctor on our hands??? The sweetest part is he would say "Mom, it bleeds just a LITTLE bit... but we fixed it!" If only it could have been fixed that quickly :( On a side note, I worry about his thought process as to how babies are born. He now thinks they "pop" out of your stomach and leave a gaping hole...

On to less gruesome details, how about a more delightful blog post??

Adam and Jack including Nona in play-time

Which apparently wore her out... she likes to sleep more than play at this point.

Jack thought baby Nona needed a boat to spice up her bath time.

Jack's interactions with Nona have been pretty entertaining up to this point. He clearly loves her, and wants to engage with her. Unfortunately he does not seem to understand what is "nice" and what could hurt Nona. He reminds me of a puppy who doesn't know his size. He likes to lay on Nona, squeeze her, hug her, and is aggravated with us that we won't let him hold her without our help. The other day I found him playing hide-n-seek with her. He had hid her under a heavy blanket and was pretending to search around the house for her. Later he put her skirt on over her head and teased "Who turned out the lights?" Luckily she seems totally cool with his shenanigans.
Anyways, last weekend was memorial day, so we headed down to my parents lake house as usual. We pulled our fancy pop-up camper down with us. We hadn't had a chance to use it outside of our own driveway, and thought this seemed like a good opportunity. Adam and Jack seemed disappointed when I told them that Nona and I would rather sleep in the house. I think Adam struggles with understanding or empathizing with me in regards to nursing a newborn. It's a lot easier to be up during the night if you have access to water, tv, a bathroom, and an organized system of diapers, blankets, burp clothes, etc. I REALLY am looking forward to camping in the camper with them... but thinking it will be more enjoyable when Nona is a BIT older. So Adam, Jack, and the cousins got to camp out. NonaJane and I got a lakehouse bedroom all to ourselves.

Movie night in the camper with Jack, Ethan and Henry

This really worked out best for everyone because Jack and the boys had a blast, and NonaJane and I weren't waking everybody up all night long.

Jack and Adam out on the wave runner

I was banned from the lake. Bacteria infested water is contra-indicated when you have a large open wound. But the water was quite warm for this early in the lake season. Adam, Jack and the rest of my family really got to enjoy the water. (This is where you get to pity me again for not getting to swim or ride the wave runner. Wow, this blogging is a great way to whine!)

Michael, Adam, Luella, Mema, Keeper, Ethan, Papa, and Julie. Memorial day weekend 2012.

ADORABLE

Nona continues to be super calm, generally content, and super sweet.I'm thinking I might be spoiled if both my kids turn out easy tempered. It seems she is starting to recognize me, or at least my voice and smell. She cuddles with me, smiles a lot in her sleep, makes funny goat noises, and sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. (She also poops a lot. Did I mention that???)