Let Me Never Forget...

I'm a mix of emotions as I end my maternity leave, and get ready to head back to work. The last 11 weeks have been some of the best and hardest of my life. I find myself amazed at how quickly the time has gone, and how much Linnea is already changing. There are times I catch myself saying "let me never forget..." I want to document these thoughts, in hopes of preserving them a bit...

Let Me Never Forget...

• Your smell. You smell like baby lotion and sweet milk. It's wonderful. I love to squish my nose up to your cheek/chin and just breathe you in.
• The sleepy faces you make when you nurse. My favorite is when your eyes are barely shut, and you raise your eyebrows high. So. Stinkin'. Cute.
• The way you shoot your little arms up when we unswaddle you each morning. You love to stretch, and can hardly wait to get your little arms up above you.
• The way your hand moves along my chest when you are snuggled close. It's as if you just like knowing that I'm there.
• Your soft skin. Seriously. There's a reason there's the phrase "baby soft skin" and man, do you have it. I feels like silk. I love running my hand up and down your back.
• Your busy busy eyes. You are so alert and attentive to the world around you. Sometimes you sit and stare and something for a really long time, and sometimes your eyes and head dart around like there's so much to take in, and so little time to do it.
• Your smiles. We've had a little more than a month of your sweet smiles. They are getting more frequent and bigger, and daddy and I just eat them up! And now, they are often followed by little coos or chuckles.
  
• The feeling of you falling asleep on my shoulder...in my arms...at my side. The weight of you. The movement of you. The sound of your breathing. I take it every chance I can get.

These things and so many more...let me never forget. We look forward to watching Linnea grow and change, but want to enjoy every second of her, and remember all of these things forever.

I love my little girl. More than I can ever explain.

You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do...

I have been blessed with a circle of mom friends that I made in my New Mamas class at Amma Maternity. Our class is over now, but we've continued to get together. Today we gathered at one of the mom's houses to watch the documentary Babies. I had seen it before, but it was interesting to watch now that I am a mom.

It's been so nice to have moms with babies about the same age. We are able to share our stories, compare our struggles, help one another, and celebrate successes.

Today the topic of bizarre breastfeeding locations came up. One of the moms joked that she was going to make a blog that chronicled her weird locations. That made me think, and I decided to create a blog post for it (thanks for the idea, Alissa!).

I have been lucky to have breastfeeding go pretty smoothly. With the exception of the start (before it was discovered that Linnea was born tongue-tied), things have gone well. Linnea has become a pretty good breastfeeder, and I seem to have a good supply to feed her with. :-)

Until just a couple weeks ago, Linnea was exclusively breastfed (as in no bottles)...which is wonderful, but definitely creates for some interesting breastfeeding locations...

So obviously there's the normal locations...our house, our parents' houses, our friends' houses... and then it expands from there...

The next level is the places that are out of the ordinary, but a pretty supportive environment... New Mamas class at Amma, church (both in the lobby and the bathroom), the Women's Lounge of Nordstroms (which is SUPER nice...moms, take note), a bathroom at a restaurant...

Then we get to the bizarre "you do what you gotta do" places... the parking lot of Wal-Mart, the parking lot of Cub Foods, the dining area of a McDonald's, the dining area of Tavern on France (this was with the Amma Mamas, so it wasn't all that bizarre), the community room of our local library, in the car along the shore of Lake Superior (while Jeromy geocached...), an industrial farm equipment parking lot, and my personal favorite...a picnic table outside the Eco Building at the State Fair.

It makes me oddly proud to be comfortable and confident enough (or sometimes simply desperate enough) to have fed Linnea in all of these places. Breastfeeding and pumping for Linnea helps me to continually be amazed by my body and its abilities...it does what it has to do to feed my beautiful baby. And for that, no matter where and no matter when, I am grateful.

2 Months!!

Dear Linnea,

And just like that, you are two months old. Where doe s the time go?? You've become even more and more of a joy to your dad and I. We've had so much fun with you already, we can't even IMAGINE the fun that's in store in the days...weeks...months...years to come! You have had another great month, full of fun times, and lots of change!

You started smiling...
Near the end of September, you started smiling! Both of us caught smiles at separate times, and had the same reactions...just about the time we realized it was a real smile, it was gone and it left us wanting more! Now the smiles are a daily occurrence. We love it! You, oddly enough, are most smiley and content on your changing table! :-) We also caught your first smile on camera. You were wearing Packer gear, which made daddy proud!

You took New Mama class with Mom...
You and I took a 6-week New Mama class with 6 other moms and babies. It was tons of fun for both of us. Each week we met for 2 hours for class, and then we got together another time during the week for social time. We went out to lunch a couple times, went to the Mall of America, went to story time at a library, and for a walk at Centennial Lakes. Class is over now, which is a bummer, but we're hoping to continue to get together with our new mom and baby friends. Also, I'm already looking forward to signing up for Beyond Newborns, which is the next class. I look forward to meeting other new moms and babies, and continuing to learn how to be a good mom to you!

You went on vacation...
We took our first official family vacation this month! We drove up to Bayfield, WI for a long weekend for their fall festival, Apple Fest. You did great in the car both ways (we just had to stop once each way to feed you - once in the parking lot of a industrial tractor place, and once in the Walmart parking lot...so classy!). You also had your best nights of sleep so far up there! You slept 10-4:30 one of the nights, and 10-5 another night! We stayed with great Grandpa and Grandma Carlson. Great Aunt Janet and Uncle Curt, cousins Gretchen and Tom, and great Uncle Brian were there too. You had lots of good family time. We took a ferry over to Madeline Island (your first boat ride), visited apple orchards, and spent some time downtown too. It was a great weekend.

You've grown and changed a lot too...
We had your 2-month check with Dr. Khan. She said you looked perfect! (We tend to agree). You are a healthy, growing girl! It was fun to talk with the doctor about how much you are growing and changing, and how well you are doing. You make us proud!

At the doctor's you weighed in at 12 pounds, 7 ounces (85th percentile). You were 23 inches long (75th percentile), and your head was 16 inches (90th percentile). We love to see you are growing and healthy!

You surprise us by fitting into clothes that we think will be too big for you! You are mostly wearing 0-3 month clothes, but can fit into some 3-6 month clothes already, including a Luther onesie that Grammy and Grampy got for you. Go Norse!! You are wearing size 1 diapers now. It's hard to believe that they used to be so big on you, because now they seem to be getting small already!

You continue to be a pretty good sleeper at night. You have started to go to bed a little bit earlier (although this time still varies from between 8:30 and 10:00). You are typically only up once during the night. You've had some GREAT stretches of sleep where you will sleep from 10:00 at night until 5:00 in the morning! Your sleep is still a little inconsistent, but we'll take what we can get!

We hope that in the weeks and months to come you will fall into a better schedule during the day. I think this will probably happen naturally as you start daycare and get a bit older. Speaking of daycare, you start very soon! I (Mom) am really sad about this, because I've enjoyed spending my days with you. I know you will have a good time at daycare, but I will certainly miss you! Dad and I will appreciate the time we spend with you even more.

You continue to be such a joy to us, Linnea Beth! We love you very very much!

Love, Mommy and Daddy