Wallis's First Month

So life in the Henderson house is pretty much dictated by the needs of Wallis and Wyatt and the very ambitious, almost-but-not-really complete upstairs remodel. In attempt to catch up on blogging the whirlwind that was our September 2011, I'll start with a post about Wallis's first month. Her addition to our family started out a little rough with a couple all-nighters. Of course, she woke only to feed at the hospital, but once she got home, it was another story. The first night she was awake from 2-6 a.m. and the second night from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. I guess she must have slept in 20 minute increments, but I can't be sure. Ross and I had a rough night. She's now almost one month old--time flies. She is doing pretty well at night. She usually wakes 2-3 times between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m, though sometimes she likes to make her dad work his full shift by staying awake until 11. So far I give her pretty good marks for a newborn. Since she was three weeks early, I have no idea whether her past month is indicative of the next month or so. I can't really recall how long Wyatt slept in those first couple months, but I remember being very, very tired. I am currently still functional during the day, even after her wakings plus Wyatt's new quest to sleep in the bed with me. I look around at night surrounded by babies and think, "I am never, ever going to sleep six consecutive hours again." But then I realize this phase with two little ones will be over in the blink of an eye. I look at their sweet little faces and tell myself to chill out, enjoy it, and go to sleep before one of them wakes up again! Wallis spends much of her day sleeping. She usually wakes between 7-8:30 and then takes a nap from 10-1. We are still working on her late afternoon and evening schedule, trying to figure out how to get her awake enough hours during the day to sleep at night, but not have her overtired. Haven't quite figured this out yet. The rest of her time is mostly spent nursing. She nurses nearly every hour in the evenings. It will be nice when she gets a little bigger, so she (and I) can go longer between feedings during the day. But like the sleeping issues, I remind myself this goes by so, so fast and it is only a matter of a couple months that I will be non-stop nursing since Wallis is definitely our last baby. She is a sweet baby girl and really cries very little. Which is good because she has her mother's very loud voice! Mostly she just hangs out, eats, and enjoys the day.