Moxie::One Month

Month posts have returned as I attempt to continue the tradition of recorded remembrances at the monthly milestones (give or take a few days) of Moxie Wren.

Amazingly, yesterday marked the one month birthday of our daughter. It also was her big sister’s second birthday, and so I became the official mother of a four year-old, a two year-old, and a one month old. No more three under three, though I could only claim that for a mere two weeks anyway. 

 

In as much as I feel so much has happened since her arrival, I also feel as if nothing has happened either. Since the day we brought her home she has seamlessly fit into this family and we’ve been able to continue our routine and schedule, which are tantamount to my existence, truly. To be sure, there have been less impromptu Target trips or outings in general, but the extra time spent at home has been therapeutic and life-giving for us as a family. The winter that will never end and the snow that will never stop falling have contributed to many a day literally stuck at home, but because I’d previously committed to staying home as often as we needed, it hasn’t been as much of a rub as it might have otherwise. 

Cutter and Scout have been accepting, loving, doting, and helpful – so helpful. Cutter has fallen into the protector role and he’s expressed to me on more than one occasion that he will protect his sisters if monsters should come and try to eat them. This is endearing to me and helpful given the plethora of monster attacks that occur in the world of toddlers. 

Scout as expected is ever the loving big sister. When asked who the big sister is she exuberantly replies, “ME!” with a smile spread wide across her face. Just two weeks ago she perfected the articulation of “Moxie” and now says her name frequently coupled with kisses and hugs and sighs of adoration. Moxie is a blessed child of little complaint, so when she cries Scout alerts me with an “Uh-oh – Moxie.”

 

I’ve been in super bliss mode, and even I admit it’s rather sugar-laced. Everything in the last month has seemed too good to be true, and I’ve been reticent to express too much of my “life is great” feelings for fear the other figurative shoe is going to drop as soon as I do. But for the sake of transparency, I’ve never felt more at peace and happy than I have in this past month. My pregnancy was relatively easy, my labor and delivery was wonderful, my recovery was incredibly fast, and my daughter has been a joy to soak up. She smells like a newborn still, and I don’t want it to go away. Maybe because it’s my third child and I know that this all ends and they grow up, but I’ve been so content just spending time with her studying her every part and enjoying where we’re at right now, instead of wishing for the next step. 

Enough of my maternal emotions, Moxie’s one month stats.

Moxie Wren at one month you are:

-       - Weighing a full 10 pounds (75%)

-       -   Measuring 22 ¾ inches (98%)

-       - Wearing 3 month clothes but many are too tight lengthwise (see 98% above – girlfriend is long)

-       - Wearing size 1 diapers

-       - Sleeping so well. Like a newborn, really. Typically during the day I wake you to keep you eating every 3 hours so you’re napping for 2-2 ½ hours at a time. In the evening you’ve taken to a cat nap from about 4:30-5:30 or 6. The best part, you’ve been sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night – so some nights I’m only getting up to feed you once in the middle of the night. (!) You sleep swaddled and with the sound machine on. Monday night we moved you into the kid’s room and you’ve been sleeping in there every night since. That’s right – all 3 kids sleeping in one room!

-     -  Eating like a champ. I was worried for a while because you weren’t eating as long, but weight checks have confirmed you know what you’re doing and I just keep following your lead. Right now you’re eating every 3 hours during the day and every 5-6 at night, nursing for a total of 15-20 minutes.

-    -    A typical day right now looks like this: I wake you up at 7 am and feed you to keep us on schedule for the day (especially if we have to take Cutter to school or be out anywhere). Down for nap by 7:45. Wake you up at 10 am to eat, down for nap by 10:45 or 11. Wake you up at 1 pm to eat (Cutter and Scout go down for their naps now – in separate rooms), down for nap by 1:45. Wake you up at 4 pm to eat, nap from 4:30 until 5:30 or 6. Up and either bath or play with dad and the kids, change and nurse before going to bed at 7 with the kids. Up around 12 or 1 am to feed, up maybe again at 5 or 6, but I put you back down until we start our day at 7 am. And start all over again…