A Week In, and Two Celebrations

Greta has been home with us for a week and two days now, and things are going surprisingly well. “Surprisingly” because we’ve been remarkably free from the fatigue and chaos that generally come with an infant. Greta has proven so far to be an outstanding eater, and a stellar sleeper, with little inclination to cry. Knock wood. Knock knock. I’m fully aware that this can and probably will change, but for now we feel surprisingly…human. She’s been sleeping in three- or four-hour stretches, with a five-hour stretch thrown in now and then just to keep herself in our good graces. She’s cute, too, so I guess we’ll keep her around.

In the week or so that we’ve been home, we’ve had two celebrations. November 3 was our four-year anniversary, which we actually managed to celebrate. After we put Lucia to bed, I fed Greta, passed her to my parents, and Andrew and I hurried around the corner for sushi. We’ve been going to this sushi place since I first lived in the neighborhood in 2005-2006, and it’s where we ate our final meal before getting into the U-Haul and moving me out of NYC. The restaurant is still there, but things have certainly changed for us.

On Saturday, November 5, once my dad had arrived, we finally celebrated Lucia’s second birthday. We kept it small—just Andrew and me, my parents, and Barbra, Chris, and Alex. Andrew and I had gotten her a table and chairs set, which we set up while she napped and adorned with some balloons; her gifts were arranged on the coffee table. She was initially surprised and displeased by all the new things when she came into the room, but quickly got over it and had lots of fun opening her presents and tangling herself into the balloon strings. And, of course, eating a cupcake and ice cream. She seemed unaware that her actual birthday was three weeks earlier.

And so here we are, dual citizens of Infantland and Toddlerland. And here I am, feeling remarkably good, with new-breastfeeding pain actually surpassing the pain from my incision. But all is well, despite the discomfort: we took Greta in for a checkup today, and she’s gained 14 ounces! Double the amount the doctor had said we should look for. She’s now 7 lbs., 3 oz. So we’re off to a good start.