When I look at Nora, I want to say the same thing. She's growing so insanely fast. It's hard to believe, but we celebrated her one-month birthday on Sunday. On one hand, it feels like she's always been here, but it makes me so sad to see her leaving her squishy newborn days behind. She's much more alert these days, spending a fair amount of her day awake and checking things out. I think I've seen a real smile or two, but it was in the middle of the night so it's entirely possible that I was hallucinating—my mind's sneaky way of making me feel tenderness toward this ravenous little creature that's keeping me up all night.
That all-night nursing only exacerbates the problem of continued growth, of course. Vicious cycle.
I know it's cliché, but I truly am saddened by how quickly these days are passing. I love the newborn stage, and it's so short-lived. I should be living in the moment and enjoying each day without worrying about its passing, but I'm not quite that Zen. I just finished reading Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott (great book, thanks Elizabeth!), and she puts it this way: "I want to learn to live in the now, I want to learn to breathe my way into it and hang out there more and more and experience life in all its richness and realness. But I want to do it later, like maybe sometime early next week."
Progress is a good thing, I know, and I should be happy about Nora's growth—even if it is record-breakingly fast. I did a non-official weight check at my own doctor's appointment last week, and she's somewhere around 10.5 pounds. That's 3-ish pounds of growth in less than a month. Insane.
Maybe the reason I'm fixating on her growth so much is that I'd rather not think about my own: I gained about the same amount in the same time period. Isn't that the opposite of how it's supposed to go? I blame it on all my thoughtless friends who have been bringing us delicious meals since Nora was born.
Anyway, here's a then-and-now of our behemoth. And a plea that she might consider taking her brother's advice: Slow like a turtle, not fast like a flamingo!
Leaving the hospital, one day old
Today, at one month and two days
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5 comments:
Wow! That's a lot of growing.
Are flamingoes fast?? I always imagine them standing still and eating, but Sidamo probably spends more time thinking about them than I do.
That is a lot of growth! It sounds hard, but it will be so much fun to see her smiles and watch her learn all the cute things that are coming up. I love Sidamo's little sayings. :)
Yep, I so understand those feelings of just wanting to get on your knees and beg someone to just please slow things down. :(
"fast like a flamingo" is the funniest thing I've heard all day. I may have to start saying it. :)
I love before and after pics...I understand your mourning--I've been mourning for a couple months too. Though, I do love the stage my littlest guy is in now too, but it's not the sleepy newborn stage anymore. I say enjoy the time when she fits in that kind of carseat...T grew out of his by four months. I do love damo's saying, I think it should be coined.
Ahhh, Deirdre, beautiful entry. It is so hard, isn't it? The growth is amazing, but it does happen too fast. I loved Lamont's book as well. I guess it's going to happen whether we like it or not, but it sounds like you are truly relishing the moements to me! Give Nora a smooch for me!
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