Karina - 3 Months

These past 12 weeks have really flown by. But, really, there is no other way that time flows when you have a baby. A baby and a 3 year old. Lots of energy. Actually, Karina feels very easy next to her big brother. Thank goodness Jordan is around on the non daycare days; Jonas just has so much energy to burn. Long walks in the forest and sports and sand/dirt play are his all day staples when not in daycare. Naps are hard to come by for Jonas when he is at home and he will only fall asleep if we are in the car which is not very often.


Karina is also full of energy these days. She sleeps so well through the night with feedings every 3 hours, but never a full awakening. She sleeps well in her side bed next to us, but eventually I get lazy and she ends up sleeping with us after one of her feeds during the night. Daytime, Karina is a light napper and will fall asleep easily while in the Bjorn but will not stay asleep on her own unless I am snuggled with her. I only nap with her every other day because I find that I am not needing the extra sleep. My energy has been quite good since Karina was born. Some days tougher, but generally my energy is quite good. Karina naps between 3-5 times a day and this is anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. She is very content to watch me in the kitchen or outside in the garden. She spends long periods on her tummy or in her chairs, looking around. When she gets a little grumpy I put her back in the Bjorn and she is content once again. At the moment, life is very simple.




Simple is good and I am thoroughly enjoying the moment. I try to get out for at least an hour of exercise 5 days a week. I am trying new recipes and making many healthy meals - our smoothies are the best ever and we have gotten super creative! I am eating a larger variety of green smoothies and also some chocolate ones lately as well.

It has felt so refreshing to start back at Bikrams Yoga again. I wish I could go more, but once a week is better than non and at this point I will take what I can get. I have tried playing squash with Jordan which was fun and again I can't wait to play again. Aside from that I have been jogging and swimming and going on lots of walks with Karina.

Living on campus is so convenient and lots of fun. Although our actual apartment building is a complete dump, our apartment is average and we have a nice yard. We are south facing so we get lots of sun, yet some shade from a giant Maple tree. We have some privacy but we do overlook the Whitecaps soccer field which is fine! Actually, all the sports facilities surrounding us are world class; its great to have so many healthy and active people all over the place. We have also made some really great friends and the overall feeling is that we all feel quite supported by one another and there is always someone close by to help in any situation. (birth, babysitting etc)

Its hard to find the time to collect my thoughts and sit down to write this blog. I often think of different things I would like to write about but when I have the chance to sit down for long enough, I forget what I want to write about and then I am too tired! Being a mom to a baby is exhausting and chaotic with a 3 year old running around. The other day it took several minutes for me to try to communicate one thought to Jordan and it was just such an insane moment with Karina in my arms and Jonas running around - I had to laugh at myself. And to top it off, I wonder if Jordan even registered what I was saying. Life at the moment can be rather crazy, but as long as I live in the moment, keep things simple and remember that this will all pass much too quickly, then I think I will pull through just fine (with Jordan and Jonas and Karina!)

Little Darlings

Aside from flying off the couch, Jonas also likes fitting in small spaces and building forts throughout the house


Karina is already pinning Jonas down!


I love these moments.....

10 Weeks

The 3 month growth spurt is probably upon us. Although Karina is 10 weeks I am very certain she is having a growth spurt. With the continual feeding last night and all day today I was actually able to peal myself out of bed by noon in order to eat and get dressed. I was actually up at 6AM this morning, which is very early in this house. No one usually gets out of bed until 7:30 - but today I got out of bed after a big Karina feed because I knew she would want me back in bed for another feed and perhaps her dad could keep her asleep a little longer with his presence next to her. I was back in bed by 9AM where I snuggled and fed Karina and drifted in and out of sleep. I swear my nipple was in her mouth the whole time...

So I had an hour to myself where I sipped coffee and blogged. It was quite nice to sit back in a quiet house and enjoy the time to myself. After having used a bodem for our coffee for years and breaking two in the month that Karina was born, we invested in a nice coffee machine. Each night I pregrind and preset the machine to 7AM, so that when Jordan rolls out of bed when Jonas wakes up, he is greeted with some nice coffee - its like a little 'I love you for getting up with Jonas' coffee. Mind you, I am usually up within half an hour of Jordan and Jonas getting out of bed.

As I type this, Karina has slept in the Baby Bjorn for the past hour. She has now woken up and is trying to have a conversation with me. I love that she is more awake and aware now. She loves, as Jonas did, babbling and smiling at me as we have a 'conversation'. So sweet. I am loving my time with my little baby girl. She will grow up too fast and I already know that.

Anxiety

Although it wasn't mandatory, I encouraged Jordan to attend a Community Forest conference over the weekend. I arranged to have my parents come over from the Island for the weekend so that I could have some help. I know that as my hormones settle and I become more used to life with two small children, I will become better adapted. I knew I would be fine on my own, but I also knew that I would be better off with a little help.

I have a certain anxiety when I am alone with both kids for several hours - mainly around bedtime. Jordan had a ball tournament one weekend which was fine because I would go out for walks with Jonas and Karina and it was quite easy. But when its bedtime and you have a crying baby and a very tired and cranky 3 year old its a tough juggle struggle. Every time I have Karina almost asleep, Jonas will make a noise or ask if I am ready to put him to bed. I have only been through this a few times but I must say I felt anxiety. I almost feel better simply admitting to this weakness in myself because I know it will pass with time.

Of course its good to work hard and be the best you can be, but I also believe it is healthy to admit ones weaknesses and shortcomings. We are humans, not superheros. I am not supermom and never will be.

As anyone who has read ethnopediatrician, Meredith Small's book, 'Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent', will see that we are one of the few cultures around the world where a mother and usually a father will single handedly raise their children. Alone. This way of child rearing has never really been a practice that I instinctively felt was entirely healthy for anyone involved. Could this be a contributing factor to the overwhelming amount of Post Partum Depression in our culture. I think it is a major one. Maybe it contributes to the isolation people will feel at different times in their lives. With so much importance and expectation placed on that of the 'family', especially in this culture, you are bound to be disappointed! We are a culture who has many, many definitions of family, which, in all honesty I am often confused about. It seems as if each person has their own definition of what a family looks like. Whether its the nuclear family or ones spiritual/church family, I think it all needs to be incorporated into a larger picture of family. Community perhaps? SSince this is still a blog written firstly for my children as a record, according to mom, of their early life with us - perhaps I will eventually write another post dedicated to our picture of family!

I read Our Babies Ourselves when Jonas was a baby. I enjoyed how it gave such a wide overview of infant care practices across the world and then presented in a clear and concise manner. Small notes that what may seem to be "normal" baby care for one culture seems quite strange, even shocking or disturbing, for another.It is not a parenting book, really, but it does give affirmation for making instinctual parenting choices. It is a great book for anyone who is interested in infant care in other cultures. It is also a good book for parents needing encouragement that what they are doing is best for their baby even when society says it's not (especially for issues such as co-sleeping and baby wearing.)

My Little Girl

We seem to have settled into our little life as a family of 4. Karina is almost 9 weeks and is a very sweet and normal little babe. She eats, plays, sleeps and then does it all over again and of course in any order she sees fit. Life with child 2 is much smoother than with the first. I know what to expect and that is simply you never know how each day with a little baby will go. Maybe we will nurse all day and lay around and then eat Bunny noodles for dinner. Or maybe Karina will sleep abit more and I will be able to get lots accomplished. I take each day as it comes. Karina will typically nurse throughout the night but these nights are not so bad because I am so accustomed to them after already having been through one nursling already. I don't expect Karina to sleep through the night, though she occassionally sleeps for 4 hours straight without a nurse session. She will also sleep in the side cradle for the first part of the night and then come into bed with us. I find that I sleep much better once she is with us because she is nice and close and I feel more in tune with her. This is just how it has worked out for us. I was like this with Jonas as well. This time, however, I am making more of an effort to start the night with Karina in her own bed because she will probably move out of our bed to be with her brother sooner than her brother left our bed (at 18 months).

The only big difference between Karina and Jonas so far is that Jonas always fell asleep breastfeeding whereas Karina often does not and likes to sleep when she is ready - and on her own. With Jonas I could convince him through breastfeeding to fall asleep quickly or to go back to sleep if he woke up after a short 20 minute nap.

This time around I am also much more conscious of my body and much more driven to take good care of it. I am eating well and exercising lots with special focus on my back. I felt much weaker postpartum this time around and I knew that in order to function optimally and carry Karina around for hours a day in the sling and bjorn, I would have to strengthen my core. I need to carry her in order to get anything done and I can't be sore.

Karina smiles lots now, she laughs and babbles and has taken an interest in Mr Lion which was Jonas's first 'toy' as well.



Jonas is, as always, a ton of fun with the exception of typical 3 year old naughtiness!
Recently he said to Jordan when asked if he wanted to go to The Aquarium or Science World - 'I want to go to Science World so that I can play with things, not just look at things'. Science World has been his fave for the past 8 months.

Karina Isabel - 8 Weeks