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.