Tales from Postpartum Week One

My week old son needs a haircut.
Most of you know how I feel about baby mullets (an affront to the Hair Gods) and my baby has a serious newborn mullet happening.

Can you see it there tufting out behind the ears? It's hard to get a good shot of the downy soft newborn hair ...

When Owen was born it was clear he had hair over his entire head. Just two different types of hair.
On the bottom U portion of his head, the hair is light brown and feels like that newborn hair that will fall out in the coming weeks. It's long and plays around the tops of his ears and too far down his neck.
The top, which if he was an elderly man would be void of hair, contains short, blonde hair. The type of hair that doesn't fall out.
It makes me laugh every time I see it. And, of course, because I have loving eyes, I think it's adorable. It needs to be cut, but it's adorable.

On my mom's last day here (Friday) the entire family went on an outing to the mall to ride the horsies.
I thought it would be good to have reinforcements on my first trip out with all three kids.
What I didn't count on was the lesson learned from dressing my new postpartum body.
At church, I am surrounded by women who give birth and within 2 weeks are back to their fabulous shape.
I am not one of these women.
The lesson I learned from the outing was that I won't be going out for about 2 months ... or longer.
Instead, I shall wander my halls in pajama pants and large maternity shirts.

Jane is fascinated with my nursing.

The first time she found me nursing she ran up with alarm, "What is he chewing on?!?" she exclaimed. (What an appropriate observation!)
Now she watches curiously.
Yesterday, she lifted up her shirt while I nursed and declared, "I don't have my special mommy's milk yet, but when I do I will feed my daughters, Hashi and Jane."
She is, however, slightly concerned who she will marry for this family of Jane, Hashi and Jane.
Apparently, Elliot told her no when she proposed marriage.
She's got Plan B cooking, however. "Mommy, do you think Daddy will marry me?"

I don't know why, but the kids have been super tired this week.
It's not like the baby is keeping them up (he's in our room downstairs and they are upstairs).
Still, they are pretty tired.

Do you like his pretty-pretty? He insists on one every. single. morning.

On Friday, I went upstairs to get the kids out of bed.
In the dark, both rustled from their beds when I opened the door and said "Hi, Mommy!" So I went to the window to open the blinds.
There was Jane, brushing her face against her pillow and slightly whimpering.
When I came over the assess the problem, she looked up with a pained expression and her fingers on her eyelids.
"Mommy, I can't get my eyes to stay up!"

My poor little Owen has a touch of jaundice.

He's not like the oompahlumpa of Family Past (Elliot), but he is a little yellow.
The whites of his eyes are a little yellow too, but nothing the doctor is concerned about.
True to form, I'm more worried than anyone else.

Both kids continue to be enamoured with their baby brother.

They are, however, handling the fallout from a new baby differently.
Jane cries for attention and to have me near her at all times. She struggles with the idea of me having to nurse the baby when she wants me to play with her or with the thought that I might take a small nap when another adult is around.
Elliot, on the other hand, could really care less about it all.

Instead, my handsome little almost-3-year-old has seized this opportunity to create mayhem.
He was a handful before, but he has excelled to new heights this week.
All day long, all I hear from my little blondie, "Sorry, Mommy. It was an accident." whether by grand design or true accidental outcome of his antics.