Confessions of a New Parent

We have been home for almost four days now and working to adjust to our new life; all four of us. Yes, our beloved dog is adjusting too. She does not quite understand why she has competition for affection but is doing rather impressive in my opinion. She mostly just looks at Myla and on occasion does a drive by licking. Myla looks shocked then laughs.

For the most part I think Myla is adjusting fairly well. Her sleep schedule is off which is to be expected. She just experienced a 14 hour time difference. I thought maybe somehow I beat the dreaded jet lag but on day two home I slept when Myla napped and could have slept more. Her first night she awoke at 3:55 am to start her day, the second day it was 4:30. All with what I call her social hour in the middle of the night (Yes, it is 2:30 am while I am typing this) accompanied by some screaming and crying. I can tell she is sad and frustrated and it comes out at night. Everything keeps changing...form leaving her orphanage and her caregivers, to hotel room and then another hotel room and now here, the land of 10,000 lakes. It is a lot to handle for a such a wee peanut. During the day she is pretty even keel with a few moments here and there of frustration. When she hungry trust me she lets you know it and don't take her bottle away to readjust. Mad Myla. We joke and say it would be like if you took my mother in laws Pinot Noir away. Hi Mickie.

So I thought I would also share a few confessions from a first time mom...

- I put her diaper on backwards the other day.  Interestingly enough I nannied in the summer as a teen and in addition probably have baby sat over a dozen different babies in my life. Hence, changed quite a few diapers. But I decided to bless my daughter with this mistake.

- Sometimes to amuse Myla I give her a pilgrim hat. It is a diaper on her head sideways and then we look in the mirror. Okay, maybe I find it more amusing. Try it, you'll like it.

-Also, bath time is a favorite of Myla's and mine. She splashes and laughs. She loves having water poured on her back. Then I like spike her hair out. The other night I let it dry that way.  She looked like a mad scientist. Awesome.

-I got really excited to go to the grocery store today when she napped. You would have thought I was going to an amusement park. Yippee, just me for 20 minutes outside of my house. For those who know me I have a bit of a short attention span and I get antsy pretty easily.
Funny thing is I thought about Myla the whole time and...

-How nice it has been to spend this kind of time with my husband. Granted with napping and me sleeping on a bed in Myla's room means we haven't have oodles of time but it is more than we have had in the a long time and being with him in China was pretty sweet too. I will miss when him when he returns to work next week. He helps me wrestle the hulk aka Myla during diaper changes. Never knew a kiddo who disliked diaper changes so much. Still I have yet to convince her that not sitting in her own poo is a good thing.

-In case your wondering why I am I Myla's room...it is recommended that they not be alone when they are adjusting, grieving, and attaching. Imagine sleeping in a room crib to crib with thirty other babies/kids the first year of your life then have someone put in a room by yourself and shutting the door? Kind of scary. I plan to do this for a couple of weeks.

-I am a bit of a worry wart. Okay, more than a little. My old worries have been replaced with new ones as a first time parent. But I have to admit somethings have changed. Perhaps that epiphany should be saved for another blog. Lucky you, right? Har har.

It is now 3:16 am and I should try and steal more sleep before Miss Myla wakes. So I guess Good Morning is appropriate. God Bless. Oh, and eat a cookie, it is Monday.