On the lighter side

Some random thoughts and observations from new motherhood.

New skills acquired:

• washing both hands while holding the baby and without dropping her
  
• getting very quickly through the fussy part of her bath to the part she loves - the dunk
  
• styling a little mop of blonde hair. A new 'do' with every bath (I didn't say I was consistent)
  
• guessing which clothes in her dresser might be close enough to fitting that she won't get lost in them
  
• pumping while asleep
  
• nursing while asleep (I've succeeded at least a few times, which is almost as good as my record while awake)
  
• feeding bottles while asleep. At least I'm very practiced at this. But as Tex will tell ya, practice only makes perfect if you practice right, and I've mostly been practicing dropping the bottle
  
• changing diapers while asleep. This one can be dangerous, but so far I've been lucky
  
• triggering little knees to bend at the right time to insert or extract little feet into or out of sleeper and pant legs
  
• manoeuvering two largish hounds alongside a stroller en route to the park. Particularly entertaining to watch the first few tries, as my boxer-cross is afraid of said stroller (anything with wheels really, since she got caught up in a bike as a puppy)
  
• savouring soggy cereal and cold lunches
  
• typing blog posts one-handed while pumping, nursing, or entertaining
  

Other deep thoughts:

• whoever first said, 'Don't cry over spilt milk' was probably neither a cow nor a nursing/pumping mother
  
• I acquired a new title this month. MMMOOoooom
  
• for the Goddess: I once again have jeans that fit. Not quite the way they used to, but I can do up the button and still breathe. The corduroys fit better, but they always did.
  
• guys can get hit with the nesting instinct, too, though it's less likely to take the form of rearranging furniture or folding and arranging dresser contents, and more likely to manifest itself in fixing or upgrading things. Like the furnace and heating ducts. It also makes for a good distraction as they adjust to the shocking reality of being Papa.
  
• it's surprisingly easy, given the right motivation, to rewrite your definition of a good night's sleep
  
• the smallest smiles can melt your heart