Monday, June 25, 2007

Maddie Mondays: She's Her Own Girl


That's right. She gets her very own day. I figure this will help me remember to write at least once a week. And let me tell ya, I could use reminders for just about everything right now.

I know I just wrote a big long post about Maddie on Friday (or was it Saturday? See what I mean?) so not too much is new today in her world. Ok, so I guess those 7 straight hours of sleep were just a teaser though. Haven't had a night like that since. But she does sleep at least 3.5 hours straight on any given night and more often than not it's closer to 4.5 or 5 hours so I can't complain. She is, after all, only 4 weeks old. She still naps a lot during the day but when she's awake her eyes are so big and bright it's like looking at Ana as a newborn all over again.

I'm trying very hard not to compare my two kids but quite frankly it's a heck of a lot harder than you'd think. I remember when I was still pregnant with Madelyn Anthony had said to me that we should do everything exactly the way we did it with Ana because she was such an easy baby. And, being the ever-so-logical one, I reminded him that this baby may be completely different than Ana so things may not work the same. Sounds very "put together", right? Right. So tell me why then, if I'm the one that said it, is it so difficult for me to remember that now. I have to admit that Maddie seems to be a lit bit more temperamental than her sister was at this age (although I do think, in comparison, she's still a good baby). And every time see fusses or cries I can't help but wonder why, what worked to soothe Ana doesn't work on her. It frustrates me. It shouldn't, but it does. I thought that everything was going to be so much easier this time around because I had already done it. Truth is, sometimes I feel like I've never done this before and it's completely new to me. Sure, certain things are easier like the diaper changing and bathing and dressing. But everything else? Well it's a whole different ball game.

Maddie is her own little person and she reminds me of that constantly. She's a great eater but only likes to eat 5-10 minutes at a time and likes to follow that with a 5-10 minute nap. She loves being held when I have a million other things to take care of at that exact second. She's usually pretty content but when something's bugging her there is no "quietly letting me know". No, it's a full out scream (it only lasts a second but I guess she wants to make sure I hear her the first time). She seems to like bath time whereas my Ana never did and she doesn't mind when I dress her. Ana never seemed to mind a dirty diaper but Miss Maddie? Oh, she's a totally different story. Wet or dirty you can rest assured that I will know about it within seconds. This does lead to pretty easy diaper changes though. She's not a huge fan of the swing that Ana loved but she can spend hours in the Baby Bjorn that Ana didn't much care for.

I could probably go on and on listing the differences in these two princesses but what's the point? I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that Maddie is her own person and am accepting that she, too, has a whole lot to teach me. I think that once I abandon the notion that this should be easy just because I've already had a baby things will be much easier. What I know for sure about what they do have in common? They both love their mama and I feel it :).

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