Week 123 motherhood – 2 yo meeting relatives for first time, bottomless pit

I was trying to get a photo of her little squishy palm but she folded up her hand before I could do so

Week 123 of motherhood with a toddler and infant:

Jan 21: Since the infant is over a month old now, we had the in-laws visit for the first time and to meet their newest grandchild. As expected, the infant slept and barely woke up. Even when the grandparents held her, she cried for a few minutes and then slept. DH had to hold her for a bit too but then she continued sleeping. Not much to do or play for a one-month-old baby.
Because the 2 yo has been visiting the cousins and seeing the grandparents more regularly, she’s less shy and hesitant than before. At least she doesn’t cry either.
When the in-laws visited, she skirted around us and peeped behind us but wasn’t shy.
When DH brings her to Costco, they’ve been enjoying the food samples. DH is really good about bringing her out to run errands like grocery shopping and picking up stuff. I honestly haven’t done any of that alone with her at all…
After a feed and I passed the baby to grandma to hold, she accidentally knocked my haakaa over and about 40 ml of bm spilled all over the floor. That’s the first spill of this kind this time around. I’m not overly upset about it this time around, but it doesn’t mean that it’s something I don’t mind happening often.
Jan 25: I’m kind of a bottomless pit lately. I can eat all the Too Good To Go foods and still feel hungry for more food. DH says he can’t eat as much as me; he’s got nowhere to expend it whereas I’m using up energy to make and produce breastmilk. I’m definitely “milking” this ability to eat as much as I can while it lasts haha. Foodie problems.
I admit I’ve been neglecting the older one a little bit lately. I tend to the little one by being by her side and nursing her and holding her to sleep. The older one seeks out attention from DH and grandma.
The 2yo was a little under the weather yesterday. She had a runny nose and slowed down in her energy levels. She took a long nap too and voluntarily chose to sleep early as well. Poor thing. On the bright side, her immune system will get stronger after she recovers.
She knew to use a tissue to wipe the boogers from her nose. We call them “bay tai chun”. She was able to blow her nose a little too, so I was able to catch some of the gooey boogers.
I accidentally fully knocked over a full haakaa bottle of bm yesterday, about 65 to 70ml worth. More milk for the angel babies out there. I don’t get as upset about spilled milk this time around..but it’s still worth mentioning.
This past week was lunar new year. DH and grandma brought the older one out to visit relatives for “by leen” while I stayed at home with the little one. It’s still a little early for her to go out so it made sense for me to stay at home with her. The saddest thing though is that I wasn’t able to go out to see the 2 yo meet some of her relatives and older cousins for the first time ever. I really wanted to be there to see their reactions (on both sides). This was the first time since she was born that she met some relatives and cousins.
DH also brought the older one out to the SIL’s place to play with her two other cousins. They’re all standing now and can play alongside together. It’s cute.
DH took photos and videos but of course it’s not the same. The 2 yo seemed to do really well though and didn’t shy away or cry. It was also another chance for her to see and take photos with her 101-year-old great grandmother.
I find that the 1-month-old sucks differently on each side of the breast. She sucks for longer on the left side and shorter on the right side.
Her eyelashes are growing out more now.
The 1-month-old also seems to know how to “speak”. When she cries, you can really tell the difference between a hungry cry and an in-pain cry. When she’s hungry, it sounds like she’s saying “nai” (for milk). And especially when she’s frustrated with my let-down, she actually yells so loudly as if she’s complaining.
It is frustrating that she doesn’t latch on for long on the right side since the let-down is so strong.
A few times, the older one said “put down dou dou” to DH. She wanted DH to hold her instead.
The 1-month-old doesn’t have BMs as frequently as the first week anymore. It’s more so once a day these days.
She can sleep so easily in DH or grandma’s arms, but tends to be more fussy if she’s tired when I’m holding her. It takes me a few times of trying to get her to feed and then standing up before she falls asleep.
Great improvement in that I slept on the bed for a few hours in the morning for a nap and when I got up, my pelvis didn’t really hurt much anymore. It’s really, really slowly improving.
We’ve officially moved her to size 1 diapers now. We have two brand new unopened boxes of newborn diapers that we had bought in anticipation for her use. Can’t believe she grew out of the newborns so quickly.
She’s stretching out the toes in the newborn onesies too and we’re moving her to the 0 to 3 month-old clothing too.
The 1-month-old is always at my side; so much more than the first one was when she was at this age. This is why breastfeeding means that the baby is always with the mom and she rarely gets a break. Good thing I’m kind of used to it by now.
She’s so pudgy that even her wrist has two rolls. So chubby than her sister. ^_^
Started putting her in the zebra recliner chair this week. She’s big enough for it as a one-monther.
I started washing dishes again! Been a full month and a bit since I’ve “avoided” water. It feels good to wash dishes again. It feels like such an easy chore and accomplishment. Also good to clean up the kitchen in the way I like to.
Toddler has been enjoying eating her snacks in the stroller for fun.
Toddler continues to sporadically say “I love you popo” when she sees her such is so endearing and cute. Grandma responds with “I love you too”. I laugh every time the toddler says this to grandma out of the blue.
The toddler likes to watch the walking exercise for seniors video on YouTube and she likes to say “hi” to the senior when the video starts. DH caught this on video and the way she says “hi” and then shyly smiles is so, so heart-wrenching and endearing. It reminds me of the video DH took of her when we were riding the train at Fantasy Fair. It was one of such bewilderment and innocence. That video hurts my heart every time because she’s so naive and innocent and vulnerable to the world and one day could get hurt by the realities of the world once she realizes the world is not as pure and innocent as she is. She is just so precious and vulnerable the way she says “hi” and then smiles. Sigh.
I’ve been averaging about 2 hrs and 40 mins of nursing every day with the haakaa outputting around 400ml each day. I never even realized that the Baby Tracker app I use (I used it last time too) records the total daily numbers. It would have been interesting to know this last time.