Levi turned a month old on 10/28 and it got me reflecting on all the things that Ether and I have learned together as new parents over the course of the past month. We also managed to take some family pictures up in the canyon the other day. Keep on reading to see those pictures + the list that we came up with!
30 Things We've Learned In The 30 Days That We've Had A Baby
Mine:
1. Your bed becomes a nursing fort. Of pillows. And blankets. And washcloths. And milk stains. (Too much information?)
2. Your bedroom will, for the foreseeable future, start to smell more and more like babies and diapers and less and less like Chanel No.5
3. When they said to say goodbye to sleep and hello to sleepless nights, they weren’t kidding.
4. Why didn’t anyone tell us that they weren’t kidding about the no-sleep thing?!
5. With the very little amount of sleep you get, you can either be tired and angry, or just tired. I’ve contemplated this truth many times while sitting on the fence about which I was going to be, and I’ve decided that for my sake (and my husband’s)...it’s better to go with the latter.
6. The Nap-When-The-Baby-Naps piece of advice = YES. And on the days you ignore this rule, night time quickly becomes cranky time. For both you and the baby.
7. Say goodbye to mealtimes with your spouse!
8. But if you do make it to mealtime together, one of y’all better be good at holding a 10 pound, squirming little being in one arm and balancing your food on a fork in the other.
9. Google becomes your best friend.
10. But Google is also a curse. Baby’s runny nose could simply be a passing thing, a sign of a cold, or the end of his life. Tread Google waters carefully and with common sense.
11. You will never leave the house on time again! (But that’s ok because I was always late anyway...haha)
12. You realize that wanting to keep your baby healthy with a sufficient supply of breastmilk > wanting to go on a diet to shed off pregnancy pounds. The love for your baby is real, & will drive you to do things you previously wouldn’t have been so willing to do.
13. A changing table is a must. Consider it your back’s lifesaver. We went from changing Levi on a changing pad on the floor, to changing him on his Pack N Play’s changing topper, to finally changing him on a changing table. And because Dad’s mainly on diaper duty, it has saved his back.
14. Body parts other than your back will hurt. You will be tired. Your arms will ache. But your parents went through the exact same thing, raising you. The circle of life is beautiful & inevitable, even with some hurt along the way. They carried you; now it is your turn to carry your little one.
15. And for the reason previous, it’s ok to feel overwhelmed. You’re doing this for the first time.
His:
16. Wake up with her when she nurses. You can’t feed the baby like she can, but team work makes the dream work!17. When changing a baby boy, never stand in the line of fire.
18. Laugh when he poops on you.
19. Continue to bring flowers home for your wife. Having a baby doesn’t make you exempt from chasing her!
20.Continue to leave her notes in the morning before work. Especially if you guys had a rough night with the baby.
21. Remember that she is still your wife, too, and not just a new Mommy.
22. Because she's a new mommy, give her a break and get her a cup cake. She freaking deserves it.
23. Don’t skip date night.
24. Always tell her how awesome she is.
25. Sometimes, you just need to let her cry. When she does, just hold her and listen.
26. There will be lots of laundry to do...lots. Babies poop and pee their clothes more than you think!
27. Learned a lot of things, but... here’s one thing I haven’t gotten: the breast pump. I don’t get how it works... and I think I never will.
28. Don’t just dunk your baby in a baby bath tub of water, even if the water is well-heated. They hate that kind of surprise. Like, really hate it.
29. When the baby gets hungry, feed him...or else.
30. There isn’t an instruction manual for raising a baby. And that makes for fun parenting!
