Eleven Weeks

 
This was yesterday. Oh, Veronica. When will you cheer up already?

Demeanor

 
This is a pretty good example of how Veronica's general demeanor is. Crappy! The outfit is cute though, right? My friend Silvia and her three kids came over today and brought it for her. It's 3 months and it fits perfectly, so I wanted to get her right in it. Eleven weeks tomorrow. I am really hopeful that things start to turn around for Veronica at 12 weeks. Sometimes I think about how at 12 weeks lots of women go back to work. I used to think, ugh, I am so glad that I don't have to go back to a job, but now I think I wish going back to a job, any job! Dog catcher. Garbageman. Ditch digger. Worm seller.

Monday

 
Ha, she's not exactly photogenic, is she? :) She slept in her bassinet this morning from 10:00-almost 11:00, which is a new record. She has been sleeping pretty well at night, and I am going to start training her a little bit for naps, I hope. It's tricky with the three of them but I am going to try to take advantage of the time that the babysitter is here to see if she can't start sleeping on her own in the day. She's less fussy, less often, so that's good too.

Ten Weeks

 
Ha! Her face here is killing me.

She was pretty crazy last night, for my parents. She was screaming like a banshee when we left, which is not my favorite way to leave the house. But she nursed at like 11:00, when we got home and then again at 3:00 and then we went upstairs at 4:00 and she slept in her bassinet til 7:00. Now she's asleep in the Bjorn and she just drifted off, no screaming or anything! That's a first, I hope it sticks. It's hard for her to sleep, or I would think it would be, because Anthony is SO NOISY. Plus Maria shrieks and screams every time I a) leave the room or b) stand up AS IF I'm going to leave the room or c) say 'no' to her about anything. "Sorry about your babyhood", I always tell Veronica. It's just the luck of the draw that she sleeps in a closet and has the noisiest siblings ever. Sorry!

Two Months

I will add a picture later but she is sleeping right now (not for long, as Anthony is doing goat boy sounds right by her head and dropping stuff around her, crash!) and I want to get her stats down before I forget. She weighed 12 pounds even, was 23.5 inches long and took two shots like a champ. I will never get over how sad it is to get these kids those shots! The nurse came in, then the doctor, then I waited for the nurse for a LONG TIME to give her the stupid needles. V was falling asleep, so was very fussy, but didn't want her to fall asleep and be woken up by the nurse. I was tempted to run through the hall yelling, "give my daughter the shot!", but I refrained. Ha!

Who is this Baby?

 
 
 
It's Veronica. She just looks so different to me than the other two. She is doing well, better, but not great. I am never happy, I guess. But last night she had two stretches in her bassinett, from 9:00-12:30 and from 4:00 to 6:00. The middle was my fault, I fell asleep feeding her, I guess. She has been less freaked out the last few days but I am only whispering that because I do not want to jinx us. She goes to the doctor on Tuesday so we'll see what she weighs, etc., then. She also gets her shots, yikes.

Blurry Nine Weeks

 
...with my Dad.

Two Months

 
Fretful. What is on these little newborn's minds? Why are they so worried? I swear, I take good care of them! She is getting better, she has had a few whoppers this week but today was okay. We are pressing on. Just ten more months til she's a year, I told her! Ha!

Happier Times

 
She is up there screaming and screaming and screaming so I'm trying to think of happier times. It's not working!

Saturday

 
She can be kind of googly-eyed, if you want the truth. She has been sitting in the swing, or lying on the couch, on her own, a little bit better lately. Last night we went out to dinner for my sister Laura's birthdy - it's not until next week but there is a giant convention here next week so we figured we'd go this weekend so we could get a table somewhere. Anyway, it was really fun and my parents babysat. Veronica was *screaming* when we left and I was unnerved, as usual, but she did fine. When we got home, three hours after we left, she was sleeping in the bouncy seat. I just stayed downstairs on the couch, because I didn't want to move her and risk waking her up. FOUR hours later, she woke up and I fed her. It is always amazing to me how great four hours of sleep can feel. Back when I was in Hoboken and used to stay out late on weeknights, I'd think, "I only got four hours of sleep last night!" and now I think "I got FOUR hours of sleep last night!" Ha!

Eight Weeks

 

Oh Come on Now

Mike took these with his phone, they're good right? She has had a crappy morning, figuratively speaking. *I* have had a crappy morning, literally, thanks to Anthony and Maria. Good God!

Anyway. I laid her down this morning and she was up ... five minutes later? So I brought her back down and she fell right back to sleep, so I laid her down AGAIN in the bouncy seat and she stayed in it for like 30 minutes, during which time I was able to take the older two and play outside for a while. Now she's been up for a while, she nurses every hour or so during the day and every two hours or so at night, so that stinks. Last night we lay her down at 10:00 and she stayed in her bassinet until 12:00something. I laid her back down at 3:00 and she stayed there til 5:00something. Then she stayed in the bed with me, nursing, til 7:00something. So. She was on her own more and that's good but man. I am getting really tired. These days are grinding me down to a stump by nighttime and it's hard to go24 hours a day.

The other night I was on the phone with my uncle and he asked where I had been and I said, busy! I've been busy! He said, all mean,"yes, Joanne, you're the only person to ever have three children" and I thought screw you buddy! First of all, I didn't say I was the only person to do it, and second of all, maybe I'm just bad at it! Maybe I DO have extenuating circumstances! Maybe I could be cut a break, somehow? Somewhere? Maybe JUST autism or colic and lunacy but not all three at once? Ugh. Anyway, I am hoping for more sleep soon. And I'm hoping not to kill anyone. Aim low, I always say.

Poor Veronica

 

More Dress

 
I took this with my iPhone and just sent it to myself to post. I want to constantly remind myself how cute she is and how lucky I am to get to spent 24 hours a day with her.

More Swing

 
 

Concern

 
She's probably right to be concerned. We have a hell of a time keeping Maria off of her.

Again with Anthony

 
He is looking at the swing, here, but who cares? I figure. It makes for cute pictures, right?

Smiling at Anthony

 

All Three

 

Seven Weeks

 
In a dress from Mike's mom, it's super cute. I wish wish wish I could say something nice about Veronica, here at seven weeks. We've made it seven weeks, I could say. She is gaining weight, judging from these pictures, and her chins. She seems healthy. I could never lose her in a crowd? She has healthy lungs?

Boy can she yell and scream, and she does, a lot. Right now she is still in the swing, I'd say it's been about five minutes, and that is about her average length of time that she can just be, content, without screaming or antsing about. I try to not worry WHY all of my kids have to be so, so fussy and sleepless in the beginning, because I know it doesn't matter. But it feels like a punishment, that's for sure. Anyway, maybe next week, at eight weeks, we'll have better news about her general attitude and demeanor. In the meantime, she is healthy and that's what really matters, right? I hope!