The helium "It's a Girl!" balloon that came with a friend's Edible Arrangement gift when I was in the hospital is still afloat. That's how new Katherine is.
It's kind of mind-boggling, that she's only been touchably, smellably, kissably here with us for two weeks and two days now. Or at least it was mind-boggling when I was struck by the improbability of that still-floating balloon while trying to rock her back to sleep at 2:30 this morning.
(In my defense, lots of things boggle my mind at that hour.)
The shake-up we experienced when Alex was born, the one I was fully expecting this time around, just never happened. It was like the buildup to Y2K ... and then when the nothing hit, you either felt silly for expecting something to happen or embarrassed for the world full of people who did. Of course, that was a nonevent, whereas this was not, by any means. It's just eventful in a wonderful way that I never expected, and that's hard for a pragmatist to admit.
She clicked right into place, like we'd had this little Katherine-shaped cutout in the middle of our family all this time and just didn't know it until she took her rightful spot there.
We've fallen into a comfortable daytime pattern wherein I freelance while she sleeps next to me, wrapped in a blanket, nestled in a Boppy, smiling and whimpering and startling the heck out of herself every now and then. She's distracting in the most awesome ways.
I don't turn the TV on until I've done my writing for the day, and I always shower and get dressed in real clothes so I don't feel like I'm a box of bon-bons and an episode of Days of Our Lives away from becoming an outdated and wildly off-base stereotype. For what it's worth, Days of Our Lives is way better now than it was when I was on leave five years ago, even if that's not saying much.
After lunch we'll lie down in my bed and she'll continue her several-hours-long nap and I'll take one that's much shorter and more refreshing than the dead-asleep kind I got into the habit of when I was pregnant with her. Then we'll get up and go pick up Alex at his school's summer camp program.
I don't miss adult conversation like I once did because there's always Facebook, text, and, when I'm breaking my own rules, DVR-ed gems like Toddlers and Tiaras and People's Court to catch up on (yes, I do). Plus, Steven usually comes home at lunch, gazes adoringly at Katherine for a few minutes, and makes a sandwich before heading back to work.
It's not a bad setup, all things considered.
Right now Katherine is telling me she's about to wake up and demand to eat, so that's it for now. Happy Friday Before a Long Weekend!
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