My littlest little is one month old. How the heck did that happen already?
The past few weeks have gone by so fast. Knowing this is my last experience with a newborn, I’ve been trying to soak in the snuggles and tiny baby coos as we get to know our new bundle. I find it fascinating that each of our babies have been so very different. Each one has liked to be held a different way, burped a different way, fed a different way.
Although Winnie is unique, so much about her reminds me of Baby Owen. We’ve seen the first of Winnie’s smiles and it’s like a flashback to O’s first grins, right down to the almost-dimple in both their left cheeks. Carmendy will be the odd one out; she’s the only one of the Kopp kids with my olive skin. Both Owen and Winnie are ghostly pale. And their similarities go beyond looks. They have the same alertness, the same strong neck, the same piranha-style of nursing. So even though the men in our house will be outnumbered, I think Richard has ended up with two mini-me’s (three if you count Sophie, who is basically the female dog version of Richard) and I’ve got one (my Carmie).
Winnie has brought me a new kind of joy and mixed emotions. As my rainbow baby and as our last baby, she has an extra special place in my heart. I want to freeze time and hold onto every moment of her newborn stage. There is such a bitter-sweetness that comes with the last baby.
That being said, I can’t wait for this little bundle to start sleeping during nighttime hours. She is our last baby, but she’s also our first baby that does not fall asleep from breastfeeding. She eats and then looks around and squirms for an hour. My breast milk energizes her, like I gave her a shot of Red Bull. This is not ideal, since I like sleeping and I’m currently experiencing the least amount of sleep in my life. On the bright side, I am very impressed with my ability to function on zero to two hours of sleep on a daily basis.
Given Winnie’s sleep habits (or lack thereof), pacifier usage is essential. No question – the binky is needed to maintain sanity. At first Winnie was quite resistant (she spit that thing out like a camel), but with a little (i.e. a lot of) persistence we finally broke her (thank you, Jesus). So hopefully, now that Winnie is happily sucking on her binky, no one will be institutionalized any time soon and we’ll make it to her second monthly update.
Here’s our little pooh bear in her first monthly pictures:
