Joni at home: the first two weeks

The first two weeks of Joni at home were filled with moments good, bad, and ugly. First, and most importantly, the good. 

Bonding with siblings! Both kids would come home from school, wash their hands, change their shirts, and want to hold her straightaway. 

More good: Joni took to her bassinet extremely well. After her first few nights, in which she wanted to be awake and eat continuously (and wail if she couldn't) from 10pm until 3 or 4 (great was our suffering), she settled into something like a pattern, which generally involves sleeping in 3 or 3.5 hour chunks from around 11 pm until around 7. Of course, each week is filled with several exhausting exceptions to this rule! She keeps us on our toes. 

 

While he was still home on paternity leave, Jon celebrated a special moment: his diploma arrived, conferring upon him the rights and privileges of a Doctor of Philosophy! Both represent the end of a long journey. Both are very sweet rewards, though I am pleased to report that Jon spends a lot more time cuddling and singing to the baby than to the diploma (though what he does after I go to bed is unknown to me). 

More good: Dad and Agnes have gotten to spend a lot more time with Joni! Dad specifically, being retired, has been able to drop by (always bearing food) and hold her more than he was able to hold the other two for their first several months. 

(ah, back when she fit into newborn clothes! That was a short week)

More good: on Saturday, we took the kids sledding.


And I managed to take six runs down the hill! I went sledding in 2020!

Not pictured: the bad, and the ugly.

The bad: sleep deprivation (obviously), postpartum sweating, mood swings, soreness and indisposition.

The ugly: a late-night trip to the E.R. on Saturday when I developed a high fever. The fever came suddenly on Saturday evening with no other symptoms except body aches, and at its highest it was almost 104. I was extremely freaked out, partly because I was delirious and felt terrible, and partly because I was very afraid I had one of the notorious post-partum infections that are sometimes deadly. After a lot of testing, it was concluded that I probably had a virus, and I was sent home around 3am. The fever was gone in two days. This was my third scary fever since September; it just seems like a thing that inexplicably happens to me now. I've had no flus and barely one cold this year; fevers just seem to like me.

I missed church the next day, but the kids didn't. They had a job to do!

The second week of Joni's life at home, and the second and final week of Jon's full-time paternity leave, the kids were on February break from school and I found myself feeling grateful that Joni delayed her arrival, because otherwise, I'd have had to take care of all three kids by myself all day, every day. I'm not sure whether this made it worth the additional week of prodromal labor, sleeplessness, discomfort, anxiety and frustration worth it, but it was a helluva silver lining.

We took the kids on several outings! First, Jon took the big kids to the zoo. I stayed home with Joni for my first day alone. It was restful and peaceful, for me. The kids got a lot of face time with the snow leopard cub!

We also went to the Memorial Art Gallery, for our first real outing as a whole family. There were a lot of cool kid-centered activities there.

We also visited the Strong Museum and saw the new Dragons exhibit. This is the content we live for!

Shadow play with Adele

Stop motion animation with Miles

A very peaceful half hour in was spent the butterfly garden

Before the week was over, we also hit up the Lamberton Conservatory, and it was just what we needed in Rochester's grimmest season. 

Joni and I were cozy in our Kangaroo coat at the playground afterward

All in all, it was two weeks *mostly* replete with the Good. I'm grateful every day that we got to bring her home, our rainbow, our littlest witch, and the Strongest Baby in these Islands.