Happenings, week 12 & 13

What I like
* spending much time together with J, we're becoming more and more in tune with each other. There is not much more than feeding, pumping breast milk, diaper changes, cuddling, soothing, napping...
* feeling like an octopus when staying at home alone with J
* listening to J's gentle snoring
* knowing that asking for help from relatives isn't a sign of weakness or inability
* taking a shower, getting dressed and wearing make-up each day
* daily long walks in the sunshine. The weather outside is quite unusual for March!
* getting out with S and J to eat at our favorite restaurants
* M, H and V stopping by, my parents-in-law visiting us, meeting M and M – and everybody's adoring J :)
* receiving awesome gifts for J (oh, these little baby Converse!)
* a sunny Sunday brunch with my sister-in-law M and her boyfriend at Manameierei
* receiving the beautiful birth announcements that S and I designed together
* J smiling!
* S "dancing" with J
* the internet can wait

What I read and watched
* Nido 4/2014 and some other magazines
* "Privat" and "Hader muss weg" by the fantastic and unique Austrian comedian Josef Hader

What I don't like
* J losing too much weight in the first weeks. We are currently working really hard to get J to put on weight, but we're optimistic!
* sometimes being too hard on myself as a mother. I don't have to be a pro in no time!

Happenings, week 11

What I like
* parenthood. I'm cherishing every second with my little baby boy J. He's amazing.
* sleeping. I thought the nights would be the hardest part, but so far J sleeps very, very well in our bed, so do we!
* J looking with big eyes at his mobile, at baby books and his soft toys
* good times out with J and his stroller, 20 °C and sunshine in March!
* the Marsupi baby carrier I bought second hand – I carry J while he's asleep, so I'm able to do other things besides breastfeeding, holding J in my arms and changing diapers
* watching J enjoying his first baby bath
* meeting a very nice breastfeeding counsellor who helps me one-by-one
* my mum and my mother-in-law cooking and baking delicious meals and cakes for us
* J's uncle M, his great-randma, grandparents and aunt M visiting us
* Sunday lunch at Rasouli. Two weeks ago we went there to have dinner, and afterwards at home my water broke.
* L, B and their children O and L (2 years and 3 months old) visiting us on Sunday afternoon – I haven't seen them for quite a while!
* purple tulips and catkins

What I read and watched
* the book Kinderkacke by Julia Heilmann and Thomas Lindemann (it was a gift from our friends B and L)
* Kinfolk Magazine Volume 11
* I didn't watch any movies, but TV-series and comedy shows have suitable length for young parents.

What I don't like
* the severe storm destroying the beautiful spring flowers we got from J's great-grandparents
* having fixed appointments and finding myself in a rush
* me having a temperature and feeling sick
* S's two weeks vacation ending on Monday

House life

Our apartment has changed since we returned home from hospital. We are three now, and nothing seems more important than creating a comfortable environment for all of us.

In the pictures above: awesome presents (S gave me the beautiful world necklace after J's birth), things in the baby's room, good food to be eaten with joy (Yes, we cook! But I have to say that grandmothers bringing precooked meals are very helpful!), new items and corners in our home (soothies and an armchair that turned into our breastfeeding chair), reading magazines while holding J in my arms.

These words by Nikaela Marie Peters (in an article in Kinfolk Magazine issue 11) accurately describe the changes in my apartment: "When my son was born, my house became alive. I noticed it in the first week. The structure I'd come to accept as ordinary [...] started acting extraordinarily. [...] I say that having a baby brought my house to life. And by coming to life, it turned from a structure into an environment, a possession into an ecosystem."

Happenings, week 9 & 10

What I like in week 9
* sleeping
* taking walks in the sunshine, sitting in a deckchair on the balcony, reading magazines
* balcony spring-cleaning
* dinner with S at An-Do (still going out in the evening feels good)
* last breakfast date with C before we will give birth to our sons, good food at Ulrich
* laughing with S
* attending a checkup at the hospital one day before my due date – I'm slowly (but surely) getting ready for labor and delivery. Everything's fine!
* baking kipferl with nut filling and Striezel – one day before my due date!
* dinner at Rasouli on February 28th, just a few hours before my water broke – fortunately it happend after we came home
* finally holding my sweet baby boy J in my arms. J was born at 5:06 am on the first of March. We are completely overjoyed!

What I like in week 10
* still remembering everything about the birth. I'll never forget these amazing moments together with S and J.
* coming home two days after J's birth
* never getting tired of looking at J
* J swimming in his bodies and pants
* receiving visits from J's grandparents, his aunt and his uncles
* being out for a real walk in the sunshine with J one week after his birth
* so many nice people congratulating us – thank you so much!

What I read and watched in week 9 (how good that I wrote that part before J's birthday!)
* the books Kap Cod by Henry David Thoreau and Zwei Zebras in New York by Marc Michel-Amadry
* Nido 3/2014
* these amazing New Zealand photos by Janis
* these words by David Quammen: “Of course anyone who truly loves books buys more of them than he or she can hope to read in one fleeting lifetime. A good book, resting unopened in its slot on a shelf, full of majestic potentiality, is the most comforting sort of intellectual wallpaper.”

What I don't like
* a lot of coming and going in hospital rooms (although they are certainly doing more and more to have a "family friendly" feel)