I'm learning

Well, Baby J is a month today and I'm getting the hang of it. This parenting thing sure is crazy ... some random thoughts to celebrate the monumental month:

• It's love at first sight. From the moment our eyes met for the first time, my heart has known love bigger and better than it ever has. Can't explain it any better than that!
  
• I didn't know eating, pooping, and sleeping could fill all the hours in the day and night! A quote from an old email I got from a friend a while back. She'd just had a baby and at the time I was pregnant, but couldn't quite comprehend the truth and insanity of this statement. You can't comprehend this until you experience it!
• Babies are more important than sleep. I really like sleeping and have never been one to sacrifice my sleep for much. I wasn't the kid who'd stay up all night at slumber parties growing up, I couldn't pull all nighters studying in college, and I get super excited if I'm in bed before 10 pm. My sleep - or lack of sleep - this past month has been probably the hardest thing I've had to deal with. The funny thing i s, no matter how tired, how cranky and emotional I am, Juliet's needs are more important than my sleep ... and my dark circles ;-)
• Pregnancy is preparation for motherhood. One of my big frustrations when I was pregnant was my lack of energy. It seemed that I couldn't get anything done around the house or otherwise. Well, if I thought I couldn't get anything done while I was pregnant, I certainly can't get anything done now that Juliet is here!
  
• Newborns don't really like consistency (at least this newborn!). They don't know what they like and if they like something, it probably won't last so you can try it again, but don't count on it working. She likes to be swaddled, she hates to be swaddled and will scream until you unwrap her, she wants to be held while she sleeps, she wants to be laid down and put herself to sleep, she gags on her pacifier, she likes her pacifier, and on and on ... it's laughable really.
  
• A reasonable goal for any given day is to shower. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just to shower is a major accomplishment some days.
• Juliet likes to poop in clean diapers. In fact, she can and will wait until you've changed her diaper to go. ugh.
  

I'm sure this is only the beginning of thousands of other important lessons Juliet will teach me in the months and years to come. While I'm no expert after a month of motherhood, I have calculated that I've fed, changed, and put her to sleep over 200 times, so I feel like that's something ... I'll add it to my resume ;-)