I think we’re finally transitioning to a post-newborn schedule. It’s solid enough that Dave and I quasi-bank on it, which I’m guessing is as reliable as a baby’s routine ever is!

Tess is so not a morning animal. She wakes up around 5:30-6 for a bottle and a diaper change, then passes out again for another 3-4 hours. Okay by us! Then we do the usual every 3-4 hours routine all day, and she usually naps a little and plays a little in the interim. At the 10am time, she’s happy in the swing or bouncy chair. At 2, she’s up for tummy time without screaming. It’s her most alert time of day. She’s super sleepy again in the afternoon but fights it, hence the witching hour. Still in effect. Sometimes even holding her doesn’t calm her down, but she’ll eventually happily lie next to me with her pacifier where I’m sitting on the bed. We have all of these sweet, snuggle toys that she’s been too young for, but I’ve been experimenting with giving one to Tess as a comfort toy during daily crazy time, and it seems to be working. Excellent! She’s great in the evenings, alert but calm, snuggly, snoozy, hanging out. Then around 9-10pm, she sleeps hard – and we start it all over again. I don’t know whether she picked up that that’s our cycle or not, but I hope it stays that way for a while, just with more awake times as she grows! Of course, on the day I wrote this, she had Dave tearing his hair out with her frantic eating and lack of sleep.

Today at work, I had that weird moment when a random person told me Tess looks like me when I was showing a friend her latest photo. The thing is, we feel good about the fact that our family and friends have seen photos of Kat and Spencer. We regularly discuss who Tess most resembles with our family in that happy, normal way. Still, I somehow knew this was one of those awkward moments when I just say, “thank you” and let the moment pass. When I got home, Dave came up with the perfect response: “That’s so sweet!” then I don’t feel like a liar, but I’m not telling my life story to someone I’ll never see again. Dave the wordsmith. Who knew?!

Also at work, I was informed we have whooping cough going around the building. First of all, I am so grateful to my coworker who told me to avoid her floor. That was so thoughtful! Still, I wanted to flee the building. We felt so lucky to get through the first few weeks of the NICU unscathed before Tess got so sick at Easter. Is this the calm before the storm? Working in a giant cubicle farm is upsetting when it threatens Tess’ health. I know I’m overreacting, and I’m only mentioning it here because it’s got to come out. Besides, unfounded fear is just a good reminder to be vigilant.