Counting Them

Our blessings, that is.

What a joy it is to be a parent! It is something we cherish and do not take for granted.

We have been blessed with what seems to be the perfect baby girl ... do all parents feel this way?

Our dreambaby arrived in a somewhat spectacular fashion two weeks early. If her entry into the world was to be any indication of her personality, I was concerned she would be impatient, demanding and all-around unpredictable. Nothing could be further from the truth. She is a laid-back, un-demanding, HIGHLY predictable child.

So far, that is.

Remember - we're 13 weeks into this lifetime gig. What do we know?

My sleepy girl allowed me the good fortune of an easy adjustment to life as a mother. It is my nature to make lists and perseverate over all things big and small. It started the day the stick showed two pink lines and hasn't stopped since. Napping while your new baby naps? Not for me! It was more like lay in bed and think of all the things you have to do and make lists because your baby brain will forget.

It is so much more fun to watch your friends have babies after you have had the privilege of having one of your own. We delight in our many friends who are on this journey and I treasure now, more than ever before, our parent-friends who went before us. I pester them for their opinions on all matters, important and not-so-important.

I began to draft emails to my expectant friends on "things I wish I knew". Granted, I am an information-seeker. Sometimes to my detriment. If you can google it, you can be sure that I have. Regardless, I thought an occasional email might be helpful to someone else and would give me some purpose in those early days of diaper changes, feedings and not much else.

I will compile those emails here. Take it all with a grain of salt, or hell, a shaker of salt. We are novice parents with one extremely good baby. I can't take credit for all the information within - I just consolidate what I have learned elsewhere. And, it goes without saying, I'm no doctor (although I like to play one some days) - this is opinion, people.