Smile!

And yes, we have pictures

Here she is, one month, with her blanket buddy.
And yes, still kicking our rears.

A month as 1 + 1, rather than 2

One of the things you noticed first on being two separate entities? When you go out alone, people don't hold doors for you anymore. Or smile for no reason. Or strike up conversations as you compare expiration dates on the milk. It doesn't bother me, so much, as I've always been one that likes the ability to go invisible at will. But I caught myself smiling at an guy in passing, and realized I probably look unbalanced. I had just gotten used to random smiling.

We've adjusted fairly well, and faster than we did with JT. People have been asking how JT's been reacting, and he's been taking it all in stride. Being almost seven is a world away from being three or four, which was when people were saying I should have my second.

If I had listened, and had them three years apart, one or both would have ended up on eBay.

JT reacts as most boys do to babies. "Oh. It's a baby." The contrast between him and his girl cousins is sharp. We have to swat them away anytime HM is within their reach, and keep them from climbing up our pants when she's not. JT is generally fond of her, but has a strict 'hands off' policy. The one time he held her, he told us she made him nervous, and was glad to have us take her back.

His male classmates reacted similarly as well. They boys? Hands behind their backs, looking politely interested. The girls? A mob scene. And surprisingly sophisticated. Some questions I got (from six year old girls!):

* How big is she?
* Does she eat a lot?
* How's she sleeping?
* Did it hurt when she came out?
* Did you yell out?

The last two floored me. I mean, JT just put together the fact that I didn't have a belly anymore, and Hannah's being born, and that there must have been some sort of process involved.

Oh, and to anyone who thinks maternity leave is a big vacation? This blog post took me three hours to write.