The Newest Chatty Chapman!!

The coolest thing has started to happen...Edie has become very chatty! Yesterday Edie, her dad and I "chatted" for about 30 minutes. She coos and gaas and is totally interactive. As I write this she is chatting away in her crib.

She comes from VERY chatty stock so we are not entirely surprised that she's already at it!

Baby Dating

So this past weekend Edie had her first two "dates". On Saturday she met my friend Shab's son. They were held next to each other, cried together, and ate together. Overall, quite a first date:

Of course they needed a bit of help hanging out together, but had a good time nonetheless!

On Sunday we watched the SuperBowl over at Granny and Popo's house. Ansley and Christopher brought over Mr. Cooper! Again, the kids chilled out on the bed after a diaper change, cried together, ate together, and napped in the same room! It was very cute:

Of course these are psuedo-dates, and I dread the first real date in my daughter's future...hell I know what I was like!

Night Time Feedings and other Parenthood Fantasies

Night time feedings were something I never thought about as I fantasized about having children. What I did fantasize about was the perfect breastfeeding experience. I thought that I would wake up when my baby did, pull her into bed with me, roll onto my side and stick my boob in her mouth...silly me. I thought that I would breastfeed my child the way women do in the movies. It would be perfect and my child and I would bond with each other as I fed her...again silly me.

In my nine weeks as a parent I have learned one major lesson. All of the fantasies of parenthood that I had are just that fantasies. That is not to say that I don't love being a parent, I do. However, I already know what I would do differently next time. That used to annoy the hell out of me about my parents. As the oldest I would get so mad when they would say..."Well, by the time Jane got here we knew that _______ wouldn't hurt her so we let her do/have/use it." I have to say, now I get it...poor Edie!

Overall parenting Edie is amazing. She is amazing. I love her giant head, and her long fingers. I love her smiles, and I love her coos! I hate breastfeeding her. I have worked so hard to make this work and while working so hard to create the perfect breastfeeding experience, a plentiful supply (mine is low), a lack of pain (bad latch), and a wonderful bond...I have stressed to the point that there is no way I could possibly enjoy the experience let alone bond with my child. And now in the midst of the final straw...having a nine week old who is back on every three hour feeding 24-7 I had one of the best breastfeeding experiences to date, WTF?!?!?!

So again, I have learned that all of my parenting fantasies are just that, and I, the control freak teacher, better learn to expect the unexpected, and stop planning!!!