Sweet Baby June

June Hillary Marshall

August 31, 2012

6 lbs, 11 oz, 20.5 inches

June is the sweetest, gentlest baby. She sleeps a lot. Today she is two weeks and two days old, and I think she is finally waking on her own to feed. I feel overwhelmed with love for her; everything about her is just perfect. Her tiny ski-jump nose, her wide, curious eyes, her zen-like blinks. She makes the cutest little grunts and grumbles in her sleep; she's a loud sleeper. I love everything about her. June is also the smallest baby I've ever birthed. Per her last doctor appointment, she's still smaller than my other two babies at birth. Josie leans over her during diaper changes and calls her the tiny peanut. ("Well, actually, a really big peanut, if you think about peanuts, mom.")

Josie loves her baby sister and asks to hold her every day. It's been hard for Josie these past few days because she's had a cold and I've been more protective of her holding June while she's contagious. Josie has also started pre-kindergarten (4K, as it is called here). Over summer she attended summer school five days a week at the school where I work, which was a great practice run of waking up early every morning. Josie is slow to warm up to new friends and faces, but is facing the challenge well and says she likes school a lot. Here she is on her first day:

Jimmy is slower to warm up to his new position as big brother. My eternal baby! My most snuggly guy! He has not wanted to hold baby June just yet, but he has kindly pet her hair while she sleeps and he talks to her in a soft voice when I'm holding her or changing her diaper. He has also made recommendations as to when I should put her down and snuggle him, which I try to listen to, if I can. I don't want him to feel replaced, or like he doesn't still capture my heart. He has liked his mornings while Josie is at school; lots of attention for him from both parents!

I have been enjoying my maternity leave. I try to rest when I can, and am trying to remember to take it easy-- but it's hard to slow down when everyone else is still on full speed. Eric is helpful in letting me catch a nap when possible, and he has picked up a lot of housework and meal prep and things like that. He's a good friend to me, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel lucky. 

For the first time in over five years, he actually has off a weekend day-- Saturday! I'm excited about the possibilities this brings, especially when I return to work in January. Typically, Eric and I only have days off together when I am on breaks from work only. So that means we often go months without having an entire day off together. I'm thrilled that finally we do!