Thursday, July 3, 2008

Aunt Colleen

My first niece, Carley Kay, has made her debut! We met her a few days ago and, of course, she is positively beautiful. I could easily have stared at her little face, hands and feet for hours. She hardly cried while we were there and she sleeps so much better than my babies ever did. I think Carley naps and sleeps at night better than Gustin does (and that's no exaggeration!)

Here's a shot of Carley with her mother, Jamie, who is Eric's sister.

When Jonathan was born, Eric's sister and his brother's wife teased me that they were now part of the Aunt Club and I wasn't allowed to be a member. Well, six years later I am finally a part of the Aunt Club and it's awesome! It's only second to being in the Mommy Club.

Welcome to the world, Carley! Welcome to the Mommy Club, Jamie! We love you both!

5 comments:

Blair said...

Congrats, Aunt Colleen! And a belated Happy Birthday to Elizabeth!

Jill said...

Congrats to the new mom, and new aunt!!

I know all to well that twinge of envy when you see how well other people's babies sleep. ;)
If you need someone to comiserate with again, just know that I am still night nursing every two hours or so. And not a newborn...a giant, mobile 10-month-old!!

Colleen said...

Jill,
I spent the entire drive home trying to figure out what Jamie is doing so differently than me that makes Carley sleep so well. I decided that she doesn't really do anything different, we just have different kids.

We stayed over one night while we were there and Gustin had a stuffy nose so he woke up even more than usual. I got less sleep that night than the new mom did!

We'll have to start the Mommy's-with-big-babies-who don't-sleep Club. But, this is one club that I hope gets disbanded very soon!

Jill said...

First of all, I'm embarassed that I used 'to' instead of 'too.'

Anyway, I totally know what you mean about trying to 'figure it out.' I read every book about sleep when I had Aslynn (she was a horrible sleeper as well)and did a million different things. Certain books tried to convince me that she was napping too much...others said she was napping too little..and all of that had an effect on night sleep. I went so far as to make a chart each day of when she napped in hopes of finding patterns. I tried soothing her with a variety of methods. We swaddled her for at least six months because she was restless...
It was all ridiculous. And, this time around I know that eventually they do sleep. So, even though Mr. Hen is calling for Mom a whole bunch at night I know that it won't always be that way.
I don't know what makes us so crazy about sleep. Well, probably because we're tired and would love a good night's rest. But, I also think there is this 'voice' that says that getting a baby to sleep through the night as early as possible is some tangible evidence that you are a 'good' parent. Somehow you were able to feed the baby correctly, nap the baby correctly, and achieve that perfect moment of laying the baby down awake and sleepy, but not nursing him to sleep.
In the end, they are who they are, and they sleep how they need to. And we can feel happy in knowing that our baby boys love us so much they want to see us as much as they can. ;)
Anyway, I honestly feel happy to know another nursing mom of a huge boy who is running on broken sleep. We can wish for sleep together and think of each other at night.

Colleen said...

Jill,
I know what you mean about the "voice" telling you what it takes to be a "good" parent. I'm slowly learning to ignore that voice, but I have to admit, there are times when I'm tired or frustrated that I start to listen to it a bit too much. But, kind words from good moms like you help me silence that voice.

I hope you get a good night's sleep tonight. I think fireworks will be going on around here for at least a couple more hours. But, Gustin is asleep at the moment despite the noise and is even in his own crib. I'll offer up my sleepless times tonight for you and Henry! God bless!