Joy and Grace: A Tale of Two Sisters: Week 20 & 21

Week 20 & 21

Well, we survived the first two weeks. It was horrible, terrible, etc. I cried many, many tears. The good part is Ava Joy didn't. She has done superbly. I was so worried about her for many reasons, all of which she overcame with flying colors. The bottle... she wasn't taking a bottle at ALL. Well the first day was rough. Luckily she was home with Daddy and he broke her in. Eventually, around 1 that day she got hungry enough to eat it. The rest of week one she took the bottle but not always ate 4 ounces. Week two came along and she has done great, eating every drop. She is also doing wonderfully at her daycare. She is there three days a week and I absolutely love the lady she is with. She has a four year old daughter who is obsessed with Ava Joy which I also think helps because of all the attention Ava Joy is constantly getting. I was also worried about her being put down for naps. I struggled with myself because I NEVER put her down for her naps and I kept thinking I should so she would be used to it. At the same time I wanted to hold her as much as possible since I wouldn't always have the luxury of sitting around all day and cuddling. Well, she has done great. She's been taking 2-3 naps a day. I am very glad I held her all those hours of napping. I will always have those sweet, sweet memories. :) So basically as terrible as it has been for me, I have great peace knowing she is doing ok. The two days Jordan has her he sends me pictures constantly and her sitter does as well. I love getting home and hugging and squeezing her tightly. She also spends most mornings in the bathroom with me talking and smiling while I get ready. While I do hope it is short lived I guess it's fair to say my return to work has gone smoothly overall.

This past week we also have hit another bump in the road, making me more exhausted then ever. Ava Joy has finally stopped being swaddled. She was a champion sleeper... until now. I swear by the swaddle but now we are having to learn to sleep all over again it seems. I am tired to say the least but we are going to work on it more this week when I'm not having to wake up at 5am for work to pump, get ready, and get her ready. I am hoping we can overcome this within the next 9 days!

She is really on the go (or at least trying to be). She is trying with all her might to crawl and is getting very frustrated when she is not able to get where she wants to go. I am sure it won't be long though until my itty bitty baby is mobile.

The other bad part about going back to work is I don't have all day every day to take a gazillion pictures. Hence the pictures from the past two weeks are mostly from my phone or pictures that Jordan or the sitter has sent me. Here they are: