That's to be expected

After a particularly difficult night of crying, fussing, and general carrying on from Anna, I spoke to our friend Will on the phone. He's the proud father of two rapidly growing children and was headed our way so that he, Julie, and their kids could take a peak at Baby Anna. The conversation went about like this:

"We had a rough night - she cried and cried and was often too worked up to nurse, which is her favorite thing in the world."

Will: "That's to be expected."

"Perhaps it is, but how the hell do we know?"

Everyone assures us that this is the hardest time to be parents, at least until they're walking and getting into every possible dangerous thing. Will and Julie say we're half way through the hard part. Malcolm and Jenny were a little more conservative and consistent with what we've heard before, a 10-12 week sentence. Both seem really far away, especially at 12:30 am.

She falls asleep, but usually won't stay asleep long. Mostly she wants to nurse every 1.5 to 2 hours. Lisa tries to look on the bright side by saying in the morning, "She did pretty good last night." By that she means that she nursed and fell back asleep, but again, if she could sleep an additional hour in between, Lisa could get a little real rest.

I've come up with a number of nicknames for her and lately they've become a little less complimentary:

First nicknames:

Snorky (not really flattering, but certainly cute)
Struggle Bug (cute, but suggestive of her sometimes cranky nature)

More recent names:

Burpee big girl (there's a tomato with a similar name...given because of her red-faced crying)
Snarfy (as in 'snarf it down')
Big Gulp (named after the 44oz gas station soft drink)
Little Ms. Cranky Britches ('nuff said)

Her likes:

Breast milk, snuggling with Mom, looking outside, stroller rides, Dad singing Simon and Garfunkel tunes, warm baths.

Dislikes:

Prolonged sleep, sleeping solo, sleeping in, sleeping while swaddled, staying asleep after Dad has sung to her and danced her around for 20 minutes, clothes being pulled over her head, mechanical swings, vibrating seats.

So far, humor helps, as does working together.

We had our first date night without Anna, so really we (I) shouldn't complain, but it makes for better blogging. We went to dinner with the Thornes and the DeKaysers and had a great time.
In fact, I felt like a true grown-up for the first time, out to dinner with friends while the babysitters (Gene and Sue) took great care of Anna.

We had to admit that we missed her while we were gone. Lisa explained that that must be biologic and not logic speaking.