Happy 1 week birthday Darling!

This first week with Cosette has been amazing. We brought her home on Saturday afternoon and Jackson was very excited to see her. He "helped" carry her car seat in the house and he calls her either "baby" or "set," his shortening of Cosette. My sister taught him to say "Coco," which is the nickname she prefers. Jack likes to give her wet kisses on the head and he says "baby" and makes a "Shhh" noise with his finger up to his lips when she cries or makes noise. Overall their interactions have been almost completely positive. I'm trying to encourage his excitement and make sure he has the opportunity to interact with her a lot. I was expecting a certain measure of jealousy and not wanting the baby around, but Jackson has had the exact opposite reaction, being completely excited and welcoming. What an answer to prayers!

 Cosette has been an amazingly mellow baby. I guess Dan and I just have easy newborns. I'm prepared for her to liven up in the next weeks, but so far she's been so easy. She is great with nursing and sleeps a ton. She only cries when she's having a diaper change. I'm having so much fun dressing her in girly outfits and snuggling her up. I hope she ends up being more of a snuggler than Jack was! She loves the Moby wrap so far and is giving me lots of sleep at night. Our pretty princess has blue eyes (for now) and fine blonde hair. She has a very pink complexion. We can't really figure out who she looks like.

The big surprise of this delivery, besides the timing, is that the VBAC recovery has been quite painful. I thought it would be a breeze compared to major surgery, and it is better, but it is still taking time to heal and recover. For some reason I thought I'd be back to 100% right away, but alas, all deliveries require time and space to adjust. I'm trying to be patient with the process.

We've had a lot of help with the kids, but mostly I need someone to chase after Jackson. My mother-in-law stayed with Jack during our hospital stay and did a great job shuttling him to the hospital for visits and trying to get him to eat.

Next my sister came and cooked up a storm, making meals for the freezer and feeding us very well. She also kept Jack occupied and and helped me get though my first Trader Joe's outing with both kids! My mom has been with us for the week and has also been so helpful and allow me to get a lot of rest and peace. Jackson got a cold early in the week and it's been a chore keeping him busy and well rested since he's on edge. Thanks so much for your help!!! I'm pretty nervous for my first week alone with the kids next week. I'm hoping Jack decides to be on his most helpful behavior.