So I know a lot of you have been praying for us/keeping us in mind with my latest surgery-I thought it might be nice to give you a health update.
Overall, my pain levels are a LOT lower than they were prior to surgery. I think it was one of those things where I wasn't really fully aware of exactly how much I was hurting prior to surgery (because I had been hurting so much and for so long) but it is VERY nice to be in less pain! I still have some pain, particularly at the end of a work day (lots of standing, lifting, pulling, and pushing at my job!), but it is much more manageable. I am not waking due to pain most nights, and pain does not generally keep me awake between Ben's feedings either. This is extremely helpful, especially since he is still waking quite a bit to eat! The nights where pain was keeping me from falling back asleep between his feedings were EXTREMELY frustrating.
I would definitely say my energy levels are not yet back up to par (or even really very close). Most days I feel like work is about all I have energy for (and taking care of Ben once I get home) and weekends are still more "recovery days so I can survive next work week" than anything else. Poor Josh! He is probably very tired of his utterly boring wife! I'm not allowed to exercise strenuously yet (not that I would have the energy for that! lol), but that restriction should be lifted sometime in the next month or so. That will be nice-I took for granted "feeling strong" and being at a certain level of fitness, and I miss it! Though I definitely feel much stronger than I once did, and do think my strength/endurance levels are improving week by week, so that is nice!
We appreciate all the support (from friends near and far away alike!) over the last 6 months. I have definitely had more health challenges than I was expecting!! I definitely hope the next birth comes with a few less postpartum complications. :-)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
All you need is wrapping paper...
We recently celebrated Ben's first Christmas. Maybe this makes me a bad parent, but I wasn't super hyped up about his first Christmas. I knew he wouldn't remember it and he isn't old enough to care about presents. Now, don't get me wrong, EVERY day I get to spend with my sweet son is a gift, especially because I spend so much time away from him during a typical week. I was thrilled to get an extra day with him that week! But I wasn't eagerly anticipating his first Christmas for the sake of it being his first Christmas.
Christmas was really a fun day of spending time with family. Ben, as always, charmed the socks off of everyone. I expect Christmas to become very fun in the next few years. I think he'll still be a bit young next year, but the year after that, watch out!
It got me to thinking....what do we want Christmas to be like for our children? This is something Josh and I need to figure out together and will probably evolve over the years. We are still discussing it, and this is what we have so far:
We definitely want to have Christmas traditions. My family has an advent calendar my mom made out of felt years ago (before she had children). It's a Nativity scene and you add pieces (crowns for the wise men, stars, angels, animals, and on the 24th-baby Jesus! I used to try to jury-rig it so that I would get to do the Baby Jesus as many years as possible, which was probably a great math problem for me as the number of kids in the rotation changed!) which velcro on-one for each day of December leading up to the 24th. I started something similar (mine is applique fabric instead of Velcro and I am making it from scratch where hers was a premade kit) but haven't worked on it in a while. It's kind of overwhelming! I have the "basic scene" made, but I need to make all the pieces. Whew! I need to get up the energy to pull that project out again, I guess! I don't know what other traditions we want to have. This year, we did lights on our house (just 2 strands which looked a little sad, but the plan is to slowly add to them each year).
We do not want Christmas to be primarily about getting. I have this idea that I want Christmas to be kind of a downplayed day as far as gifts (and to go hog wild with gifts on the kids' birthdays), but who knows how practical that is!
We are not going to tell our kids that Santa is real. We will expose them to the idea of Santa, but only as a story/fun tale that people tell, not as an actual thing, and certainly not as a bribe for good behavior.
That's about as far as we have gotten. What about you? What traditions do you want to have or do you already have for your family?
Christmas was really a fun day of spending time with family. Ben, as always, charmed the socks off of everyone. I expect Christmas to become very fun in the next few years. I think he'll still be a bit young next year, but the year after that, watch out!
It got me to thinking....what do we want Christmas to be like for our children? This is something Josh and I need to figure out together and will probably evolve over the years. We are still discussing it, and this is what we have so far:
We definitely want to have Christmas traditions. My family has an advent calendar my mom made out of felt years ago (before she had children). It's a Nativity scene and you add pieces (crowns for the wise men, stars, angels, animals, and on the 24th-baby Jesus! I used to try to jury-rig it so that I would get to do the Baby Jesus as many years as possible, which was probably a great math problem for me as the number of kids in the rotation changed!) which velcro on-one for each day of December leading up to the 24th. I started something similar (mine is applique fabric instead of Velcro and I am making it from scratch where hers was a premade kit) but haven't worked on it in a while. It's kind of overwhelming! I have the "basic scene" made, but I need to make all the pieces. Whew! I need to get up the energy to pull that project out again, I guess! I don't know what other traditions we want to have. This year, we did lights on our house (just 2 strands which looked a little sad, but the plan is to slowly add to them each year).
We do not want Christmas to be primarily about getting. I have this idea that I want Christmas to be kind of a downplayed day as far as gifts (and to go hog wild with gifts on the kids' birthdays), but who knows how practical that is!
We are not going to tell our kids that Santa is real. We will expose them to the idea of Santa, but only as a story/fun tale that people tell, not as an actual thing, and certainly not as a bribe for good behavior.
That's about as far as we have gotten. What about you? What traditions do you want to have or do you already have for your family?
Monday, December 31, 2012
We are too cheap to send out a Christmas/New Year's letter...
....so I suppose this will have to do!
2012 was a really crazy year for us, as it turns out! But we all lived through it, more or less in one piece, and we are happy and mostly healthy. :-)
This year began with a move halfway across the country to a FAR more northerly climate than either of us have ever experienced. The winter last year was mild; we'll see what this year has to offer! The first big snow of this winter was today, actually-about 2 inches or so, I think. Snow is beautiful, but can be deadly (well, it's the ice you really have to worry about, and the college student drivers!).
Of course, along with a move came a new job for me. Actually, I have kind of had 2 new jobs. When we moved here, the clinic I was supposed to start for the university wasn't ready, so I was basically a staff therapist for 6 months. When I came back from maternity leave, I moved to my new clinic, which has taken off quickly-so quickly that, less than 4 months after we opened, I had to hire a second therapist. I enjoyed the 6 months of "respite" as "just" a therapist-it's not that I mind the administrative stuff now that I have time built into my day to do it, but it was also nice to take a bit of a break from that for a few months. Now I'm learning the university system, which is worlds apart from a private practice. There are both pros and cons involved, as with anything else.
Oh, and halfway through the year we had a baby! Ben has been SUCH a delight. Parenthood certainly brings many challenges and sacrifices (I had no idea I could survive on such little sleep for so long!) but it is utterly worth it. My only complaint is that he is flying through the stages TOO quickly. My maternity leave flew by in the blink of an eye, and then I turned around and he was 6 months old. Wow. I can truly, sincerely say that this is by far the best thing I have ever devoted my life to, regardless of the sacrifices.
But wait, there's more!
Josh started back to school. He did one class each semester in the summer and fall, and he is hoping to start full time this next semester. If he is able to do that, he should be able to complete a Bachelor's degree in English (concentrated in creative writing) by next spring. We are anticipating a lot of challenge with this as I work full time, he goes to school full time, and we take care of Ben, but he is excited about it. We don't know what doors this will or will not open, but we are trying to trust God and go with it.
Enough changes yet? Somewhere in there, I had my gallbladder removed and also my pelvic floor reconstructed. I've been in the hospital a LOT this year. I think maybe my new year's resolution should be to not be hospitalized for an entire year!
Anyway, we love you all, miss those of you we left behind when we moved, and are looking forward to continuing to live life. I'm sorry I haven't been awesome about updating the blog regularly. I have been feeling overwhelmed with life/work recently, and struggling with deeply desiring to be home more with Ben, but the reality of needing to provide so we can pay the bills. This is a season. Is it for the next year, or the next lifetime? I don't know. I'm trying to be okay with not needing to know. I am still definitely recovering from my most recent surgery, but as I slowly re-enter life in addition to surviving work and caring for my child, hopefully I will see some of you more. I think feeling overwhelmed and exhausted is just part of this season of life, but hopefully we can be in better touch!
May 2013 be filled with blessings for you and yours!
2012 was a really crazy year for us, as it turns out! But we all lived through it, more or less in one piece, and we are happy and mostly healthy. :-)
This year began with a move halfway across the country to a FAR more northerly climate than either of us have ever experienced. The winter last year was mild; we'll see what this year has to offer! The first big snow of this winter was today, actually-about 2 inches or so, I think. Snow is beautiful, but can be deadly (well, it's the ice you really have to worry about, and the college student drivers!).
Of course, along with a move came a new job for me. Actually, I have kind of had 2 new jobs. When we moved here, the clinic I was supposed to start for the university wasn't ready, so I was basically a staff therapist for 6 months. When I came back from maternity leave, I moved to my new clinic, which has taken off quickly-so quickly that, less than 4 months after we opened, I had to hire a second therapist. I enjoyed the 6 months of "respite" as "just" a therapist-it's not that I mind the administrative stuff now that I have time built into my day to do it, but it was also nice to take a bit of a break from that for a few months. Now I'm learning the university system, which is worlds apart from a private practice. There are both pros and cons involved, as with anything else.
Oh, and halfway through the year we had a baby! Ben has been SUCH a delight. Parenthood certainly brings many challenges and sacrifices (I had no idea I could survive on such little sleep for so long!) but it is utterly worth it. My only complaint is that he is flying through the stages TOO quickly. My maternity leave flew by in the blink of an eye, and then I turned around and he was 6 months old. Wow. I can truly, sincerely say that this is by far the best thing I have ever devoted my life to, regardless of the sacrifices.
But wait, there's more!
Josh started back to school. He did one class each semester in the summer and fall, and he is hoping to start full time this next semester. If he is able to do that, he should be able to complete a Bachelor's degree in English (concentrated in creative writing) by next spring. We are anticipating a lot of challenge with this as I work full time, he goes to school full time, and we take care of Ben, but he is excited about it. We don't know what doors this will or will not open, but we are trying to trust God and go with it.
Enough changes yet? Somewhere in there, I had my gallbladder removed and also my pelvic floor reconstructed. I've been in the hospital a LOT this year. I think maybe my new year's resolution should be to not be hospitalized for an entire year!
Anyway, we love you all, miss those of you we left behind when we moved, and are looking forward to continuing to live life. I'm sorry I haven't been awesome about updating the blog regularly. I have been feeling overwhelmed with life/work recently, and struggling with deeply desiring to be home more with Ben, but the reality of needing to provide so we can pay the bills. This is a season. Is it for the next year, or the next lifetime? I don't know. I'm trying to be okay with not needing to know. I am still definitely recovering from my most recent surgery, but as I slowly re-enter life in addition to surviving work and caring for my child, hopefully I will see some of you more. I think feeling overwhelmed and exhausted is just part of this season of life, but hopefully we can be in better touch!
May 2013 be filled with blessings for you and yours!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Half a year?! Already???
First, I should probably apologize. Friends, I have been a bad bloggy friend. :-) I can't even use the excuse of work/busy-ness because I was off for 3 weeks following a surgery. I just haven't been very inspired with fun topics to write about-the things that are weighing on me are pretty heavy and rather depressing, and I don't want to force anyone to read them!
Anyway, today is Ben's 6 month "half birthday." What in the world....I don't even know how we got here. Half a year seems so long, yet it has gone by so quickly. Before I know it, he'll be walking and talking, and then leaving for college!!! (okay, so that's a slight exaggeration, but at the moment it doesn't feel like much of one!) He is definitely getting bigger and more expressive...sadly, he is also realizing that mommy leaves all day and we are dealing with some "consequences" from that.
New things he is doing this month:
He rolls easily and regularly. He can also scoot in a circle. He doesn't seem the have the forward/back thing down yet, but he can do 180s. He tends to push his toys just out of reach and then gets frustrated when he can't get to them.
He is chewing on EVERYTHING! I'm waiting on teeth to erupt any day.
He VERY badly wants to eat big kid food like mommy and daddy. I think we're going to have to start making some purees or something, since I don't know how to let him eat food when he has no teeth (Anna? Lydia?). I actually can't eat OR drink while nursing anymore or he will lose interest in nursing and want what I have.
He is a bit more fussy than he has been in the past. I'm going with his teeth hurting, but I'm not really sure. He definitely needs more intense attention, which wasn't a problem when I was home all day, but is now becoming a bit more challenging.
He can sit up by himself for short periods of time, but doesn't have the best balance yet, so I don't let him do it much because I don't want him to conk his head on our hardwood floor. I want to get an area rug, but the one I want is mucho dinero, and so that's on the "several months from now" agenda.
He LOVES to chew his toes. When we change his diapers, the toes go straight into his mouth..which actually makes diaper changes a little easier!!
He still does poop in the potty, but he had a virus that was making him go ALL THE TIME (seriously..every 30 minutes or more)...so we stopped catching all of them. The virus is gone now, but he still poops more frequently, so we are probably only catching about 50% of them in the potty. Oh well!
I don't really have any new pictures (aside from the ones on facebook already), but there are your half year updates! I wonder if he'll start crawling this month?
Anyway, today is Ben's 6 month "half birthday." What in the world....I don't even know how we got here. Half a year seems so long, yet it has gone by so quickly. Before I know it, he'll be walking and talking, and then leaving for college!!! (okay, so that's a slight exaggeration, but at the moment it doesn't feel like much of one!) He is definitely getting bigger and more expressive...sadly, he is also realizing that mommy leaves all day and we are dealing with some "consequences" from that.
New things he is doing this month:
He rolls easily and regularly. He can also scoot in a circle. He doesn't seem the have the forward/back thing down yet, but he can do 180s. He tends to push his toys just out of reach and then gets frustrated when he can't get to them.
He is chewing on EVERYTHING! I'm waiting on teeth to erupt any day.
He VERY badly wants to eat big kid food like mommy and daddy. I think we're going to have to start making some purees or something, since I don't know how to let him eat food when he has no teeth (Anna? Lydia?). I actually can't eat OR drink while nursing anymore or he will lose interest in nursing and want what I have.
He is a bit more fussy than he has been in the past. I'm going with his teeth hurting, but I'm not really sure. He definitely needs more intense attention, which wasn't a problem when I was home all day, but is now becoming a bit more challenging.
He can sit up by himself for short periods of time, but doesn't have the best balance yet, so I don't let him do it much because I don't want him to conk his head on our hardwood floor. I want to get an area rug, but the one I want is mucho dinero, and so that's on the "several months from now" agenda.
He LOVES to chew his toes. When we change his diapers, the toes go straight into his mouth..which actually makes diaper changes a little easier!!
He still does poop in the potty, but he had a virus that was making him go ALL THE TIME (seriously..every 30 minutes or more)...so we stopped catching all of them. The virus is gone now, but he still poops more frequently, so we are probably only catching about 50% of them in the potty. Oh well!
I don't really have any new pictures (aside from the ones on facebook already), but there are your half year updates! I wonder if he'll start crawling this month?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Motherhood
Some days, I think I must be insane. Motherhood has taken a lot from me:
My sleep
My time
My body (though I hope after my procedure on Monday to no longer feel like I gave birth yesterday!)
My looks (the ones I was accustomed to at least!)
My work/life balance (now I feel like no matter how much I'm at home, it's never enough!)
My money
In short: I will never be the same.
And yet...I LOVE being a mother. It is seriously one of the best "jobs" I have ever had in my life. The overwhelming thought in my mind shortly after Ben's birth was, "I'm so GLAD that I am at this stage of my life now." Granted...I have always wanted to be a mother. In fact, when I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, that's what I would say most of the time. You could say that maybe that was because it's what my Mom did, or what I thought "normal" women did when they grew up...and maybe there's a bit of that in there. But deep down, I think there has always been a pull on me to be a mother.
I know. It's not normal to wake up 9 times in one night (yeah, that's more than once an hour for those of you who, like me, are math challenged and/or short on sleep) and still deeply love and be pleased with the offspring whose requests for nutrition pulled you out of slumber. It's not normal to change the 12th poopy diaper of the day and think that this poopy diaper maker is SO much more wonderful than all the others. It's not normal for your heart to sing at a smile or giggle. Except I think maybe it is for mothers.
It is not all fun and games and delight, don't get me wrong! I'm exhausted, and there are times when I am very tempted to feel sorry for myself and resent the fact that there is literally zero time in the day (or night!) right now that is just for me. And yet...
I love being a mother.
My sleep
My time
My body (though I hope after my procedure on Monday to no longer feel like I gave birth yesterday!)
My looks (the ones I was accustomed to at least!)
My work/life balance (now I feel like no matter how much I'm at home, it's never enough!)
My money
In short: I will never be the same.
And yet...I LOVE being a mother. It is seriously one of the best "jobs" I have ever had in my life. The overwhelming thought in my mind shortly after Ben's birth was, "I'm so GLAD that I am at this stage of my life now." Granted...I have always wanted to be a mother. In fact, when I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, that's what I would say most of the time. You could say that maybe that was because it's what my Mom did, or what I thought "normal" women did when they grew up...and maybe there's a bit of that in there. But deep down, I think there has always been a pull on me to be a mother.
I know. It's not normal to wake up 9 times in one night (yeah, that's more than once an hour for those of you who, like me, are math challenged and/or short on sleep) and still deeply love and be pleased with the offspring whose requests for nutrition pulled you out of slumber. It's not normal to change the 12th poopy diaper of the day and think that this poopy diaper maker is SO much more wonderful than all the others. It's not normal for your heart to sing at a smile or giggle. Except I think maybe it is for mothers.
It is not all fun and games and delight, don't get me wrong! I'm exhausted, and there are times when I am very tempted to feel sorry for myself and resent the fact that there is literally zero time in the day (or night!) right now that is just for me. And yet...
I love being a mother.
I mean, come on now-this face is irresistable!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
5 Month Update!
Somehow, when I wasn't looking, my baby boy turned 5 months old! I know they say time flies when you have kids, but I honestly think "they" (whoever this nebulous "they" is) underestimated how fast. I still feel like the mother of a newborn, but in all reality, he is growing up more each day!
New things he is doing:
"Play time" is acceptable. He'll do tummy time or back time on the play mat. He can lift his chest up and do mini pushups when he's doing tummy time, and now that he has figured out how to grasp things and pull them toward him, he is much more okay with being down. Only for short periods of time still (I think he'd be fine with still being held 24/7) but I think his dad appreciates being able to put him down for a little while during the day.
He LOVES his jumper. We're going to blame his cousin Caleb for being a bad influence and making him want the thing! lol! But he will literally jump around in it for 20-40 minutes quite happily. Again, I think Daddy enjoys the free time, and Ben LOVES the lights and music. It's his Christmas present, which I know we gave him quite early-but I figure he's not going to remember Christmas this year anyway, and I want to get the maximum enjoyment out of this thing (kids grow out of toys so fast!). We got it for a great deal, and it's pretty cute...rain forest instead of cousin Caleb's zoo.
He JUST figured out how to roll over on purpose. He's not using it as a form of travel yet, but he can go from front to back and vice versa. I missed seeing it the first time because I was at work (the first of many "firsts" I will miss, I'm afraid!) but have since seen him doing it.
He is ticklish. :-) Like his dad, the left side of his body is more ticklish than the right. His giggles are soooo adorable.
His smile melts my heart. Well, that's not new...but I still love it.
He squeals with delight. Which is awesome except when he's close to your ear! I know this is a stage that kids go through but wow...is it ever shrill!
He is still refusing a bottle and eating more at night to make up for it...so most nights we wake up an average of 4-6 times. Mommy is tired! But he is growing well and seems pretty healthy, so it's worth it. He's still in our bed, and I'm not even going to try to get him out of it until he's eating enough solids to get enough calories that way to make it for longer stretches at night (strange sentence-sorry!).
I truly can't believe my little man is growing up so fast. I feel like he changes so much each day and is growing up and getting more fun each day as well. My heart doesn't know whether to mourn the loss of my tiny baby or rejoice as we see more and more of the person he will be. Ah, motherhood!
Josh and I are doing well. Work is getting busier-I'm about to hire my second therapist. I'm having surgery to repair postpartum complications on November 19th, and I'm hoping to be able to become more active/return to exercise and do more than just survive one work week at a time once I have recovered from that! We are praying that will finally end the incredible pain I've been experiencing for 5 months now. Prayers and well wishes would be deeply appreciated!
New things he is doing:
"Play time" is acceptable. He'll do tummy time or back time on the play mat. He can lift his chest up and do mini pushups when he's doing tummy time, and now that he has figured out how to grasp things and pull them toward him, he is much more okay with being down. Only for short periods of time still (I think he'd be fine with still being held 24/7) but I think his dad appreciates being able to put him down for a little while during the day.
He LOVES his jumper. We're going to blame his cousin Caleb for being a bad influence and making him want the thing! lol! But he will literally jump around in it for 20-40 minutes quite happily. Again, I think Daddy enjoys the free time, and Ben LOVES the lights and music. It's his Christmas present, which I know we gave him quite early-but I figure he's not going to remember Christmas this year anyway, and I want to get the maximum enjoyment out of this thing (kids grow out of toys so fast!). We got it for a great deal, and it's pretty cute...rain forest instead of cousin Caleb's zoo.
He JUST figured out how to roll over on purpose. He's not using it as a form of travel yet, but he can go from front to back and vice versa. I missed seeing it the first time because I was at work (the first of many "firsts" I will miss, I'm afraid!) but have since seen him doing it.
He is ticklish. :-) Like his dad, the left side of his body is more ticklish than the right. His giggles are soooo adorable.
His smile melts my heart. Well, that's not new...but I still love it.
He squeals with delight. Which is awesome except when he's close to your ear! I know this is a stage that kids go through but wow...is it ever shrill!
He is still refusing a bottle and eating more at night to make up for it...so most nights we wake up an average of 4-6 times. Mommy is tired! But he is growing well and seems pretty healthy, so it's worth it. He's still in our bed, and I'm not even going to try to get him out of it until he's eating enough solids to get enough calories that way to make it for longer stretches at night (strange sentence-sorry!).
I truly can't believe my little man is growing up so fast. I feel like he changes so much each day and is growing up and getting more fun each day as well. My heart doesn't know whether to mourn the loss of my tiny baby or rejoice as we see more and more of the person he will be. Ah, motherhood!
Josh and I are doing well. Work is getting busier-I'm about to hire my second therapist. I'm having surgery to repair postpartum complications on November 19th, and I'm hoping to be able to become more active/return to exercise and do more than just survive one work week at a time once I have recovered from that! We are praying that will finally end the incredible pain I've been experiencing for 5 months now. Prayers and well wishes would be deeply appreciated!
Tummy Time!!!
He has the craziest hair sometimes...stick straight (and sticking straight up!) when it's dry, curly when wet.
This smile always melts my heart.
He thinks drinks are interesting and wants to try whatever Mom is drinking (no, I don't give him Coke Zero...sometimes water, but never Coke Zero!).
First taste of non-milkies as food (he was just licking it...he liked it though...yikes, solids are just around the corner!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
4 months?!?
A couple of days ago, Ben turned 4 months old. I honestly feel like I have no idea how that happened. The people who tell you time goes by too quickly when you have kids are not exaggerating. If anything, they underestimate how quickly time goes.
New things that he is doing...
If he wants someone's attention, he smiles at them until they notice. He's so cute when he smiles that this typically works and he gets their full attention!
He has started giggling sometimes. He is intermittently ticklish, and he will also giggle if we do something with/to him that he really likes.
He is much more okay with being put down or being in his car seat. He won't tolerate either indefinitely, but he also doesn't start crying the minute he is not being held (unless he's in a bad mood) which is nice. He's okay with tummy time for a while. He is rolling from side to side, but I haven't seen him purposely roll from front to back or vice versa yet.
He no longer poops only first thing in the morning. However, he does always let us know when he needs to poop...we are learning not to ignore grunting noises, because when he goes, he GOES. I don't think there is a diaper in the world that can contain what he does when he poops.
He is way more interactive...he always smiles back, and now he is starting to "talk" back to us too (by making cooing noises).
He has found his hands. He hasn't figured out how to grasp things on purpose yet, but if he does get a hold of something, it's going in his mouth. Not to suck (usually) but to chew.
He decided he doesn't like bottles anymore. He knows if he waits long enough, I'll eventually come home (or dad will bring him to me for lunch) and he will get to eat "the real way." This is great, except that he has to make up those calories somewhere, and the time I'm home is from (about) 5:30 PM to 7:15 AM...so he does the majority of his eating during those hours. I think he's going through a growth spurt, so those things combined are pretty brutal...the last 3 nights he has eaten 7 times, 10 times, and 6 times respectively (after we went to bed...I don't know how often he eats before we go to bed). He still stays asleep during these times, he just cries and nuzzles in his sleep until he gets a nipple in his mouth, and then he eats and settles. Oof. I am one tired Mama, but I know that I am going to miss these days when they are over, too, so I am trying to just enjoy the good parts and survive the exhaustion!
He is enormous! Every time I worry about whether he's getting enough to eat, my mom points out that my little chunker weighs about 20 pounds and wears size 6-9 month clothing (and he even has a few 12 month outfits that fit).
I would say the hardest things for me so far have been the lack of sleep (getting up every 1-2 hours is way harder when you have to be up by 6:30 for work and can't take any type of nap during the day!! Sometimes I wonder if I'm really safe to be driving...) and the fact that I literally have no time to myself. Those both sound so selfish, don't they? It's definitely an exercise in dying to self. I don't feel like I can really sleep train him yet because he actually needs to be waking me up that many times to eat since he isn't taking bottles during the day. It's something that happens with breastfed babies whose moms work, so in many ways I walked myself into that situation!! And I would still way prefer this to him deciding he likes the bottles better. And as for time to myself...I feel like maybe I can have that again when he is older (or when we are done having kids! Haha!) but for now, I already steal enough time from him and his dad while I'm at work and it isn't fair for me to take more (or to ask his dad to watch him more than he already is) just because I'm tired or feeling worn out. One day at a time! :-) That being said, motherhood is still my favorite thing I've done so far...it's hard, but overall so worth it!
He is definitely my favorite baby that we've had so far! :-) I really miss him while I'm at work, but his dad does a great job of taking care of him (though I'm sure that can be intense sometimes when he is fussy). We are just trying to learn to live our new lives, and hopefully we take care of him the way we should!
New things that he is doing...
If he wants someone's attention, he smiles at them until they notice. He's so cute when he smiles that this typically works and he gets their full attention!
He has started giggling sometimes. He is intermittently ticklish, and he will also giggle if we do something with/to him that he really likes.
He is much more okay with being put down or being in his car seat. He won't tolerate either indefinitely, but he also doesn't start crying the minute he is not being held (unless he's in a bad mood) which is nice. He's okay with tummy time for a while. He is rolling from side to side, but I haven't seen him purposely roll from front to back or vice versa yet.
He no longer poops only first thing in the morning. However, he does always let us know when he needs to poop...we are learning not to ignore grunting noises, because when he goes, he GOES. I don't think there is a diaper in the world that can contain what he does when he poops.
He is way more interactive...he always smiles back, and now he is starting to "talk" back to us too (by making cooing noises).
He has found his hands. He hasn't figured out how to grasp things on purpose yet, but if he does get a hold of something, it's going in his mouth. Not to suck (usually) but to chew.
He decided he doesn't like bottles anymore. He knows if he waits long enough, I'll eventually come home (or dad will bring him to me for lunch) and he will get to eat "the real way." This is great, except that he has to make up those calories somewhere, and the time I'm home is from (about) 5:30 PM to 7:15 AM...so he does the majority of his eating during those hours. I think he's going through a growth spurt, so those things combined are pretty brutal...the last 3 nights he has eaten 7 times, 10 times, and 6 times respectively (after we went to bed...I don't know how often he eats before we go to bed). He still stays asleep during these times, he just cries and nuzzles in his sleep until he gets a nipple in his mouth, and then he eats and settles. Oof. I am one tired Mama, but I know that I am going to miss these days when they are over, too, so I am trying to just enjoy the good parts and survive the exhaustion!
He is enormous! Every time I worry about whether he's getting enough to eat, my mom points out that my little chunker weighs about 20 pounds and wears size 6-9 month clothing (and he even has a few 12 month outfits that fit).
I would say the hardest things for me so far have been the lack of sleep (getting up every 1-2 hours is way harder when you have to be up by 6:30 for work and can't take any type of nap during the day!! Sometimes I wonder if I'm really safe to be driving...) and the fact that I literally have no time to myself. Those both sound so selfish, don't they? It's definitely an exercise in dying to self. I don't feel like I can really sleep train him yet because he actually needs to be waking me up that many times to eat since he isn't taking bottles during the day. It's something that happens with breastfed babies whose moms work, so in many ways I walked myself into that situation!! And I would still way prefer this to him deciding he likes the bottles better. And as for time to myself...I feel like maybe I can have that again when he is older (or when we are done having kids! Haha!) but for now, I already steal enough time from him and his dad while I'm at work and it isn't fair for me to take more (or to ask his dad to watch him more than he already is) just because I'm tired or feeling worn out. One day at a time! :-) That being said, motherhood is still my favorite thing I've done so far...it's hard, but overall so worth it!
He is definitely my favorite baby that we've had so far! :-) I really miss him while I'm at work, but his dad does a great job of taking care of him (though I'm sure that can be intense sometimes when he is fussy). We are just trying to learn to live our new lives, and hopefully we take care of him the way we should!
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