May
1
There were two days in a row when I successfully put Dylan down for a nap the same time as Riley and then had two (TWO) lovely hours all to myself and at the time I thought AH HA, I have totally figured out this baby’s schedule and now everything is going to be so EASY! And then he was all, excuse me but I think I’d like to spend about a week sleeping in 10-minute intervals during the day, does that work for you? And I was all, well, shitballs.
He’s not entirely predictable about how he chooses to spend his daylight hours but oh my god he is such a good baby at night. He usually goes down around 8 PM in his crib, and JB wakes him up around 11 for a last feeding before putting him back to bed. His one night-time wakening happens anywhere between 3-5, and it is completely painless: he milkpigs 4 or 5 ounces, farts a few times (he is such a frat boy), then falls back asleep in his swing.
(And now that I’ve described this fantastic behavior I’ve probably doomed myself to an entirely new routine involving round-the-clock feedings and a sustained bout of screaming from 2 AM onward.)
It makes such a HUGE difference when babies start sleeping more. I don’t even think I was aware of how fractured I was feeling as a result of not getting enough sleep, I just powered entire cases of energy drinks at a time and tried to ignore the fact whenever I stopped moving for five seconds my eyes drooped shut and a line of slobber hung from my lower lip.
Oh, and the other big difference? Getting him out of our bedroom. I knew that would help and yet I resisted it, but now that he’s at least starting out the night in his crib and I’m not waking up over every snort and whuffle (and I’m not getting up to feed him at his first squeak), I think both of us are resting better.
In other news that has nothing to do with babies, sleeping or otherwise, JB has been wearing these beige camo-print cargo shorts paired with white socks and clunky Keen shoes, and it is SO DORKY LOOKING, in a very Pacific Northwest dorky kind of way. However, when I made fun of his ensemble, I couldn’t come up with an answer to his question of what the fucking hell he’s supposed to wear with shorts then, Mrs. Fashion Plate?
So what do you think? What should a guy wear with cargo shorts when it’s not quite warm enough to sport the open-toed Teva mandals?
Apr
29
We are taking Dylan to daycare on Friday as a trial run for Monday when I return to work and part-way through this afternoon I realized that since tomorrow and Thursday are non-daycare days for Riley today was my last day of being home alone with the baby.
The last three months have been . . . well, what can I say that I haven’t said a thousand times already? They have been wonderful, amazing, joyous. They have sucked big fat hairy balls.
I look back on those early weeks after Dylan was born and I can barely remember how difficult they were, the hardest days have already receded; a bad dream blurred upon awakening. The screaming puking newborn has morphed into a buttery pudge of coos and smiles, and I thank the great baby gods for that.
At three months old our boy is watching us constantly, ready to break into a giant drooly grin whenever our eyes meet his. He blathers away in his weird vowelly language and pistons his feet up and down happily, blasting out gunshot farts and blowing spit bubbles. His thighs look like something Pillsbury would sell in the refrigerated section of a grocery store, his hair is fuzzy and whisper-soft.
I tell him he is the silliest baby I’ve ever heard of. “You,” I say, as he flaps his arms and jogs in place, his mouth open wide. “You are ridiculous.” Aaaaaooooooww, he says, beaming and flashing me his cheek dimple. He is a flirt, a goofy good-humored guy with tenderly sweeping maybe-it’s-Maybelline eyelashes.
I love him so damn much. I used to worry: could I possibly love a second child as much as my first? And it’s true, what they all say: yes, yes, yes, yes you can. You expand. There are no limits.
We’re on to new schedules, now, new routines and busier days. I’m ready for it, and at the same time I wish I could hit pause and stay here just a little longer.
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