We Are Figuring this Out

The New Routine

** subject to change...like instantly, without notice, every other day**

7:00ish - Wake up & bottle (& cuddle)

7:30ish - Wake up daddy in his bed

7:30 - 8:20 - Momma shower, momma dressed, eli dressed, momma breakfast, pack lunch, load up diaper bag and momma's school bags

8:20 - Drop off Eli at Daycare

8:45 - Momma to Work

9:00-4:17 - REALLY LONG WORK DAY WITHOUT SWEET BABY GIGGLES AND KISSES

4:40 - Pick up Eli at school (lots of hugs and kisses)

5:15ish - Eat Dinner (Yeah, I like an early dinner) & Eli eats veggies and cereal

5:45-8:00 - PLAYTIME (well and load bottles and run dishwasher, repack diaper bag, read emails/blogs, watch the Cards, clean up the house, run errands etc...)

8:00 - PJs, clean diaper & swaddled (and the beloved giggle time with Daddy)

8:15 - Bottle and rocking with momma

8:30 - Baby Zzzzzz's

9:30 - 10:00 - Big People Zzzzz's (Okay, I won't lie. Sometimes its 9:00 or 30 seconds after Eli's asleep)

... And when we are lucky that is the end of the story... sometimes we are still getting a 3am feed, but those seem to be getting fewer and further between

And a cute picture of my little Stinky Face, just because.

Finally Eating Cereal

It felt like it took forever (really like 3 weeks), but Eli is finally eating his cereal well...most days. He leans in towards the spoon with a wide open mouth and just gulps it up. He is doing so well that we introduced him to green beans as well. He doesn't quite love those yet, but he is getting better and better with them. Tonight we ate dinner all together, well kinda Eli ate a little before we did and then he sat up in his high chair and hung out with us while we ate. For a momma who is trying to savor every moment with her boy in the evenings it is awesome for him to be able to be up at the table with us. And now for some messy faced baby pictures.

The Process of Going Back to Work - Part 2

Well, we have done it. I am back at work, Eli is going to daycare and Dan is alone once more in the house. We have survived two weeks of our new "normal" and so far we are all surviving... well except the blog, which has obviously taken a hit, but at least it is the blog that is getting neglected not my son, husband or job.

I did really well with dropping him off at daycare the first day and overall have really enjoyed being back at work (well, except the whole work part). The hardest part of the day for me is between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon when my brain has checked out of work and is so ready to be at home with my boys. Also, I struggle at night when he falls asleep in my arms to put him down in his bed. I savor that snuggly time with my boy. I don't want to put him down, I don't want to leave him again. It is strange how it hits me at night. I think it is because the mornings are busy and hectic and the evenings seem so precious to me.

I think Eli likes his school, but then again he is constantly happy and smiley (even when sick...more on that later) so who really knows. His teachers seem to like him a lot...again with the "smiley all the time" thing. He has learned to sit up, hold his own bottle and eat his cereal (finally) since he started school so I guess it can't be all bad.

We all treasure our evening time together, it doesn't seem like there is much of it most nights, but we enjoy it as much as we can. Eli is typically in bed by 8:30 and if we are up an hour after that it is a miracle... I guess that is what parenthood does to you.

And I will leave you with a "smiley all the time" boy picture:

Balance

My attempt at putting my current feelings into words...

Motherhood is the balance between doing

what is best for baby in the long run

and what might save your sanity this very moment.

Not exactly a brilliant pearl of wisdom, but something I think about frequently especially during the struggle that is putting a 4 month old to sleep. I think I often opt for my sanity, but I guess if I lose that it wouldn't be good for him in the long run either.

Sucker.

Today while rocking my sweet little boy I noticed a few reddish marks on his little arm.

Cue the new mommy freak out!

I called for Dan and panicked. Despite Dan's reassuring that they were JUST BRUISES. I was upset. Like seriously WHY should my little dude have bruises... Baby Cancer...... Iron Deficiency..... Arm stuck in his crib.... Should I call the doctor?....eeek.....my brain was in hyperdrive.

Then, about an hour or two later, thankfully before any embarrassing calls to the doctor, I put Eli on the floor for his second round of "tummy time" for the day and had a huge AH-HA moment.

My kid was giving himself HICKEYS!!

Seriously, when he gets tired on his tummy he lays his face down and sucks...apparently very hard... on his arms...

Self-inflicted Hickeys... Seriously...Wow. Needless to say we got a good laugh out of this one.

What a SUCKER!

The Process of Going Back to Work - Part 1

I have been exceptionally lucky to be able to spend the first three months of Elijah's life at home with him and have not had to work. We only have 1 more month of that wonderful arrangement before I head back to work and Eli starts at daycare.

While I like my job and I am happy with the daycare center we have chosen for Eli, I am not at all happy about returning to work and leaving my lazy days with my boy. I am very nervous about leaving my boy with others, I know him best and I want to be the one to care for him. I don't want to miss anything, he grows and changes so much, that I don't want to be away from him even for a minute. I can't hardly imagine being away from him for 8 hours a day, but soon enough that will be our norm. It is going to take a lot of adjusting for me emotionally and in our schedule.

All that being said, we like our 2 income lifestyle and I worked really hard to get a Master's degree and become a Speech Pathologist. I never imagined that I would even toy with the idea of not working, I have always been focused on my career, but it is amazing what that little boy has changed in me. I am hoping to find out more details about my work assignment for this year so that I can start getting excited about work instead of dreading or fearing it.

The Montessori school where Eli will be going called the other day to confirm that he has a spot in their infant room and we set his start date as August 9th, my first day back at work. Instead of thinking about leaving my boy, I am instead working on gathering the "supplies" that he will need at daycare and thinking about how we will make the mornings work. One thing is for sure, I will certainly be getting up earlier this year.

I am Revoking his Title!

He no longer gets to be "Sleepstar". Nope. He lost that title this week. Exactly a month ago I wrote on here about how he slept through the night and ever since then he has been sleeping in 5 1/2 to 7 hour chunks at night and it has been amazing. Well, until this week... this past week Eli has graced us with his presence at least twice during the night and last night it was 4 times... seriously. I am hoping it is the combined effects of our weekend adventures in Mississippi and a 3 month old growth spurt and that perhaps when we get back into a routine things will get better again... I am hoping! But, in the meantime, I am revoking his title. He is no longer my Sleepstar!

Coming Soon!

3 Month - All About Eli

Our Mississippi Trip

The Going Back to Work Process

The Most Perplexing Part of Motherhood... (thus far)

Sleep!

When to sleep?

How to go to sleep?

Where to sleep?

How long to sleep?

Too much sleep?

Not enough sleep?

Noise or quiet when asleep?

Light or dark when asleep?

AHHHH! Quite honestly I have to say that I have a very easy baby, he is mild tempered and only cries when he needs something. And he is an AWESOME night time sleeper 85% of the time. So, I really have nothing to complain about, but I will say that sleep is the most perplexing part of parenting. There are just too many questions and too many variables. He is still really young, but is totally showing signs of wanting to take a longer morning nap, which is awesome! But it brought up lots of questions about how to help him nap better.

I have been reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and I really like it a lot. It makes sense to me that a baby needs to be helped to sleep when he is just getting drowsy and not overly tired... we all get cranky and difficult to soothe when we are exhausted, right? I also, like how the book walks you through what a baby is neurologically and developmentally capable of in regards to soothing and sleep. It has been a great help and I am sure it will continue to be.

So, the 2 basic conclusions I have come to right now about naps are:

1) Eli is too old to be taking all of his naps in Momma's arms

2) Eli is too young too soothe him self to sleep without some help (i.e. We aren't ready to let him cry alone in the bed, yet)

So, what we have been doing is a basic kind of "quick soothing" routine. When he shows signs of being sleepy ( i.e. fussing, not wanting to play) I wrap him up in a swaddler, read a book and rock him for 5-7 minutes. I often give him a pacifier, but sometimes he doesn't take it. He almost always has fallen to sleep within these few minutes and so I put him into his crib no matter how lightly he is sleeping. If he wakes, I pick him up immediately and rock him again usually for just 3-4 minutes and put him back down. 90% of the time it only takes 2 tries to get him down for morning nap... and it is awesome! He is sleeping nearly 2 hours for morning nap and I think he is much happier!

Afternoon naps are much less organized and lengthy generally. Often because we have to be somewhere or do something, but also because he eats very frequently in the afternoons and sleeps less, which is great for us because afternoons and evenings are when we get to play together as a family!

Today's morning nap

(yeah I know I am crazy for risking waking him up to take a picture for the blog)

SleepStar!

Today is a day for celebration! No, I am not talking about Eli's 2 month birthday (my baby is growing up so fast!) or my Dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). No, something even better, something directly tied to my sanity, my physical and mental health and my ability to function day in and day out!

Eli slept through the night last night!!

Well, he slept six consecutive hours, 11pm to 5pm and I am calling that sleeping through the night! And to top it all off he went back to sleep at 6:30 until 8:00am in his crib...for some reason he has always wanted to sleep with me in our bed during the early morning hours and would not stay asleep in his crib then, even if he slept great in his crib the night before!

I know, I know, I shouldn't get to excited. It could have been a fluke, he may never do it again (God help us), but it was wonderful last night, wonderful!

2 month "All About Eli" post to come soon, but just wanted to share the good news!

I'm Breastfeeding and I almost like it...

So, I am breastfeeding still... 2 months in. It may not seem like long, but if you would of asked me a year ago or even 6 months ago I would of said that I wasn't even going to try, that I didn't even want to, that it wasn't for me. Well, here we are and Eli is almost 2 months old and I am breastfeeding and I really enjoy it most of the time.

The other night for example, Eli was overly tired (we pushed him too far, it was our fault) and just wouldn't settle and I was feeling so bad for him, especially because I knew I should have put him to sleep sooner. It was great to put him to breast and have him calm instantly. I felt so much better to have him cuddle into me and he was so much happier too.

Also, I love not having to pack bottles and formula and worry about where we can get warm water if we are out. I always have his food with me which puts me at ease when I take him out because his eating schedule isn't at all predictable. I have fed him in the car a few times in store parking lots, it works out really well and gives us some flexibility to our schedules.

Another awesome bonus is it is cheap! We haven't bought any formula yet, even though we do supplement with formula, we are still using free samples that we have received from the hospital and doctor's office!

Now, I won't say that it is always wonderful and perfect... trust me it's not. There are days that my nipples are sore and I feel like a cow because all he wants to do is eat and I am tied to the rocking chair feeding him. Also, everything I have read talks about how breastfeeding is great bonding time for mom and baby and while I do enjoy feeding him most of the time, my favorite bonding time is playing with him and seeing his smiles.

The next big breastfeeding decision I have to make is how and when to wean him. I don't intend to continue to breastfeeding as his main source of nutrition once I go back to school. I might see if I can manage to keep enough milk to do a night time and possibly a morning feed if he is still interested in breastfeeding. I love that I can soothe him at almost anytime by breastfeeding and would hate to lose that tool in my bag of momma tricks!