7w6d22h old

Hard to believe that almost 8 weeks ago right now I was delivering my little guy into this world. He is growing and changing so fast. He slept a lot today. I wonder if that will carry into the night or not. We will see.

Just because he slept doesn’t mean that I actually got anything accomplished today. We got a very, very late start on our morning walk. I just couldn’t get going. By the time we got back, I was able to get a quick shower in then met a friend for lunch. I actually met her on a trail a few weeks ago when my cousin was here. She has a son 2 months older than Max. It was instant bonding with us both out with our sons in slings enjoying nature. Both kids behaved and we ended up talking for hours. I came home and took a nap with Max. Then, I spent a few hours feeding him, holding him, rocking him before we did our evening walk. He was awake and so alert for most of the walk. The motion did get to him by the end and he succumbed to a short nap. After the walk, we had a repeat of the afternoon with a little floor time and Baby Santa DVD (part of the Baby Einstein series) thrown in for stimulation. Now he is fast asleep in my arms while I type this.

I did decide on a nanny. She is from Guatemala and is a legal resident. She was a nurse in her country and has infant CPR certification. She drives and has her own car. When she came for the interview, she brought a photo album filled with reference letters from the last 10+ years with pictures of all of the kids she cared for. The only time she has changed jobs is when the family moved or the kids went to school. She quickly asked to hold Max, but washed her hands before taking him. I met with her on Sunday and Max was a crabpot that day. She tried so hard to impress me by getting him to stop fussing. I felt a bit sorry for her because nothing worked for long. She said that on top of caring for Max, my house would be so clean I wouldn’t need to have someone else come in to clean. We will see. I really like my cleaning lady and have had her for 7+ years. She was a bit more expensive than what I wanted to pay, but I decided that it was unlikely that I was going to pay what I wanted and get the high quality one on one care I wanted at the same time. It will just be tight financially for awhile. I am sure I can cut back in other places, but haven’t really looked at my expenses and budget as closely as I need to.

It took me until mid day Monday to figure out what was causing Max to be so fussy all of a sudden. There was some truth to my joke about it being caused by staying home and not being out and about. I realized that he was tired, but not really sleeping because he was used to falling asleep while moving in the car or while laying down with me for a nap. We hadn’t gone in the car and I wasn’t laying down with him because he was sleeping long enough at night I hadn’t felt the need for a nap. I can get by on 6 hours of sleep with no problem. The motion of the swing or the bouncy wasn’t enough to sooth him off to sleep. Once I figured it out, I was able to provide enough movement so he got a decent nap in and then all was well again. Mystery solved.

I finished “Raising Boys without Men” the other morning about 5 am. I have had a hard time falling back to sleep after feeding Max since he is going so long at night or have been waking up needing to pump since he is sleeping so long and then not falling back to sleep for a few hours until he wakes up ready to eat. It’s pretty sad that my 2 month old is getting so much more sleep at a stretch than I am at the moment and that I can’t even really blame it on him. Sometimes I really miss being pregnant. I have never slept as well so consistently as when I was pregnant.

I started reading this book called Baby Signs. It is very interesting and advocates paying attention and teaching your baby basic sign language to help them communicate before they can talk but after their motor skills are a bit more developed. For example, waving for bye-bye, nodding for yes, thumb to mouth for drink or thirsty, finger tips to mouth for eat or hungry, finger to palm for more, etc. It is suppose to have a long list of benefits like reducing that terrible two tantrums, helping raise IQ, help create neuron pathways in the brain, help a child talk sooner and generally foster better communication skills not only before they can talk but for life. It seems simple enough so I will probably give it a try in a few months as Max grows and develops.

Speaking of growing and developing, Max is smiling so much both in his sleep and when he is awake. If I smile at him, he will smile back at me. It is so cute I can hardly stand it sometimes. Several times lately, after nursing him, he detaches by opening his mouth, but keeping my nipple between his lips and just smiles. OMG it is precious. Other times, he will detach and move his head so that my breast is a little pillow for him. I always wanted to breastfeed. It was very important to me. I feel very fortunate that it has gone so well between Max and I and that I am able to do so.

I have been staying away from internet research or other baby development books like what to expect because I have found it feeds into my paranoia on SIDS, suffocation, is he growing/developing normally, etc. and have been trying to stick with more positive reading when I get a chance. I am still watching way too much TV. I have scaled back some, but am still watching more than I have ever watched in my life. As much as I love smiling, making eye contact, and looking at Max and his changing expressions, TV is something to multitask with as I hold and feed Max.

Overall, life has been uneventful. I am slacking off on responsible adult duties like paying bills, sending out thank you cards, sending out pictures or birth announcements, making phone calls to catch up with people I haven’t talked to in awhile, responding to emails or general computer time. I have been excelling in socializing (especially over a meal) and spending quality time with Max. I did manage to get my hair washed (Sunday) and give the dogs a much need shampoo and condition (Monday). And, I finally decided on a day care option and hired a nanny.

Sometimes it is the simple accomplishments in life that bring the most pleasure.