Help...

This is what I do all day long. If you ever need me I'll be on the couch. My phone is near by feel free to call. If you'd like my house to be clean too bad. Me to be showered, not likely. Anything productive going on, not so much.

Just a question for all the mom's out there. How can I help train my 5 week old to sleep on his own? He does fairly well at night, sleeps probably 5 or 6 hours on his own, makes it back to sleep after the first feeding but wants to be held after the second one. During the day it's not an option. If i set him down anywhere, crib, chair, upstairs, downstairs he wakes up within 15 minutes. So i hold him literally all day long. I've gotten very talented at doing a few things one handed (going to the bathroom, making lunch etc.) Most of the day I'm stuck on the couch because my arms and back hurt less when i do that. I had been strapping him into the baby carrier and getting a few more things done but last week he started getting heat rash and doesn't like that anymore. I know i can't really sleep train him for a couple more months at least but that seems like an eternity at the moment and my sanity and emotions are taking a toll. Any tricks, hints, ideas would be greatly appreciated.

If there's really nothing i can do but suck it up then please recommend some good books, as many as you can think of; I manage to go through a book every 2-3 days. Thanks for the help and support!

Play time

Isaac has been having longer awake periods and he has started to look around at things and listen to new things so I decided to break out some of the bright colored and noisy toys to start playing with him. He seems to like them pretty well. I can tell that he does follow the colors and listens to the rattles. I got some cute pictures with him holding the rings. Of course it was just his grasp reflex but it sure does look cute! Makes me excited for when he really is aware of his toys and plays with them on his own.

And I don't know if I dare say this for fear that everything will collapse but he has slept at night time and mostly in his own room for the past week! He's not in his crib yet and he does want to be held at around 5 for the rest of the morning but I'd say we're making some progress.

1 month

In one month our little boy has gone from this to this. Crazy!

Yay we survived one month!

Yesterday was Isaac's 1 month mark. Seriously has been the fastest and slowest month of our lives! On one hand i think "my little baby is going to be so big so soon" and on the other i think "i have to do how many months of this" (that thought usually occurs in the middle of the night when he wants to play at 3am).

He really is a good baby and we love him so much! We ventured out for our date last weekend and he did really well. He handled his restaurant adventures very well. He was quite happy and content. He also went to church for the first time yesterday; he did great. Having a couple of successful outings helped boost our confidence and has made us feel like life is getting to a new normal. At any rate we're looking forward to the months to come and we love this sweet boy!

Likes:

• Cuddling
• Baby sling/carrier
• nighttime daddy cuddle time (around 4am he wants David and then he's happy. David sleeps most mornings with him.)
• staring at the fan
• eating, eating, eating
• bright colors
• "my name is Isaac" song (made up by mom)
• kisses
• taking walks with mom and ray ray
• working his legs muscles by standing up on us
  

Dislikes:

• car seat
• hiccups
• waiting for food
• pooping
• being anywhere but in mom's arms during the day
• baths
• fireworks (ok maybe he doesn't hate them but we do because they wake him up.)
  

The past week

The past week or so has been kind of rough. Someone decided that he didn't want to sleep very much at night; instead he decided he wanted to eat from 9pm until 2am one night and then be up and play for a couple hours the night. Anyone who knows me knows that i don't do very well on little sleep. And little sleep for me is 6 hours instead of 8; you don't even want to see me on 3 hours of sleep.

Lots of tears have been cried (mostly by me). A few "what was i thinking wanting to be a mom" moments, followed by "I'm a horrible mother for even thinking that" moments. A couple days where i didn't step out of the house once and a couple more that i never changed out of my pajamas. Lots and lots of wondering how i was ever supposed to get it together enough to do anything other than sit on the couch all day and watch TV/ sleep. Seriously how can i do anything when someone is so cuddly and won't let me put him down even for 2 minutes to use the bathroom without crying.

The past few days have definitely not been the best. The worst part is that i feel guilty for being frustrated or upset because really i think i have a pretty easy baby. No he won't let me set him down at all during the day but at least he's not screaming all day. I was talking to David about it though and he said something that made sense. He said, just because he doesn't scream all day doesn't mean he's not a difficult baby in other ways and just because other people handle more difficult babies doesn't mean you should be dealing with this better. Also, we're trying not to compare ourselves to other who have recently had babies because most of the other people we know who have had babies recently have some family around to help fairly often. Oh how i wish i could call my mom to come hold him while i shower or sleep or whatever but she's 1500 miles away. So instead i call her and cry. Seriously, people tell you that having a baby is hard but you never really understand until it's you. I guess just like every other challenge in life you kids are custom tailored to you. We're learning.

To end on a high note, because i do love this guy and not everything about being a parent is horrible, the past two nights he has slept well. He's woken up to eat and then fallen back to sleep. I've been able to sleep in bed and I feel mostly good in the morning. I've also discovered that the baby sling/carrier is just as good as my arms to him. So during the day I'll strap him in and be able to get a few things done around the house. And he is super cute and sweet. He's started giving me real smiles and those are just the sweetest thing ever. Maybe, just maybe we're starting to get a routine down. Which makes me so happy but also so scared to ever leave the house/ our routine. I'm taking David to work today and going to try to go to a Relief Society play date thing. Hopefully this doesn't throw everything off! I do love this little boy. He is so sweet. I know he loves me and trusts me completely so it makes it a little easier to do everything for him.

And a side funny note, yesterday i went to YW for the first time after having him. I was going to be a little late already but not much. The secretary texted me to ask if i was coming and just after i texted yes little Mr. Isaac, who was eating, decided it was time to spit up all over me. And not a little spit up, entire meal spit up. Most of the goodness went right into the cup of my bra, the rest on my stomach. I cried and took a shower. Was 40 minutes late instead of 15 but now i have a pretty good story to tell :)

totally justified breakdown

Today David went to work. I spent a couple of days alone last week so i wasn't too nervous. Isaac is going through a growth spurt so he's eating constantly. Also for the past 24 hours he won't let us put him down. So i was just holding him and watching TV and ray ray wanted to go out. I opened the door and as he went out a wasp came in and started chasing me. I'd figure out how to deal with the wasp later. Isaac needed his diaper changed so i went and closed us in Isaac's room and changed his diaper. The bag in his diaper pail was full so i changed it and went to take it to the trash. i opened the door and something fell on my head. Brushed it off and they were earwigs! I freaked out. Screamed. Tried to make sure they were all off me, took the bag to the trash, and came in and tried to kill all the earwigs. by this point Isaac was screaming since it had been 5 minutes since i set him down. I grabbed my phone and called David crying and hysterical. He said he would come home and take care of all the bugs. I closed myself in Isaac's room with him and ray ray and cried until David got there. It didn't help that while i was holed up in the room trying to keep it together enough to feed Isaac i saw an earwig crawling on my arm. Freaked out more. Started feeling like they were all over me so i had to take my shirt off. So David got there to find his wife shirtless and blubbering. He killed the wasp and vacuumed up all of the earwigs. Last night i told David i just don't know how anyone can be a single parent. I rest my case!

Tell me you would have reacted any differently! Worst day!

2 weeks

It's been 2 weeks. We're getting used to this little guy and i think he's getting pretty used to us. He's a pretty good baby. He likes tummy time. He eats really well. He sleeps pretty well. He doesn't cry much. And he's just so sweet and cute!

We both had our two week appointments yesterday. Isaac has gained nearly 1 pound since we left the hospital, putting him at 7lbs 8 oz. He also grew a half inch, putting him at 20 in. He's doing great!

He's also hitting a growth spurt. Ate for a good 2 hours this morning, was awake for 2.5 hours and now is passed out.

Pooping face, yes i took a picture for embarrassing him later in life :)

I'm also doing well. Everything is healing how it should and I've lost 19lbs so far. I suspect that the 13lbs that wasn't him was all water weight. The picture above is how swollen my feet were a few days before the birth and the picture below is my feet two weeks after.

I never thought i would think my feet are sexy but dang those are some nice looking feet :)

We've taken a few walks with him. It's been kind of hard with him not really having a schedule yet and not wanting to take him out when it's super hot but i think we're figuring it out.

PS doesn't his had look extremely huge in that picture? I never noticed until i was looking at it just now. Does he have a future in Basketball?

Bath time and other cute ones :)

He really liked the hooded towels, especially after his traumatic bath experience.

Ray Ray wouldn't come into the bathroom until he heard the baby screaming. He hates baths too. But once he heard Isaac he had to run in and see what was going on.

We didn't get a picture of his extreme surprise and terror about the bath, maybe next time. He went back and forth between being terrified and kind of content.

He slept with his hand behind his head for several hours yesterday.

He likes to sleep on his side. That was one of the first times that he actually fell asleep in his crib. It was short lived but progress. Last night he slept in the crib for an hour even through tons of fireworks and firecrackers that were set off by the neighbors across the street. Maybe soon we can get him to sleep in the crib a little at night.

He was loving Aunt Carolyn the other day. He is such a cuddly little guy.

Happy 4th of July! Hope your day is great!

Mommy and me

Mommy

Me.


my mom called yesterday and said he looks exactly like you. he even has the same hairline. i told her to send pictures and this is what she sent. i think the picture on the right really shows that he's my son!

PS he's one week old today!