Sophie is finally starting to wake up some. She spent most of the first 5 weeks sleeping, and I still can’t figure out why I’m so damn tired if all she did is sleep, but whatever. She still sleeps a lot, but finally has some alert periods. I got my first real smile a few days ago (she has been smiling in her sleep since the day she was born). She opened her mouth, crinkled her nose and smiled. It melted my heart. Sometimes in the haze of these early days where all of your time is spent meeting their needs, you forget there is an actual person in there. I am certainly looking forward to getting to know her better.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Random thoughts in no particular order:
* I’d forgotten how their hands get full of lint and fuzz, and it gets stuck between their fingers and toes.
* I really hate the smell of spit-up. Almost as much as I hate being covered in it.
* I am extremely tired of hearing M screech “Hold ME!!! Put Sophie down and HOLD ME!!!” every time someone besides me (and sometimes even me) picks Sophie up.
* The six week growth spurt is killing me (up every other hour last night to nurse).
* This child is the most awful burper on earth. I have to pat her, jiggle her, bounce her, put her on her stomach, on her back, bounce her on the birth ball, over and over and over. This is not fun at 3 AM. It also means that I’m usually up for an hour every time she nurses at night (between nursing, burping and getting her back to sleep). Oy. It’s a good thing she usually goes 4+ hours between nursing (except for this damn growth spurt).
* I am so grateful that she will sleep in the co-sleeper. Otherwise her gassy wiggliness would positively kill me.
* Block feeding has helped some with the gassiness. But she is still gassy. This is apparently the curse I pass on to my children. I suppose it could be worse.
* When I’m trying to burp her on my shoulder, she wiggles around and has head-butted me on more than one occasion. Neither of us is happy when this happens.
* When I take her off the tap to burp her, she puts her arms over her head and does a huge stretch. Every. Single. Time.
* Holding Sophie and bouncing on the birth ball resolves almost everything that ails her. As long as I keep bouncing.
* She loves looking at the books on our bookcases, but more than anything the child loves looking at the trees and the sky.
* She has outgrown the sleep anywhere, anytime phase. While I still consider her to be a good sleeper, I need about 15 minutes in an environment absent of screaming, yelling and foot stomping to get her down for a nap. Apparently, this is too much to ask an almost-3-year-old. I have no idea what to do with M during this time, and have resorted to locking her in her room or stranding her in her high chair while I retreat to my room to get Sophie asleep. This two kids thing is proving to be tricky …
i was on the elimination diet for like 3 months…then finally figured it was soy and dairy (with Sula).
you are wonderful mother of those girls. trick? yes. but totally doable.
love
m
Comment by mb — June 15, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
awwww, i love the update. she is GORgeous. and the part about her stretching? got me right in my heart.
the growth spurt will pass soon (hugs). other than that sounds like you have a purty darn awesome sleeper.
and yeah..the two kids thing? it’s a day at a time! i’ve done both of the things you mentioned.
xoxo
Comment by leigh — June 26, 2008 @ 12:02 am