Chasing Three: Week 2

With the advent of Little Man's second week came a much appreciated reprieve for me! The pains in my back and tummy muscles eased their way out of my moment by moment movements and transitioned into the occasional unwelcome guest. Finally, leaving all together. Except when I bend wrong... but we'll pretend it's gone altogether.


Chasing "Babies"
We were blessed that my mom was still here... all week! Well, once she returned from her extended weekend visit to my sister's anyway. We (and by "we" I mean the kids and I, as My Beloved returned to work) somehow managed to make it through both Monday and Tuesday... though I have no recollection how that happened. I believe my memory is skewed because of how much of it I slept and dozed while the kids played. Or perhaps it's just gone in the jumble of my mind.

The kids were thrilled with her return, though, and had a great time. Each morning they would get up and going, have breakfast, and be outside "strollin'" and playing. They must have spent an hour or two outside playing and walking and strollin' (in the stroller) each day. This was great for them... and for us as we stayed in bed that much extra! They even found a not so bouncy (anymore), bouncy ball to play with at the basketball court across the street at the YMCA day camp area. Apparently Tornado even made some baskets... completely unassisted!

The rest of the days were filled with meal prep, dishes, clean up, playing, more clean up, and little projects... all of which were done in whole or in part (a major part) by my mom! (Thanks Mom!) I was feeling much better, but still could tell when I'd been doing too much. Part of each day was spent forcing myself to do less... and to just sit (while caring for my Little Man of course). Why is it so much easier to "waste the days away" when I am physically capable of more... and so hard to when I'm supposed to rest?!?


Little Man
Nursing continues to go well... as best I can tell anyway. He began spitting up this week... sometimes none, and sometimes more than I think he should. This always makes me a little nervous because Tornado struggled so much with it (even loosing too much weight and entering the failure to thrive category by 3 months old)! We're looking into getting a nice digital baby scale to ease my mind and keep a watch on it! I'd love to find one second hand, but so far it looks like we'll have to get a new one. (Any advice on brand, etc??)

He's got days and nights backward for sure. We work hard to keep him awake even the minimum amount recommended in Babywise after each nap. And then, if we keep him up too long (and I mean an hour and 15 minutes from the time he wakes up instead of just an hour), he's overstimulated and doesn't nap well! It's a teetering acrobat act for an already tired ball of nerves (me). He's been up every 3ish hours through the night most nights (every 2 1/2 hours last night) and occasionally refuses to sleep between feedings... crying off and on for a couple hours. I've been working on ways to help him quiet and relax into sleep without falling into the trap of rocking or nursing him to sleep all the way. It's not something I want him to learn... though it's so tempting and I've tried it a couple times this last week. I don't remember struggling with this so much with Tornado and Sweet Pea, but I know we'll get through it. I just have to remind myself of this often! Someday he'll stretch it out to 5 hours. :)

There is just so. much. crying! Praise God for a strong set of lungs!


The EC'ing Department
I continue to hold my EC dreams in a loose hand. I do dream of the day we've gotten the hang of it. I can see how much easier it could be than cleaning up the yuck with each diaper change. We're not there yet though, and that's ok. With my limited sleep, many times it just seems easier to change the diaper than to try to give him a potty opportunity. Some day, offering the potty will be the easier of the two, requiring less energy, but for now, offering often yields nothing, which means I'm doing double duty. And there is just not energy or patience for that when one has not slept all night.

I do pick at it though... and I've caught a couple potties and some very crazy poops in the last week. I have a new understanding as to how blow-outs happen! I'll just leave it at that.

Labels: As it happens..., Chasing Three, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:25 PM