Ok lets be real - this mom thing is REALLY hard work! It seems to get harder every week, but maybe that's because I haven't slept more than 3 hours at a time in almost a month! That has to make you somewhat loopy. The past couple of days Liam has been going through what I imagine to be a growth spurt because he has been incredibly fussy and cries A LOT. For all of you that do not have kids - crying = screaming. Ear splitting screaming. It works like this - baby screams, you pick baby up, run through the "are you hungry, need a new diaper, gas pain" checklist and barring all that don't know what the problem is. So you start to try different positions, toys & other forms of entertainment and the baby keeps screaming. So you start to cry & phone your mother up to come and rescue you. Mother shows up and baby is instantly angelic. Go figure. Even Ian a.k.a. "Mr. Mom" has had his flustered moments when he's more than happy to hand the baby over to me for consoling.
I have also discovered this week that what I eat or drink really does affect Liam. On Mother's Day I had 2 cups of strong coffee and boy did I pay for it. Liam was so jacked up he didn't sleep more than 45 min until 10pm that night (combination of caffeine and growth spurt = day from hell). Ian and I were complete zombies with blood shot eyes. Yesterday was no better. Hello mom's help phone! I called my mom in a complete state and she promptly came over. Of course Liam pulled his "I'm an angel for my grandma" stunt and went to sleep. My mom proceeded to calm me down by feeding me & making me tea. Her friend Susan popped by shortly after and the two of them went on a cooking spree and made multiple meals for freezing while getting happy on coconut rum from the Bahama's (my mom is having a hard time giving up her daily rum drinks!). I left Liam still sleeping and went down for a much needed nap. When I woke up the meals had been cooked, the house cleaned and dinner was ready for when Ian came home. What a pleasure! Don't know what I'll do when my mom leaves - she is such a huge help! Of course I have tons of people I can call, but it is still nice to have family to rely on (which I do heavily).
My big achievement was that I managed to express half a bottle of milk yesterday (have you seen what a breast pump looks like? They are totally intimidating!) which I fed to Liam - he took it without so much as a squeak. I felt like running around the neighbourhood screaming "FREEDOM!!" like Braveheart. What a liberating feeling knowing that there is an alternative to being a jersey cow! The plan now is to have me go to bed earlier and Mr. Mom will do the late night feed with the bottle = more sleep for me. Mmmmmm.......more sleep. I miss my sleep.
What is Liam up to now? Well he has now moved onto the size 1 Huggies diapers and continues to grow rapidly. We take him for walks strapped in to his Baby Bjorn which he loves - sleeps the whole time from the movement. It's a nice alternative to the car seat which he hates. Saturday we had our first mom & baby bath together and he loves stretching his legs out and swishing around. He is much more verbal & more awake during the day and can lift his head up and look around (does that a lot), at the moment he is snoozing in his rocking bouncy chair with the vibrate option on (he likes the feeling of the vibrations, puts him to sleep) while I sip on decaf coffee & type madly. I do everything faster, eat, pee, dress, you name it. You never know when your window of opportunity is going to end so you move quickly.
Last night Ian & I were in a stupid mood (no doubt from severe lack of sleep) and giggling madly - of course the noise almost woke Liam up and we resorted to being quiet. Felt like a couple of naughty teenagers. My whole "the baby will adapt to our lives" philosophy has clearly gone out the window. It is so NOT about us!
I have also discovered this week that what I eat or drink really does affect Liam. On Mother's Day I had 2 cups of strong coffee and boy did I pay for it. Liam was so jacked up he didn't sleep more than 45 min until 10pm that night (combination of caffeine and growth spurt = day from hell). Ian and I were complete zombies with blood shot eyes. Yesterday was no better. Hello mom's help phone! I called my mom in a complete state and she promptly came over. Of course Liam pulled his "I'm an angel for my grandma" stunt and went to sleep. My mom proceeded to calm me down by feeding me & making me tea. Her friend Susan popped by shortly after and the two of them went on a cooking spree and made multiple meals for freezing while getting happy on coconut rum from the Bahama's (my mom is having a hard time giving up her daily rum drinks!). I left Liam still sleeping and went down for a much needed nap. When I woke up the meals had been cooked, the house cleaned and dinner was ready for when Ian came home. What a pleasure! Don't know what I'll do when my mom leaves - she is such a huge help! Of course I have tons of people I can call, but it is still nice to have family to rely on (which I do heavily).
My big achievement was that I managed to express half a bottle of milk yesterday (have you seen what a breast pump looks like? They are totally intimidating!) which I fed to Liam - he took it without so much as a squeak. I felt like running around the neighbourhood screaming "FREEDOM!!" like Braveheart. What a liberating feeling knowing that there is an alternative to being a jersey cow! The plan now is to have me go to bed earlier and Mr. Mom will do the late night feed with the bottle = more sleep for me. Mmmmmm.......more sleep. I miss my sleep.
What is Liam up to now? Well he has now moved onto the size 1 Huggies diapers and continues to grow rapidly. We take him for walks strapped in to his Baby Bjorn which he loves - sleeps the whole time from the movement. It's a nice alternative to the car seat which he hates. Saturday we had our first mom & baby bath together and he loves stretching his legs out and swishing around. He is much more verbal & more awake during the day and can lift his head up and look around (does that a lot), at the moment he is snoozing in his rocking bouncy chair with the vibrate option on (he likes the feeling of the vibrations, puts him to sleep) while I sip on decaf coffee & type madly. I do everything faster, eat, pee, dress, you name it. You never know when your window of opportunity is going to end so you move quickly.
Last night Ian & I were in a stupid mood (no doubt from severe lack of sleep) and giggling madly - of course the noise almost woke Liam up and we resorted to being quiet. Felt like a couple of naughty teenagers. My whole "the baby will adapt to our lives" philosophy has clearly gone out the window. It is so NOT about us!
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