Nate & I have developed a new code to describe my day where he asks, “What does your coffee cup look like today?”
Translation: Is our child behaving & letting you be sane or is he being a jackass?
For when Harrison is an angelic little babe, he swings happily for a good 45 minutes in the morning while I clean up the kitchen, get a cup of coffee, & check my email. & then he goes down for a morning nap so I can shower, make beds, & start laundry. Fantastic routine, no? But when he’s a cranky little booger, I spend my entire morning juggling him on my hip, singing insane tunes about how I wish he would sleep, & pulling my hair out all while wistfully staring at my untouched mug.
This would be today’s cup of coffee. Notice how it’s still full at 11am, despite being brewed 3 hours prior? Obviously, we had one of those mornings that I’m sure Satan delivered himself. After a mere three (non-consecutive, mind you) hours of sleep last night, Harrison & I were up for the day. Where he fussed, screamed, ate two bottles, refused to swing, & basically tried to burrow himself back into my uterus via my neck. You know that feeling, where the kid is over your shoulder & ferociously kicking & nuzzling so hard into your throat that you say, “KID. I promise, you cannot physically get any closer to me!” After 2 hours of this madness, I wiped away all disillusions that the child would settle into a nap & I settled his Pampers-swaddled butt into the Moby:
and we had peace. & while part of me wishes I could pull him out & put him in his crib so I can catch a snooze since he’s finally sleeping, I dare not wake a sleeping baby. Which is why I finally have a moment to do laundry, blog, & make sure the kid has clean bottles for when he awakes.
& it takes me back two weeks, where Dr. Hottie complimented my calm in his office & then described this period as “Survival.” Plain, old-fashioned survival. & I looked at him like he had five heads because honestly, I didn’t feel like I was in survival mode. My kid was sleeping incredibly well. He was sweet, content, & easy to soothe. The only thing in survival mode was my house, which has not seen a vacuum or dust rag in over 2 weeks. But I was showering every day, even getting make-up on, & blissfully enjoying 4+ hour stretches of sleep.
MY GOD, WHY DID I NOT FULLY APPRECIATE HOW GOOD I HAD IT? Because it’s like Harrison woke up last week & said, “OH MAN, I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS COOL YET.” & then let out a holler that they heard all the way in Bejing aquatics cube.
& I haven’t enjoyed a cup of coffee since. Self, welcome to “survival mode.”
3 week growth spurt maybe? Some babies sleep a lot and some are completely crabby. Try offering more to eat and see if that helps. Best of luck!
You got 4 hour stretches?!?!? ::jealous::Yea, I had a great week of 1.5 hours/night/24 hours. Now they're letting me get 2 hours inbetween feedings at night and that feels awesome compared to before. Just FYI common growth spurts – 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 6 weeks, so maybe he's fussing more because of that?
Amen! I've finally decided to leave my babe in bouncy seat while I get my coffee. This takes all of 8 minutes (during which I feel somewhat guilty) and yesterday he actually fell asleep so I even got to :gasp: eat breakfast. As soon as he realizes he is not attached to Mama he goes right in the Moby (; But at least i'm caffeinated. Now i've started trying to manage a 2nd cup…Good luck with the coffee!
It's gets better, but you need to learn to drink your coffee cold.
Even at 14 months, I don't always get to it until hours later. Good luck!
OMG. I swear it's a little boy thing! Handsome tries his hardest to burrow into my chest cavity it hurts! As for the coffee I started using a travel mug and a straw after a few weeks. That way it wouldn't spill on him (and I would get all the precious coffee goodness) while I bounced him for naps. Good luck!
The best is when they are trying to burrow and headbutt against your collarbone. Which causes them not only to scream and get even more upset and makes one feel like the worst mom ever for even HAVING collarbones.P.S. Your captcha loves to taunt me. Today is reads "popper," which I, of course, read as "pooper."
It'll pass, and it gets easy with each child. I have four, all under 6 and yes, we planned it that way. I love them. One was colicky and the third baby was adopted and has Down Syndrome. I know they can be a challenge, but you really will miss this stage, I promise. Be patient and count your blessings. But on a side note – I don't think it's kind or fair to refer to your 3 week old as a jackass, whether or not in jest. I understand the lack of sleep, but really – he's doing what babies do. Remember, he's new at this too, he's still trying to figur out how things work, just like you.
Oh God Blair. I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! Vivie will be 3 weeks on Saturday, and she is a different child! Those first two weeks where my husband was home and my family was around to help – she was an ANGEL! Now, I get a different version of her every day! The first two weeks are "honeymoon" THEN you move into "survival!!!"
Survival mode is your new life
Once you have little ones, especially high-need little ones (which it sounds like you have), it ain't about you anymore. Never, ever, never. But that's why you became a mama, right? To snuggle in the moby & give all selflessly. It's not about how cute the nursery is anymore (not really in there much I imagine?), it's real now and in about 2 months it gets ALOT more fun, promise.
Harrison sounds so much like our little Brayden…he always wakes up with a smile but don't turn your back on him for a minute. He still has his good & bad days at 3 months but the good are starting to take over…..Harrison will be there very soon
I love the Moby wrap. Actually, my son wouldn't nap in his crib at all, and so in order to get anything done, I would just plop him in and hold him like that to check my email, get stuff cleaned, etc. Sometimes we even lay (carefully) down and napped together.Now he grudgingly will sleep in his crib, but usually only for (at most) and hour (he's almost 18 months old).But he's worth it & Harrison is too (as I'm sure you know
) & things really do get easier!
Madeline B, you owe me $25 for my Dr office visit co-pay, as my eyes got stuck rolling 'em at you.
God Bless Starbucks Drive Thru – throw sweet H in the carseat pray for some sleep or drive around beltline until that happens then go through the blessed drive thru.Good luck! It does get better. Pinky swear!
Madeline B, we call our son the shithead. Sometimes, it's completely appropriate. At least we know H can't help being a jackass, you on the other hand…
Ah yes… survival. Good times!
Maybe it'll all be back to normal tomorrow…crossing my fingers for you guys!
do you have or have you tryed the swaddle blankets that actually have velcro on them to keep them nice and tight? my niece is 8 weeks old and settles right down as soon as we put her in one, even if she is in one of her worst moods. I curse myself for having a child almost 5 years ago when these heavenly items were not available.
my sister once told me that at her first child's 2 week dr. appt the dr. said, "ok, in the next few days she's going to start to cry and she'll stop sometime around three months."
welcome to survival mode.
geez people- lay off Madeline B. She was just giving advice and trying to be helpful. People attach different schemas to certain words and perhaps in her case, "jackass" is still reserved for being very offensive. I just don't understand how she tried to be so nice about it, but got entirely rude responses.
I have to say, you calling your baby a jackass bothered me all day. I don't know you or him but I know he's just a baby and that seems too far even if he can't understand it. I have a one year old – I've been in your shoes but it still doesn't seem right. I think you're expecting WAAAY to much if you think you should have time in the morning to drink coffee and answer emails.
I'm right there with you… we're on the tail end of the colicky phase and I feel your pain. Some days are good and I get food and time to blog and some days I'm just trying to keep it together until Derek gets home and can take her for a bit. It'll get better (or so they tell me)…
I'm laughing because if I don't I might cry. You just scared the bejeezus out of me. It is all coming back now . . . time for the second go round for us. Not looking forward to survival mode again. It lasted about 4-5 weeks for us.
Crocker's…you said "beltline" LOL. Sometimes I forget that Blair lives somewhere probably closer by than I expect.And I know how some people could be upset at the "jackass" comment…but my hubby and I know exactly how you feel. I don't think we *expect* to get AM coffee and email…it's just a great AM when we do!