Finally, sleeping like a baby....

I always wondered after I had a baby, what people meant by sleeping like a baby, when mine was waking up all the time to eat. I was exhausted, grumpy, losing weight like crazy since I was breast feeding and trying to sleep when he slept to make up for the lack there of....that left little time for anything else.
Before we had Finn, we had received this great book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Jeff's cousin had three very well behaved little children, and I'm sure they read a lot of useful information. If you have not read it, and have a child that is not sleeping well, I recommend it. Actually, if you are going to have a baby soon, I say get it now (Yes Amy, I mean you!). It really helped us understand what a new baby was going through when it came to acclimating to night and day, as well as sleep cycles and how they differed from adults.
It made me feel better knowing there was not much we could have done in the beginning anyways, to change his sleep.
So when 6 weeks came around, we moved him to his crib, and tried to implement a new sleep arrangement. He did well at night, still waking to eat, but going down right away after he was done. he went to bed late, around 9 pm, get up a couple times and sleep in til late morning. It was a pretty good schedule for me for a while....but I was still tired all the time! Slowly, his bedtime started moving earlier, and some nights he even slept through the night. Then we moved his bedtime to 6 pm. It worked well, but he was waking up to eat again because he went to sleep so early. So a few night ago (now he is almost 6 months), I decided to stop going to him- cold turkey. Now that he is double his birth weight, they say he doesn't need to eat during the night. He can sustain himself fine metabolically. I thought, there is no way I could make it through another few weeks trying to ween him....I wanted him to sleep through the night NOW. So, we put him down at 6 pm, and did not go to him, no matter what cries he made. Not to check on him, not to rearrange him, not to give him a pacifier....he was in that bedroom with the door shut until the morning.
And now, he goes down at 6, without a peep. No fuss, no cry, he sleeps....and last night he slept from 6 pm to 7 am.... I am one happy mommy:) I hope it stays that way.

Multi-tasking

So, I THINK I'm starting to get this hang of this "mommy" thing, especially when it comes to doing more than one thing at a time, since even though I now sleep less, there are not enough hours in the day to get all I want to get done AND be the stay at home mom. Even as I type this Finn is sitting on my lap and "contributing" to the post...which is drooling all over himself and me, as well as trying to shove my fingers in his mouth while banging on the keyboard....he is quite talented for just 5 months!
More examples of things I have started to do...the other day, I strapped him in his carrier and we vacuumed the entire house...boy, it was one heck of a workout! But it felt good that I didn't have to wait for his very short nap to get that done! We also have borrowed a bouncer from my friend Kate and since he is not as fond of lying down as he was before, I can sit him up, strap him in, and take him with me in the house. This morning he helped mommy wash dishes, and most days I take him with me so I can shower. And NOW, I am typing one handed because I am feeding him:)
Yesterday was Easter, and it was nice to have some friends over for an early dinner. We even put Finn in something other than pjs and took some cute pictures. (I will put them up later when I have both hands!) If we ever have a girl, I'm not dressing her up everyday when she will just drool and get messy anyways. Not to mention, your baby doesn't care what they wear as long as it's comfy! I already know some of Finn's clothes will be used since they are gender neutral. Actually, I plan on using most everything we got for him next kid, no matter boy OR girl- that is a little ways away still. It is good that he likes having his clothes changed, he thinks it's funny, or it tickles, but either way, it's easier for us. I am looking forward to warmer weather so I can just throw a onesie on him (less snaps)- it'll be great!

There always has to be a beginning...

So, I thought I'd give this blog thing a try...Not sure who will read, but what they heck.

Today I realized, OK not just TODAY, but it really hit me today, that I'm addicted to sugar. I always feel like I'm eating candy, chocolate, ice cream, etc...and I mean EVERY day I'm eating that crap. It's not like my teeth can handle it either, I've had lots of cavities over the years, and the sweet tooth is not helping my case. Anyways, as I write this blog I'm eating a bunch of Easter jelly beans, and I thought...you know every damn holiday has candy associated with it. The companies make special candy for EVERY holiday. Seriously, think about it....Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, St. Pattys, Valentines day....it's all the same candy just different colors or shapes. I still find the need to buy that special candy, though. Somehow, it tastes better than the regular old standby.
Then after thinking about all the sugar I eat, maybe if I cut it out completely out of my diet, would I start to feel different? Would my body go through withdrawal? It is an experiment I would be willing to try, but it will be hard for me to put he habit down...

Now that I've gotten that off my chest...

I figure, I'll have to write about mommy stuff on here. that is pretty much my life now:) Finn will be 6 months at the end of April, and all I can think of is, where the hell did all that time go? And how could it go by so fast when I KNOW I have not been missing it by sleeping all the time as I normally would (could!). I realized after the first 5 months- I am not a newborn mommy, I look forward to these next few months because he will be able to be more interactive with me....he already can roll over both ways, smile, giggle, grasp things, and he is on his way to sitting, and scooting...It's amazing how most of those things seemed to happen in just the past month! they are way more exciting for me than the months before. I am still grateful for all of the time; it has been amazing just to see him grow and change, even when it seemed like it would never come. It is great to be a mom.