I'm struggling to believe that my little man is only a couple weeks away from being 6 months old. I just spent a few minutes looking at photos from the day he was born - he was soo tiny! He's now weight 16 lbs (just under double his birth weight) and is getting so big.
Yesterday I babysat a friend's little girl who is 3 weeks older than Reuben. She knows how to wave and she says "dadadadada." I find it hard to believe that in the next 3 weeks Reuben will be growing and learning at such a rapid pace! After she left I was determined to teach Reuben something...so I taught him to blow raspberries! haha! It make my evening though, so much fun and SO adorable. I would do one and then he would concentrate really hard to stick his little tongue out and make the noise - he can do it and he thinks its hilarious. It IS hilarious, and daddy finds it even funnier when Reuben does it while I am trying to feed him!!! He's soo messy!
Speaking of eating, Reuby is now eating breakfast everyday and a small lunch and a small dinner. He is SO picky. He will really only eat baby rice or pureed fruit. I've gotten him to take a few bites of sweet potato or parsnip, but even then he doesn't particularly enjoy it - he just doesn't gag so much as he does with the other vegetables. With anything else, he gags and starts throwing a tantrum. As soon as he sees the fruit though he stops ...its so silly.
We're getting into a fun little routine in the evenings. We have bathtime, then get into our PJ's, then we read a story and then I rock him in his room while I talk to him about our day and what we'll be doing tomorrow. I then sing him some songs and he falls asleep. It's perfect :)
Until he wakes up an hour later. haha. Seriously though, he might sleep 3 hours to begin with but for the last two weeks or so he's been up anywhere between every 40 minutes to every 1.30 hours. Its getting a little out of hand. I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and incredibly short-tempered lately. I am having a hard time coping with the constant interrupted sleep. I think if you added up all the 30 minute sleeps I had, I would probably have a good 8-9 hours a night but because its constantly being destroyed mid-snooze I am just so tired by the time morning rolls around.
I don't really know what to do about it. He's eating enough, so even when he does wake up I only feed him if it's been 3-4 hours. He just wants to be rocked back to sleep which takes about 2 minutes.
I'm not going to let him cry it out for a number of reasons which I won't elaborate on at the moment but basically I feel strongly that babies cry for a reason - and even if that reason is that they want a hug from their mom then so be it. I will always be there for Reuben when he cries and as he grows older he will learn through different ways how to be independant. I don't need to ignore him as an infant to teach him that. :) I needed to rant about that for a minute because of all the crap I've gotten this week for telling people that I do not want to let him cry himself to sleep every night. grr.
Let's see..what else? Breastfeeding is still going well, in face I'm hoping to do a peer support course in a few months through my friend who is a breastfeeding counsellor. I feel strongly about supporting women who are breastfeeding since I have struggled with it but continued to do it (and am now very much enjoying it) and I know many women who have given up or have even been advised by their doctors to give up when they could have continued. So yeah, just another thing for me to help people in through what I've learned!
OTher things in life? We are headed to the states in less than 3 weeks. I'm SO excited. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for the flight but I'm trying not to stress out over it. If it's easy - great, if it's difficult - oh well. I have to deal with it, we are going! This is going to be the first time we've been back since I announced I was 7 weeks pregnant so it's going to be pretty crazy! I think it will probably hit me that I actually have a child when I am surrounded by my friends and family seeing me as a mommy. I can't wait :) I'm also beyond excited for Reuby to meet his close family..his Uncle Eddie, Uncle Joe, Auntie Julie and his cousins Amelia and Andrew. Soo many people to meet, it's going to be overwhelming.
Ok, that's all for now. Oh, and I have to say at this point...my little man is 5 months old and yes, I do want more children. :) (I thought he'd be at least 12 before I said that!)
Sounds like you're doing well despite the sleep deprivation! Do you remember telling us all how you could handle life without sleep because you did it in college? Yeah, we all say that before having kids. Hopefully Reuben will get more into a routine soon. But keep in mind he still is LITTLE! Good for you for meeting his needs. I strongly believe that you can't spoil a child under a year old. When they're over a year (or closer to two) you start to discern the "tantrum" vs. "distraught" cries. Boy is that fun!
ReplyDeleteI love you and I think you're doing a great job! Keep up the good work and see if Adam can try to rock him a few times throughout the night if you know he's not hungry. Did I ask you if you've tried using sposies at night? Maybe he's feeling wet and it's making him uncomfortable. That's how I started using sposies with Amelia at night and I still do it with Andrew most of the time too.