Caleb is turning into Ethan at this age.
As some know, Ethan was not a sleeper until he hit 4 months. Until that point, my goal was one 30 minute nap a day. When I first became a mother I was shocked that my sweet little baby would not sleep. I distinctly remember when he was 3 weeks old he was up for 14 hours straight, with one 45 minute nap in my arms. Thankfully, even that was not the norm, and he would 'catnap' in my arms throughout the day. But, he was usually awake, and definitely wouldn't sleep for much longer than half an hour.
For the past few days, Caleb has not taken more than an hour long nap in his cradle, and it hasn't been coordinating with Ethan's nap. Today, he slept on and off for most of the morning, but every time I laid him down he was awake within 20 minutes. I got a shower in, thankfully, but he woke up in the middle of it. I nursed him, he fell asleep, I laid him down...and he woke up 10 minutes later as I was eating lunch. I played with him, walked him around, and laid him on my chest for the next half hour, during which he fell asleep...for a total of 15 minutes. At his next feeding, he finally fell asleep, and I laid him down. He slept for...half an hour. :) Ethan was coloring while I was writing thank you notes, when I heard that tell-tale cry emanating from my bedroom. Sigh.
As a first time mother, I didn't know that you could do things while the baby was awake. Now I know that I can. Caleb has a nice little spot on a table runner on my kitchen table...I should post a picture. He stares out the glass door, usually content, although there are times that cry he must as I clean Ethan up, do dishes, make dinner, and all the things that come with being a wife and mother.
Today I washed dishes, made coffee, cooked pancakes and eggs for breakfast, took a shower, ate lunch, made up nursing tea (which tastes awful, by the way), am washing my cloth diapers, and made lunch for Ethan and Michael. Dinner is thawing in the fridge, and I'll be going on a walk in a little while. I NEVER would have gotten this much done when Ethan was 7 weeks old...I don't think I started getting even a fraction of this done until he was 4 or 5 months old. What a difference between a firstborn and a second born.
Hopefully Caleb will begin taking better naps soon, and he will be on more of a schedule. Michael will be starting up school full time in a few weeks, and when that begins I will no longer have him home to help. Basically he'll be leaving as soon as the boys get up, and getting home right before I put Ethan to bed. I know that I'll be able to do it...I have other Navy Wife friends whose husbands are never home to help...and they can still smile and laugh through it. I need to start getting ready for him to be gone, because in three short years he will be deployed , and I will have to experience 'single mommyhood' for myself.
Caleb just fell asleep again while nursing...I'm going to go lay him down.
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1 comment:
you were totally nursing while typing huh?
When Roan was born I'd multi-task while nursing, but rarely actually got a lot done.
With Willem I too, and I feel horrible, get more done.
And between 4-5 months he started screaming all night. I literally went two months with maybe only a couple hours of sleep each night and it was really getting to me. He finally stopped that though. His temperament is more of having to "fight" every little thing. Oh and binkies are my life saver!
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