A hard thing about nursing in the middle of the night is that it's hard for me to go back to sleep after he's done. I think part of it is the fear that he's not down for good so I'll just be summoned from my bed right as I'm getting back to sleep. The other part is how could you not be completely woken up by nursing?
I realized tonight that I've seen 3 in the morning more in this season of life than any other time in my life. Most people probably see 3 in the morning during their college years while they're partying. The only time I ever saw it during college was when I was writing a paper at the last minute (which did happen quite often).
Coen will sometimes surprise me in a really good way. Being only 6 weeks old I don't expect a lot from him. I don't expect him to sleep through the night. I don't expect him to be able to put himself to sleep if left in his cosleeper. I don't expect him to nap for hours at a time in the day. Those things are what is expected of babies as they get older. We're about 2 months away from that. But a few times this week, including last night, he was pretty drowsy so I put him in his cosleeper, gave him a kiss goodnight, and shut the door. And he went to sleep. I didn't have to go back in once. Of course I was still up for another half hour waiting for the crying to start, but I was one proud mama. I still don't expect him to do it every time, but it's nice knowing that he's capable of it.
He's been going through a growth spurt the last couple of days and it seems like all he wants to do is nurse. He'll nurse about every hour and a half to 2 hours. And a lot of the time in between is spent sleeping. Some is spent in his gym but he'll fuss quicker than before either out of tiredness or hunger. So the last couple days we've been parked on the couch. Luckily I had gotten a book from the library. It's a new one so I only have it for 2 weeks...and it's over 700 pages long. Thanks to the growth spurt I'm already over 200 pages in. This is the most relaxed that I've gotten since he's been born: sitting on the couch holding a sleeping baby for 3 hours and reading a book. Pretty much how I would spend any other Saturday afternoon.
Bath time is still one of Coen's favorite times of day. And honestly it's one of mine too. Even if he's had a rough day, if he's not hungry at the time (and sometimes even then), he's always happy during bath time. He has his little seat that he sits in the bath and I use a big plastic cup to pour water on him. He sticks out his tongue to try to get the water when it splashes up his neck which is the cutest thing. He doesn't mind when I wash his hair and when we're done washing him up I'll support his head and let him float and kick in the water which he likes until he signals that he's done with bath time.
We went for a night walk two nights ago and it was Coen's first time outside at night. He was really content in his stroller until just at the end when he got hungry. Luckily we were 3 minutes from home so he didn't have to wait long. But other afternoons where we've gone for a walk he wasn't so content (last Tuesday I vowed to never go for a walk with him alone again). I'm wondering if he gets too hot in the afternoon, or is overstimulated and then just sitting in the stroller. Either way I'm looking forward to fall when it gets dark early so that it's much more doable to go for walks at night. Right now it interferes with bath and bed time, which I'm trying to keep pretty regular for him.
I fear I've become one of those parents that only posts about her kids. I don't remember the last Facebook status or Instagram photo that didn't involve Coen in some way. But there isn't much else to post when your child literally consumes your life (and I use consume in the best way). He is my life now. And when Doug and I are able to get some time to ourselves, the last thing I want to do is waste any of it creating a post about it. Besides, I think there's something healthy about just having a moment and not needing to inform the world about it.
I'd better try to go back to sleep before I have to wake up for the next feeding. Unfortunately the growth spurt feedings continue through the night (which is just mean after we were spoiled with a week of sleeping for 6 hours!)
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