My mom stayed with us for a week and it was glorious. The nicest words my mother has ever said to me are "Go back to sleep." We set up the aerobed, made room for her dental and facial products and set the DVR to record Dr. Oz, Nightline and Downton Abbey, and we were good to go. Nilda and I were even able to go out to dinner at night just the two of us. And Charlie luuuuuved having his Mommom stay with us. He would smile and talk to her all the time.
The best part of having Mom stay was that she was part of the team. She helped out, instead of trying to do everything, and would let us relieve her when she was up for over an hour. I started to think that the three of us might do ok raising Charlie. It was hard to say goodbye to her, but my Dad was starting to fall apart without her. My mom is not simply "welcome" back here, she is wanted and missed. I wish I could show more pictures of Charlie with my mom, but I was directed (i) not to take pictures in the first place, (ii) to delete most of the ones I took and (iii) advised that I'd risk Mom ever coming back if I showed the ones I have. I ain't gonna mess with that last one.
Best Mommom Ever is not to be confused with "Best Abuela Ever." Stella has been wonderful and is extremely helpful. I asked Stella what she was giving up for lent. She looked at me like I was crazy then said, "Men."
Having Stella and my mom here has been important because things here haven't been exactly easy. Nilda has not been feeling well, and the Grandma Patrol has been extremely helpful. Luckily, Charlie is a gorgeous and relatively easy baby. He doesn't throw up, rarely poops, and does a pretty good job of sleeping from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am, with a 1 to 1.5 hour feeding sometime between 2:00 am and 4:00 am. He's also smiling and is generally adorable. Earlier this week, he rubbed his eyes for the first time when he was tired and it was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen.
The only thing he hates is naps. He can yawn and kick and give all his cues, but once he goes into his room for a nap then oh my god it's like he's being taken to hell and he has to fight it every step of the way. He cries and screams and wiggles his body as much as possible, getting his Wolverine-like claws/nails right into your chest, even though you've got the collar in your mouth to protect yourself from that exact kind of attack. Hopefully, he exhausts himself and falls asleep in your arms. And he knows exactly when you're going to try to put him down and will wake up just as you're bending over. He's like Santa. When we finally do get him down, luckily he can sleep for hours.
You will say who cares about the naps when he sleeps through the night, and you would be right. The big change came when my sister suggested putting him on his side in the nap nanny at night. It has sides so we can put him on his side without risk of him falling on his stomach. For the newbies, you can't put a baby on his stomach to sleep because they might get stuck with their faces down, since they don't have neck control. The thought is that this was a large cause of SIDS. It's ironic that babies are supposed to sleep on their backs now, since my mom tells me that all of her kids slept on their stomachs and that she only put us on our backs to wake us up.
All in all, I officially declare that things are going well. Since I can't watch tv in the middle of the night, I've started reading 11/23/63 (an actual book!) and I can't put it down. There are things that I keep meaning to do, but either don't have time or don't want to spend the time doing, like blogging, taking pictures and printing pictures, but I've got most things under control. Last night was Saturday night and we were in bed by 10:30. Things are as crazy as this.
One other thing about Charlie is that he's a great burper. My mom says he reminds her of my Uncle Marty. I tried to catch it on video, but he burped before I even turned on the camera. Here's the outtake.
The best part of having Mom stay was that she was part of the team. She helped out, instead of trying to do everything, and would let us relieve her when she was up for over an hour. I started to think that the three of us might do ok raising Charlie. It was hard to say goodbye to her, but my Dad was starting to fall apart without her. My mom is not simply "welcome" back here, she is wanted and missed. I wish I could show more pictures of Charlie with my mom, but I was directed (i) not to take pictures in the first place, (ii) to delete most of the ones I took and (iii) advised that I'd risk Mom ever coming back if I showed the ones I have. I ain't gonna mess with that last one.
Best Mommom Ever is not to be confused with "Best Abuela Ever." Stella has been wonderful and is extremely helpful. I asked Stella what she was giving up for lent. She looked at me like I was crazy then said, "Men."
Having Stella and my mom here has been important because things here haven't been exactly easy. Nilda has not been feeling well, and the Grandma Patrol has been extremely helpful. Luckily, Charlie is a gorgeous and relatively easy baby. He doesn't throw up, rarely poops, and does a pretty good job of sleeping from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am, with a 1 to 1.5 hour feeding sometime between 2:00 am and 4:00 am. He's also smiling and is generally adorable. Earlier this week, he rubbed his eyes for the first time when he was tired and it was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen.
The only thing he hates is naps. He can yawn and kick and give all his cues, but once he goes into his room for a nap then oh my god it's like he's being taken to hell and he has to fight it every step of the way. He cries and screams and wiggles his body as much as possible, getting his Wolverine-like claws/nails right into your chest, even though you've got the collar in your mouth to protect yourself from that exact kind of attack. Hopefully, he exhausts himself and falls asleep in your arms. And he knows exactly when you're going to try to put him down and will wake up just as you're bending over. He's like Santa. When we finally do get him down, luckily he can sleep for hours.
You will say who cares about the naps when he sleeps through the night, and you would be right. The big change came when my sister suggested putting him on his side in the nap nanny at night. It has sides so we can put him on his side without risk of him falling on his stomach. For the newbies, you can't put a baby on his stomach to sleep because they might get stuck with their faces down, since they don't have neck control. The thought is that this was a large cause of SIDS. It's ironic that babies are supposed to sleep on their backs now, since my mom tells me that all of her kids slept on their stomachs and that she only put us on our backs to wake us up.
All in all, I officially declare that things are going well. Since I can't watch tv in the middle of the night, I've started reading 11/23/63 (an actual book!) and I can't put it down. There are things that I keep meaning to do, but either don't have time or don't want to spend the time doing, like blogging, taking pictures and printing pictures, but I've got most things under control. Last night was Saturday night and we were in bed by 10:30. Things are as crazy as this.
One other thing about Charlie is that he's a great burper. My mom says he reminds her of my Uncle Marty. I tried to catch it on video, but he burped before I even turned on the camera. Here's the outtake.
1 comment:
Yay! another post!! Love seeing baby pictures!!!
Keep going with the naps. He'll get there, I promise. Noah did the same thing when he was about six months old, and it took a while, but eventually he was contentedly a two-nap-a-day baby.
You guys are awesome!!
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