It has been a while since my last post. What in the world could I have been doing? Oh yeah, hanging out with this guy!
Who knew that such a little guy could be so much fun?!? Cooper has brought so much joy and love to Jeremy and me. It's hard to believe that he will soon be 6 months old. Where has half a year gone? Life seemed to go by a lot faster the older I got, but having a baby makes it go by even faster. And it is the one time when I want time to crawl because these are truly the days.
I read an article where a bunch of new moms answered some great questions and I thought it would be fun to blog my answers. So here it goes....
Best moment: When he wakes up from a nap he lays in bed and talks to himself. It is so cute! I wonder what he is saying. "Mom! I'm up come play with me!" or "Clean up aisle 2. Bring the Desitin!" Whatever he says it is the best sound in the world. When I walk in to get him he breaks into the biggest and best smile. It is clear he knows his mama and is happy to see me. I think it's his way of saying "I love you."
Funniest Moment: This kid loves to jump. He will jump while in my lap, his Johnny Jump Up, and saucer. He will be very still, like he is checking to make sure someone is watching, and then go crazy! He will just jump, jump, jump with the silliest smile on his face.
One thing you could live without: Ladies and gentlemen we have a tie. I would live without the limited sleep and the feeling or worrying and guilt. I think the sleep thing speaks for itself. It has gotten a lot better since we did some sleep training, but I have not been able to catch up on my sleep just yet. I am not a day napper so sleeping when he sleeps doesn't work for me. My mother would say "you aren't tired enough, " but I beg to differ. Just not a day napper. Some days I am exhausted by 4:00. I worry about going back to work on limited sleep. I have been gradually introducing coffee back into my diet to prepare for long work days. Speaking of work, that brings me to the 2nd thing I would change--the uneasy feeling of worry and guilt. With all the wonderful things motherhood brings it also brings a nice heaping side of guilt. Did I play with him enough today? Am I hurting him by letting him cry it out? Are you warm enough? Too hot? And forget about all those times I have accidentally bumped his head! But the biggest guilt and worry I feel is going back to work. He will be in excellent hands, however I just hate to leave my baby. What if I miss a milestone? What if he forgets me? All silly worries, I know. But I just can't shake those feelings. It is something I have to do and I am not the first mother to go back to work. I'm lucky to have had 5 months at home with him. Many don't get that much time. I will be fine, it's just getting over the hump.
Most embarrassing mom moment: Just one? I embarrass myself on a daily basis. One day was at the pool talking to an adult for a good 3-5 minutes before I realized that I was holding the handle of Coop's paci in my mouth just chatting away. To make matters worse the baby was in the car with Jeremy no where near his spacey mom and pacifier. Another great time was when I was listening to a group of moms share some new moms struggles. One mom was in tears about her baby not eating for a few days. I was about to tear up myself when my little toot ripped a loud toot and giggled at himself. My face turned red, but I also thought to myself "Man, I love that kid!"
Looking forward to: I am looking forward to everything. The crawling, the walking, the talking! It is so exciting to watch him grow. When we met him he was so fragile. Now he is this super strong kid who, we can tell, will have no fear. He coos and laughs at the silliest things. I can't wait to watch him grow and develop the wonderful personality he has started to show.
Can live without: Pumping!! It is so inconvenient. It takes forever to setup and cleanup. I know it is for the good of Cooper's health so that keeps me going, but goodness gracious it's annoying. When I go back to work I will have to find a place to pump every 4 hours. And I refuse to pump in the bathroom. The custodian at school offered to put a chair in the bathroom. I informed her that I will not prepare my child's meal in a bathroom. I mean, it is already such a lovely process. Pumping in the bathroom would only make it more lovely, right? As I write I am pumping. Yep, in my Madonna look alike bra in all my glory. It's a hot look I tell ya!
What I am most nervous about: TEETH! Oh my gosh, I don't even want to talk about it! Moving on!
Can't live without: Sophie the Giraffe. For anyone needing a can't miss baby gift, this is the ticket. He loves his Sophie. He could be so upset and one glance at Sophie makes it ok. He grabs that thing and shoves it in his mouth. We do not leave the house without Sophie. It has prevented many meltdowns and allowed us to make a quiet exit from many stores. I have heard it referred to as baby crack since all babies seem to go nuts over this thing. I chewed on Sophie one day to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't impressed. I'd rather chew on some cheesecake, but to each his own.
Biggest Brag: I travelled on an airplane with a four month old baby, by myself, and lived to tell about it. We went to Arkansas to visit my family this July and I was so nervous about flying! But my son did a great job. He drank his bottle and slept on all four flights. We had a great visit and made it home safe and sound. I plan on blogging about that trip soon.
Defining Mom Moment: It ain't all rainbows and ponies, people! This mom thing is hard! My defining mom moment came in early August. Cooper had developed some less than desirable sleeping habits. He was getting up 4-5 times a night and the only thing that would get him back down was to feed him. We would try to hold him off eating by walking him around and bouncing him late a night/early morning. It just wasn't working. Cooper wasn't happy. We were all exhausted. It was not good. After one horrible night I was on the verge of losing my mind due to my fatigue and frustration. We had tried everything to get this boy to sleep and he wasn't having it. I decided it was time to cry it out. So I put my sweet baby in his crib, kissed him, told him I loved him, and walked out of his room. He did not think this was a good plan and let me know it. For a whole 60 minutes that boy protested being in that crib. It. Was. Awful. I watched the monitor with tears running down my face. I knew it was the right thing to do because he needed to learn how to put himself to sleep. I was helpless and miserable. Then by a wonderful miracle, I watched him finally roll over and go to sleep. I repeated this process for an entire week. It was draining. I didn't leave the house for fear of having to start the process over again. I was pleasantly surprised when nap time wasn't fight sleep time and he was sleeping almost through the night after jus a few days. It was the best choice for our family. It made us all happier. It was also so tough. I would have rather been in labor and delivery everyday for a week than listening to that pitiful crying. It hurt more than anything, but it was done to help my baby. I know that there will be many more moments where I have to let him figure out things for himself. I am going to want to swoop in and fix the situation because I don't want him to hurt. But I also know if I always fix things for him he will never grow and become the strong and independent man God created him to be. So when I feel the need to rush in and "save" my boy I will from here on out refer to my defining mom moment. There is a reason it is called TOUGH love.
We are all much happier now that we are getting more sleep!
I hope you enjoyed the Mom Diaries as much as I enjoyed sharing. It is such a blessing to be Cooper's mom. It's challenging and exhausting, but it is the best job in the entire world. And in case you forgot...
Yes, dear. You ARE awesome!
And
Of course!
