Surviving the week

It's nice to have this face to look forward to after a long day

1. I went back to work on Monday. It was hard. Really, really hard. But it is nice to know that my baby is with people who love him. My parents, not expecting to ever have to watch newborn babies again, have really embraced the position and I am so thankful.


Sweet Baby D

2. The Boy had surgery today to have tubes put in his ear. He had six ear infections last year and even in between the infections, fluid has been pooling in his ears. This causes him to lose his hearing (makes it difficult to give him direction at home, let alone for him to take spelling tests at school!). When the doctor went in today, it was as I expected. There was already a considerable amount of fluid in there that they had to remove before doing the surgery.


Snuggling before school

Fortunately The Boy wasn't terribly affected by the anesthesia and was soon enough back to his goofy self. There are antibiotic drops to put in his ears for the next few days and then we just cross our fingers and hope that he doesn't get any more infections and that this helps clear up his eye and nose issues as well.


Brotherly Love

3. I started having Baby D sleep in his crib a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure how it would go. Afterall he's slept SO well in his bassinette, in 5-6 hour stretches, and I was nervous about making a change in the routine.


Part of the bedtime routine

After nursing him into what we fondly call the "milk stupor", I burp him and carry him upstairs. I swaddle him in a lightweight gauze blanket as usual, then zip him in to a blanket sleeper. I clip his favorite pacifier to the blanket and plug it in! I lay him down very sleepy but still awake, kiss him and say goodnight and walk out of the room.

For the past ten days or so, it has worked like a charm. I go back in to check on him a few minutes later and he's always fast asleep. He's never cried when I leave, he just smiles at me in the dark, takes his pacifer and goes to sleep! And get this...he sleeps between 6-10 hours straight!


He LOVES his bathtime!

Believe me when I tell you, I'm shocked. I know this isn't normal. I tell my husband, "This is NOT normal! Most babies want to be held and rocked and cry when you try to lay them down". I was a terrible sleeper when I was a baby (and a kid!). The Boy had to be held and would wake and cry if laid down, so we held him on our chests while we slept.

I'm not holding my breath that this is going to last forever, but I'm certainly enjoying it while I can. The extra sleep is fantastic!