Little Things

I don't know if it's having a newborn, or having a 2-year-old and a newborn, or having THIS particular newborn, or a combination of all three, but I find myself taking deep breaths (and 5 minute "Mommy breaks") alot these days.  While we're all finding our new rhythm, we're far from having a regular routine, something both Mia and I thrive on... Mia, especially. 

And Jacob can be a little hard to please.  Unless he's asleep, he never goes more than 1.5-2 hours without eating.  He HATES to be wet/dirty, even a little, which means alot of diaper changes.  He likes to be held, facing outward, and bounced while moving constantly.  He'll tolerate some time in the Moby, but he mostly likes to be cradled in a semi-upright position.  He is beginning to have longer alert periods, during some of which he is calm, but has fussy evenings.  And then he fights sleep like he thinks he's going to miss something uber-important.  Some nights he only gets up once (can I get an AMEN!!!), but others he's up every couple hours, eats, then is wide awake (and again, fussy) for over an hour, until he eats again, and then falls back asleep.

Typical newborn?  Yep, pretty much.  Laid back, happy baby?  Eh.  It's getting better.

But today, we've had a few victories and milestones that are not only noteworthy, but also reminders that this (exhausting) stage doesn't last forever, and that in a couple months we'll have a more predictable routine, hopefully with a less fussy baby. 

• Over the last couple days, I have been able to soothe and rock him to sleep without nursing.  This may sound like no big deal, but except for the early newborn days, Jacob has not liked to cuddle up with me.  Which means very little of those sweet, sleepy baby head on your shoulder moments.  Bummer.  But I've had a breakthrough in the last 24 hours and he seems to associate me with something other than food.

• For the first time yesterday, I dressed Jacob in a 0-3 sleeper, instead of a newborn sleeper.  It's a little wide on him, but his legs are too long for the newborn size. He's still somewhere between the two sizes, but it looks like we'll be moving over to the 0-3 month pretty soon.

• Jacob napped in his own crib, in his own room, for two hours yesterday afternoon, and is sleeping in there again this afternoon.  For the time being, he'll still be sleeping in the pack n' play in our room at nights.  His nighttime sleeping schedule is still so unpredictable.  But eventually, we want to move him in to his own space at night, so that we can have our own space back.  

• Twice yesterday, we caught him "almost" smiling.  As in, "Was that real, or not?"  Both times fleeting, but it happened once with Kevin and once with me.

So maybe, just maybe, there's a happy little boy in there waiting to come out.  Either way, things are getting a little bit better every day.

I've even been able to brush my teeth two days in a row.

It's little things.