The last time I wrote I was venting new-mom frustrations and since that was six days ago, you may have thought that Squeaker won and I am now tied up in the bathroom while she blares The Sounds that the Animals Make on YouTube and terrorizes Babysitting Cow, but not so!
Actually, he survived the baby-pocalypse, too.
They are still friends! And he (it?) still takes his (its?) babysitting duties seriously.
And we’d like the thank him for being her punching bag until she can walk and throw things.
It’s weird when I look back at how my life has changed in the past year, you know, pre-Squeaker. I used to complain then that I had no time! Ha. Hahaha. Ha. Ha.
My new daily routine looks something like this:
- Wake up to a wiggly baby who would rather squirm and smile than get her diaper changed.
- Watch the smiles turn into frowns as she realizes the diaper change is taking longer than a nano-second and it’s suddenly dawned on her that she’s famished.
- Feed baby.
- Try to remove sleeping baby lump from lap and get things done around the apartment before she wakes up (anywhere from .1 seconds to one hour).
- This is the short nap of the day…
- Change baby. Watch her face light up as she has a diaper blowout.
- Get the bath water ready.
- Wash baby. Watch her poop in the bath water.
- Dry and feed baby bath monster.
- Try to go for a walk. This step must be executed with care because it can either be extremely relaxing or agitating if baby decides she is in any way uncomfortable.
- Walk.
- Baby falls asleep. Thank the baby gods.
- Bring sleeping baby back and try to be productive (work, blog, housework, cooking, whatever) until she wakes up, praying that this will be the long nap of the day.
- Baby wakes up after ten minutes.
- Baby is not hungry. Baby is not wet. Baby wants to be held.
- Read to her. Laugh as she slaps the chunky books.
- Calm suddenly screaming baby.
- Baby falls asleep inexplicably.
- Get sh*t done.
- Try to do a yoga video. Remember when you used to go to 90 minute classes in the studio? Now, feel relieved when you can finish a 25-minute video.
- Baby wakes up and slaps Babysitting Cow until he falls over. Poor Cow.
- Decide you’ve been about as productive as possible. Tomorrow will be your day.
- Realize you never got out of your workout clothes.
- Lose track of time.
- Forget to make dinner.
- Convince Daddy to go to the park because the walls of the tiny apartment are closing in on you.
- Take pictures of baby.
End of a long day.
- Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor!
b
If not, I would cry!
I complained about this for years… yes!, the routine aspects last that long, sometimes with less crying and longer naps. Between 3 and 4 months the sleep thing (nap routine) starts working out though and you will have pockets of real actual time. I was what you might call a sleep nazi, which I highly recommend btw, but it means doing everything around baby`s nap and bedtime schedule, which is frowned upon here, but makes for rested, happier baby, in my humble opinion. If you ever need baby advice, I have read everything ever written about babies… twice! and can tell you exactly what to do… haha.
Yes, I notice that she is happier and her moods are more manageable if she is on a normal sleep schedule. That is something that I hope I can keep up. And, yes, I may need that advice!
You forgot to add in ‘attempt to take a nap myself because I’m exhausted!’. Unfortunately this lack of time thing doesn’t get better any time soon. It’s all worth it though!
Really? Poop in the tub is a regular occurrence? It’s never happened to us. (knock on wood)
Don’t you like that this is what I got out of your whole article. Hold in there. You are doing great!
http://claresays.wordpress.com
It’s happened enough where one wonders if she plans it.
I always cringed with new parents and suddenly how much they were willing to talk about poop and their child. Until, I was around a new born and then I was like “no, I get it. please continue new parents, please continue.”
I never would have expected it either, but your whole life suddenly revolves around your little one’s bowels. My brother said it’s hilarious how much I talk about poop now. I’ve asked her why she feels the need to do it so frequently and she just giggles. What can I say?