As I sit here breastfeeding my 2 month old and simultaneously blogging I realize that I've learned so much and grown so much as a mother in the last month since my last entry. This post is for all those mommas out there who are still in the early weeks feeling like there's no end in sight to the long sleepless nights and even longer days. Let this be a source of encouragement that it really DOES get better everyday! I've included in the following paragraphs some links to the products that have made my journey through mommy hood a bit easier in hopes that they will help some of you, too :-). So here are my life lessons for month #2 of my child's life...
...I'm a "master multitasker" these days! I'm finally comfortable and confident enough breastfeeding that I can make phone calls, do research on the web, blog, read and update Facebook, clean, cook and even do laundry all while feeding my kiddo:-). Thanks to my handy dandy sleepy wrap and boba carrier I've also managed to pick out paint at Lowe's, grocery shop and browse a furniture store while feeding baby! Basically a mommy HAS to become a "master multitasker," if she isn't one already prenatally, or she'll never get anything done! Maybe it's pushing it to say I'm a "MASTER multitasker".... let's say I'm working toward becoming one asap.
...I'm more laid back than I was a month ago and it's benefitting me and my family in many ways. I'm not as stressed when he cries. I'm not freaking out every time he doesn't latch properly right away. I'm not screaming and cursing and pissed off all the time because I'm hungry, exhausted and feeling alone. I'm growing used to the idea of being a mommy and I've accepted the facts of mothering an infant include lack of sleep sometimes and little time for myself, and that's ok, because in a few years I'm gonna miss these days and miss Josiah being so tiny and utterly dependent upon me.
..."Let The Children Come Along The Infant Way" by Gary Ezzo and his wife Anne Marie should be mandatory reading for every new parent!!! You know, if I were to be honest, this book is the reason why I am able to function as a healthy, happy, well rested parent with a healthy, happy, well rested infant. Josiah slept through the night for the first time the very first day we began implementing the habits the Ezzo's suggest in this book. No joke! I got 8 hours straight of sound sleep and it rocked my world! We recently moved to Savannah and he hasn't slept through the night since we arrived, but we're working on it. The cycle of "sleep, eat, wake" suggested in their book is beyond brilliant. I implemented it when baby was 6 weeks old and never looked back. I have a different baby - my once fussy, screaming, inconsolable child who I thought may have colic is now as happy and content as he can be unless his diaper is dirty, he's sleepy or gassy. He only cries and fusses for legitimate, definable reasons now and I am better rested and able to schedule my life to better accommodate time for my husband (who recently got back from a deployment) and unpacking our new home!
...I'm so in love with my son. It's not that I haven't loved him before now, obviously, it's just that in those early weeks postpartum I felt like a zombie - just barely surviving day after day. I feel as though I really didn't enjoy him as I should have. I wish I would have relaxed more and enjoyed him more instead of being so worried and stressed. Now I'm finally settling into mommy hood and enjoying my sweet little boy! His personality is starting to emerge more strongly every week. He's smiling and cooing so much! He sees us and other things around him so much more clearly so he responds to things with the funniest reactions. The world is so new to him and it's wonderful to show him things and see his reactions. He saw the tv for the first time last night as we watched the opening ceremonies for the olympics and he was completely mesmerized! His eyes were bugging out! I could go on and on about him :-)
Highlights of Josiah at 2 months old: eyes seeing more clearly, smiling and cooing at stimuli, started smiling at his flashing star on his baby gym mat, saw the tv for the first time and was mesmerized, loves being outside, slept through the night!, moved to Savannah, slept in his own bed and then his own room for the first time, daddy came home from Afghanistan:-)
