Anybody out there?

Hello ... hello ... hello ... hello ...

I haven't posted in a long time, so I'm sure nobody even visits this blog anymore! I've been so busy with my son, who is already 10 weeks old!!, that I haven't thought much of blogging.



I can't believe how much time it takes to care for a baby. My son was not colicky, but he was quite fussy nonetheless. It took me two long months to realize that he needed some sort of structure to his day. After reading "The Baby Whisperer," I decided it was high time to put him on an "eat, play, sleep" schedule throughout the day. I guess it seems pretty no-duh to a lot of people, but it took me a while.



The thing is, he was exhausted but never napped. I guess I kind of figured if he was tired, he'd go to sleep. What else does he have to do? But, no, not really. So we've been working on getting him to nap (in his crib, no less) and it's going OK. Today he's done two of his three naps without too much argument. The later in the day it gets, the harder it is to get him down for a nap, and he gets awfully grumpy in the evenings.



On the plus side, he is sleeping through the night. And I do mean through the night. Not that 6-hour crap they call sleeping through the night. Lately, he often goes from 8 p.m. to 6:30 or 7 a.m. without waking. There were a few nights in there where he got me up at 2:30, but it seems he was having a growth spurt then.



As the weeks pass, things get easier. It definitely got better when he could start being entertained by things, and therefore could spend some time on a play mat or sit in his bouncer and watch me do things in the kitchen. Once that was possible, a lot less screaming took place and I could get more done. I can also get more done now that he naps regularly.



I hung in there with the breast-feeding, and that's going great. It gets so much easier as time goes on, and I'm so glad I didn't give up. I am not too rigid about it. I'm not one of those people who refuse to give my child formula ever. Sometimes if I'm out and about, he gets a bottle of formula. Sometimes a bottle of breast milk. Whatev.



I'm starting back to work in 10 days. I can't believe my three months are almost up. I will hate to leave him for that many hours, even though he'll be with either his father or grandparents. The thing that makes me really sad is that he'll go to bed at 8 p.m. and I won't get home until hours later, so once I leave him for the day, I won't see him until he wakes me up the next morning. I can't even hug him when I get home! That is, I won't hug him. I most surely won't be waking him up!



p.s. when they learn to smile, nothing beats that!!!