Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thoroughly Exhausted!

The first couple weeks home with Cody were fairly easy. Monte stayed home from work for over a week, and Cody mainly slept and ate... And did well with both of those activities. But I was warned by a friend that usually by the third week the euphoria of having a newborn baby wears off. I’m amazed at how much I’ve forgotten from when Nate was this little; I wish I had documented more of the details of what I went through with Nate, through each phase since they change so much so fast. What my friend had said was true... by middle of week three, we were all exhausted and were very aware of just how little sleep we were getting, how little time we all had for each other, and how much we wanted a little time and space to ourselves. Cody went from sleeping 4 or 5 hours straight at night, to regularly feeding every 2 to 3 hours no matter what the hour. He’s also established a fussy time, around 8pm – just when Nate’s gone to sleep and I’m looking forward to having a little down time for myself!
What I struggle with most in learning how to be a mom of two kids is how to balance my time for both boys. I don’t have much one-on-one time with Nate anymore, and what time I do have for him is often spent disciplining him. So today I made a point of putting Cody to sleep in his room instead of in the bouncy chair that is moved to whatever room we’re in at the time, and take 15 minutes to read books with Nathan, giving my undivided attention. I was amazed at how just a little “mommy time” brought out the affectionate, sweet little boy I had known before Cody was born. We had been very diligent to ensure Nate got one-on-one attention with having a baby around, but it was usually with Monte. While that’s still so important, I realize Nate misses having alone time with me as well and I missed it too. It didn’t take much, but I could tell it meant the world to Nate and so I’m going to be more deliberate in taking time out to spend just with Nathan.






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