My awesome dad-in-law had a free afternoon today. He came over, took Graeme from me, and sent me upstairs to do whatever I wanted for a couple of hours. I'm pretty excited about it.
I just painted my nails for my first act of "me time." I had been scared to attempt that during nap time because I just knew Graeme would wake up when I had two hands full of wet nails. The struggle.
Anyway, here I am now sitting on my bed with Penny (who is also enjoying time sans baby, I believe). I figure a blog post was in order since writing is fun and relaxes me.
Graeme is 17 days old now. He had his two-week appointment on Monday. He is now 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 22 inches long. Somehow, he is in the 97% for height...I'm not sure how he is so "tall." The doctor says he looks great and encouraged us that we are doing a good job. That's very reassuring to hear from a doctor. We figure we aren't totally screwing this whole thing up, but it's nice to get it affirmed by someone else that has a degree in kid's health.
Oh, also at the doctor appointment, we heard a new pronunciation of Graeme's name that takes the cake to anything else we've heard. The nurse came to the waiting room and asked for "Gray-ah-may." We couldn't help but laugh. That's just the worst non-name ever. She felt bad about it, but we told her she wasn't the first to say his name wrong. She made a pronunciation note for future reference.
I mentioned in my last post that we were going to make the transition to the pack-n-play from the "taco bed." It's gone pretty well. According to the doctor, Graeme is in the middle of or about to hit a growth spurt. So that may attribute a bit to his waking more frequently the past two nights. He does act awful hungry! Or it could be from the new sleeping arrangement. We press on though. It's not so bad. He is just waking every two-three hours instead of sleeping until we wake him up, which had been our norm. It also takes him a bit longer to drift off in the middle of the night, but we let him fuss it out for a few minutes and then he puts himself to sleep.
Now that I am basically here by myself during the day, Graeme and I are figuring out our routine better. I am determined to teach him to put himself to sleep in his crib or wherever else he needs to sleep. He typically does great and falls asleep pretty fast. A couple naps a day I have to let him cry it out a little. I of course make sure he's not in misery with a dirty diaper or a burp that needs to be burped. But if he's dry, full, and just wants to be held, it's time for him to cry it out for a bit. It's tough, but when I actually watch the clock he only cries for less than ten minutes. I know it will be worth it.
Monday I made it my goal to do laundry (not necessarily fold and put it away though) and clean our bedroom and bathroom. I figured that was pretty attainable on my first day home alone. Graeme cooperated and I completed my tasks. That felt good.
It's pretty easy for me to start thinking about all of the things that need to be done or that I want to get done and spiral my brain into stress. I want the house clean, there's laundry to be done (always), my blog is neglected, the baby book needs to be filled out, I want to order some prints of Graeme's pictures, I should call my grandmas, and oh the list goes on. I quickly stop myself and remind myself that there is time for everything but not all in one day anymore. By making small goals each day of the week, I can still get things done and feel accomplished. And I don't tire myself out either.
It's also true that I would much rather have servants that did everything for me and just stare at Graeme all day. Again, the struggle. (Although he still takes precedence over anything around the house!)
It's definitely going to take some time to figure out how everything works now that there's a little one to care for in the midst of it. Aaron has been amazing at helping with so many things. It's been more of a struggle for me to let things go and let him help. Before Graeme came, it wasn't that he wouldn't help me do things, but I liked to do them myself. I liked taking care of anything and everything to do with cooking, cleaning, and housework so that he wouldn't have to worry about any of it. At most, I might ask him to take the trash to the dumpster on his way out the door or carry the vacuum downstairs for me. I didn't even let him help me much when I was pregnant.
Now, I realize that it's ridiculous for me to try to do everything. I would go crazy. I need Aaron's help! And he of course is very happy to oblige. We are having fun being a team and taking care of things together. I can't imagine doing this without him.
Well, I think that's about all for now. I will be back for another post as soon as I can! There are two boys and a dog that are a lot higher up on my list right now. :)
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