Maybe you were hoping {dreading?} that this, my first "real" post since getting back from my trip, would be a delightfully longwinded and photo-heavy recap of our weeklong adventure in Idaho. But nay, it is not to be. Not today, anyway. There are a few hundred photos on my camera, waiting to be downloaded and edited...and that seems like a lot of work. So today let's talk about other things.
Liiiiiiiiiike...teeth! Lainie's first tooth popped through just before we went to Idaho, and two days ago its next-door neighbor showed up, too. We've been incredibly fortunate in the teething department so far: Her only "symptom" for the first tooth was crazy long naps. I'm serious. She slept that tooth through her gums! Second one, she woke up crying at night all.the.time {but only at night--not during naps}, to the point where she spent several nights snuggled next to me in our bed because that was the only way we could get her to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. The child does snore, though, so regardless I haven't been sleeping much. I think I see the white nubbin of an upper tooth making its way down, so we may have more adventures coming up very soon.
Since our sleep was already all screwed up and disappeared, two nights ago I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop swaddling Miss E. I've been dreading this--putting it off for months--because I know that having her arms free to poke herself, knock out her binky, and in general wake herself up is going to be a nightmare. Stopping swaddling a baby who sleeps like a dream when swaddled flies in the face of the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." She ain't broke, but I knew that sooner or later we'd have to "fix" her. {Though I would've been fine with swaddling her till she's six years old if she'd let me...} And while "nightmare" might be a bit too strong a term, this whole sleeping unswaddled thing has definitely been rough. Yesterday she could not stay asleep for her afternoon nap. She was clearly exhausted and would fall asleep almost immediately when I picked her up, but she would wake herself up within minutes of me putting her in her crib. After two hours I gave up. I felt so bad for her: she looked so confused, tired, and frustrated. It was impossible to be upset with her...she so obviously wanted to sleep, but didn't know what to do with her newly-free hands. I kind of felt like a terrible mother at that point. The moral of the story is, I'm really thankful for what a good sleeper Lainie normally is, and am going to stop whining now.
By the way, is it just me being self-critical, or do I whine a lot about the tough parts of motherhood?? Honestly, tell me! Often I feel like my "mommy posts" are kind of whiny after I've written them. I don't mean them to be. I love my daughter, I love being a stay-at-home mom, and I want to be open and honest about both the joys and the challenges of this season. I start to question myself, though, when I compare myself to other mommy blogs. A lot of them seem so...cheery. Maybe it's just the blogs I frequent, but often I look at my blog and think, "Wow, I sure do complain a lot!" At the same time, I don't want to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of motherhood. So, do you think I'm a complainer? Or am I just keepin' it real?
K, I'm off to do things like make popcorn and knit and watch the second half of "Gone with the Wind." Why would I spend a perfectly beautiful, sunshiney Sunday afternoon inside? Because Mike is at work {thankyouverymuch, busy season at work...said no wife ever} and Lainie is napping--hallelujah!
Don't worry, you won't have to swaddle her forever! Even if she's not ready to transition now, it will happen eventually. And when she is ready, you might want to start with one arm still swaddled, but the other one free (just wrap under the armpit).
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you are honest about what motherhood is like. Us aspiring to be parents can learn a lot! As always, enjoy reading your posts! By the way, have you guys considered Duvall in your house hunting? It was the last place we considered, but you certainly get more bang for your buck than the smaller and older houses closer to the city. I don't know which Microsoft Mike works at, but its only about 25-30 mins to the Redmond campus depending what time you commute (possibly longer if it's rush hour). But it's a nice, clean, safe neighborhood with some Mars Hill community as well. I hear the commute from Monroe isn't too bad either. Just throwing that out there! :)
ReplyDeleteHey Brandi! Our only must-haves in a home are that Mike's commute be no more than 30 minutes each way (preferably less), and either 4 bedrooms or 3 bedrooms and an office. When you narrow the search to 4 bedroom homes the pickins become INCREDIBLY slim, unless you want to spend about $500k. Which we don't/can't. In a way, that's encouraging because if and when we do buy, it will clearly be Jesus providing a home for us!!
DeleteYeah for little teeth! An exciting milestone, but oh so painful for the whole family! Praying for you as you tackle two birds with one stone. New habits are so hard with little ones. You are not a complainer in my opinion. Being too positive or negative when it comes to parenting would not be telling the whole story. Being real is best and it encourages me and other parents and helps parents-to-be have a better picture of what they're getting into :) Love you friend. Miss you and your sweet girl, too!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ann!! Missing you and your littles an awful lot...
DeleteExcited to hear of your Idaho travels! Happy too that you keep it real - struggles and all - you never know who your words can encourage, and I'm sure many mamas feel the same way!
ReplyDeletep.s. Popcorn, knitting and Gone With The Wind sound like the perfect way to recover a bit from sleepless nights and a teething girly :)