What I've Learned ... 2nd Month Edition

This post is a little early seeing as how Hayden's 2 month birthday isn't until tomorrow -- but I would hate to interfere with Sunday Morning Snuggles, so here we go.





I can't believe that 2 months have gone by, but in some ways I think, "2 months, seriously? That's it? Isn't it time for kindergarten yet?" Lots of changes are ahead ... so here's what I've learned thus far.





I might as well entertain myself...

If you know me at all you know I'm a big reader. I really want to pass my love of reading on to Hayden, so I've been reading to him pretty much since he came home from the hospital. I started out reading all the great books we got as gifts: Hop on Pop (the first book I ever read by myself), Good Night Moon, etc. Well, those books are great and all, but they take all of 3 seconds to read. Plus, Hayden isn't exactly crawling all over me at this point to look at the pictures. I've read every book to him on our shelf at least 30 times. So, I'm done with that until he's capable of participating a little bit more. So, this week, I started reading him a chapter from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Clark looked at me like I was a maniac when I started this, but quite frankly Hayden probably understands Harry Potter as much as he understood Hop on Pop. So, I might as well read books that entertain me as well. He has his whole life to drive me insane with those books (and endless kid TV shows too), so I'm going to get my kicks while I can. At this rate, Hayden will be in pre-school before Harry starts kicking some major Voldemort ass (I'm a nerd, I know). Then the question will become: is it too scary? Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose. But man, I will be so disappointed if my kid is too scared for Harry Potter.

I have come to loathe with the statement: "Enjoy it while you can, they aren't little newborns forever."
I also hate the phrase: "This is the easiest it will be." I'm making a promise here and now. If a new mom ever vents to me about the difficulty of raising a newborn I will never say those phrases. I will also never say, "It's gets better after x week." Here's the deal: I don't want my kid to be a newborn forever. Frankly, that's boring. I'll even take it one step further and say this: the newborn stage is overrated. Yes, he's adorable. Yes he's tiny, and yes, he's a lot of fun to hold...but good Lord. Need I remind all these moms about what it's like not to sleep through the night? To feed your kid every 3 - 4 hours? To have a kid with no neck control whatsoever? Again, I'm not saying he isn't perfectly cute (b/c quite frankly, my kid is awesome, and I'm not biased at all), but I'm really looking forward to him being able to hold his head up, to hear him laugh for the first time and get more than the random, fleeting smile. I'm also excited to do fun things and see his reaction -- like go to the zoo or even simply play with toys together. I know these times will come. Don't get me wrong, I'm not wishing he was so big it's time for junior high or anything. We've got time. I'm just kind of ready to have the newborn phase behind me. So count me among the moms who isn't going to be sniffling when I pack away the newborn size diapers and size newborn clothes. And PS. if this is the easiest it's going to be, I'm in biiiiiiiiiig trouble.

The answer to every newborn problem is: GAS
As bothersome and embarrassing as gas can be for adults, gas is newborn kryptonite. I swear it's the equivalent of the Ebola virus, minus the fatal outcome. Mark it down. If your kid is screaming or, equally annoying, fussing uncontrollably, rest assured the root of your child's problem is gas. And guess what, Mom and Dad, if you've gotten to the screaming portion of the illness there's isn't jack crap you can do about it. What about my cure-all mylicon? Well, I've learned in these 4 weeks the super-gas (think of it as the MRSA staph infection of the gas family) cannot even be defeated by Mylicon or Little Tummies or whatever else gas relief there is on the market. You just have to wait for your little one to toot or burp it out. And PS this super gas is going to require several toots and burps to work it out. Trust me, you'll never be so excited to hear a toot in your entire life. On Tuesday of this week I was practically doing back flips everytime Hayden ripped one. Mind you it still took 6 hours for him to work it all out. You read that correctly. 6 excrutiating hours. 6 hours of constant crying/fussing which led to me doing everything I could possibly think of to fix the situation. We went outside, we went on a walk, we took a drive, I changed his clothes to something that wasn't so restricting on his tummy, I loosened his diaper (a dangerous endeavor) all to no avail. I missed the majority of American Idol b/c he was so pissed off I couldn't hear. Just so have some perspective, if you can't hear Adam Lambert screeching out Born to Be Wild over your child's wails, you know you have a problem. Also, big thanks to his Aunt Katy who rocked him for 45 minutes after Mommy had had enough. He went RIGHT to sleep for her. Of course, after this nightmare of a day we had the best night ever. He slept until 4:45! The question now becomes: would I sacrifice a good day so I can have a good night? I just don't know! I have found a warm bath with a warm wash cloth across his belly seems to work. Oh, who am I kidding? That was probably pure dumb luck. So don't quote me on that remedy.

Work starts Monday and I'm scared!
I'm scared b/c I think I may have forgotten the penal code. I'm scared to leave Hayden for so long. I'm scared that no one at my job is going to need me. I'm scared b/c I'm not sure I want them to need me. Here's the deal: I would love to have 2 more weeks at home with Clark and Hayden, but we just couldn't afford it. Mama's got to pay the bills. Staying at home as been rewarding and very difficult. I have nothing but admiration and respect for stay-at-home moms, but it's become clear to me that I'm just not cut out for it. This doesn't mean there probably isn't going to be some tears shed on the way to work on Monday. My goal is to not cry at work. I'm excited that Clark is going to have some bonding time with Hayden before he has to start residency on June 18. So, wish me luck on Monday and say a prayer for Clark as he begins his first real day of Daddy Day Care. Ha ha -- he's only washed bottles under my supervision. He's in for the shock of his life!! Oh and who wants to bet when I come home from work on Monday Hayden is still in his pajamas??