Catching Up
I have been terrible about posting to this blog, mostly because being a mom has been such a life-changing experience for me. I would have never said that being a mom was the best thing that has happened to me, but it is true in almost every respect.
I won’t lie, it isn’t easy for me, and sometimes I miss going to work, looking cute and having the freedom to come and go as I please. But now I have a little companion that is always with me, wants me around and thinks I’m the best thing ever. I hope that I will live up to her expectations, at least at this point I am.
Right now my little Sweet Pea is 10 weeks, I think…I’m really not good at keeping track of her lifespan, especially since it is so small. So she’s over two months old, and she’s really starting to show her personality. She is not a sweet child, but she has so much energy and alertness that I don’t mind. She isn’t laid back at all, at least not in comparison to the children I have met that are near or at the same age as her.
Every day she wakes up with a big smile for me, and she can’t wait to be unswaddled so she can do one of her long, back-arching stretches. I’d keep her unswaddled but she just can’t sleep without it, she ends up wiggling around and keeping herself awake. A typical day includes waking up around 5 a.m. for her breakfast, then going straight back to bed for another hour or two if I’m lucky. Ideally she wakes up after I get done making breakfast for Gus, and then he is able to see her before he leaves for work, but sometimes she wakes up early and that is always troublesome because once she’s up, she doesn’t like staying in her bed. Sometimes I put her in the swing while I cook breakfast. She doesn’t like being confined into carseat-styled devices, but she will stay in there longer now that she has discovered the toys hanging from the top of the swing’s arch.
Her next activity is usually feeding, getting her diaper changed, applying cream to her dry skin, changing her outfit and then if she’s still good, we’ll either listen to music, or do some leg bicycles to Mariachi Loco or El Baile Del Mono. I’ve always liked these songs because they are cheerful and now she recognizes them as time to have some fun!
After that, another nap, then feeding, and depending on her mood, I’ll give to the in-laws, or if I’m in Sunnyside, we’ll play with her toys, go for a walk and look at colorful things. We basically repeat feeding-diaper-activity-nap over and over again.
At this point she is learning to see stuff hanging above her, and she can whack at them on accident. She is also drooling a lot and nomming on her hand. Tummy-time is limited, she hates it now, but she has excellent head control, I can hold her in my lap and she’s only a little bit wobbly. She is nervous about rolling over even though she tries to do it when she’s propped up on her tummy. She will cry and fuss until I roll her her over. She’s being a little nervous about strangers, and even gets a little fussy if someone other than me carries her for longer than a few minutes. However, she does recognize her daddy, her grandparents, my brother and my niece. She really likes my niece too, must be her experience with her own siblings.
Sleep is a premium, and I’m learning to value it. I’m trying really hard to get more sleep instead of staying awake, which has been my habit for the past 2 months. I stopped doing it though because Gus said I was getting forgetful and really impatient, not to mention that I felt like I wasn’t giving Selina my best, and in the end, getting laundry done is nice, but not as important as being a good wife and mother to my family.
