Anyway, My Main Man is four whole months old already! Sometimes that seems so big and sometimes it seems like he's been here forever - much longer than four tiny months. He's going through quite a growth spurt, but I only know that because he's acting like a college frat boy - eating a ton and partying all night long until the breaka-breaka dawn. At his four month check up I was really expecting him to post some big stats, but alas...he's every bit as tiny as his wee sisters. The doctor reassured me that all is well, he's meeting all of his milestones (and then some), and you can't ask for more than a happy, healthy baby! Here's what Albert's been up to lately.
Likes: nursing, grabbing things that are within arm's reach, especially things hanging from his playmat, sitting on laps and looking at faces, nursing, cooing and smiling at you to see if you'll return the favor, nursing, his blue dou dou bear, sleeping in the car, nursing, kicking his feet in the tub or on the floor, nursing.
Warming up to: the jumperoo, the bumbo, the bottle, sitting up on the couch or propped up on pillows
Dislikes: being left alone to fall asleep at night, loud noises, the Ergo carrier (especially if we try to make him face us, belly to belly - sometimes he tolerates facing out, but not for long), when everyone in the family tries to sit down and eat at the same time.
Life with Albert: The girls are still completely smitten with Albert. Sylvia can change his diaper (!!!) and she loves to sing to him when he's fussy. She is my little helper and she almost knows what I'm going to ask her to do before I ask it, as far as the baby's concerned. Margot wants to do everything Sylvia can do, but she just isn't big enough, which frustrates her to no end. I keep trying to find smaller tasks that she can do: if Sylvia gets to change his diaper, Margot gets to take off his socks! If Sylvia wants to sing to him, Margot gets to push the swing. The name of the game is delegating and giving each girl something responsible to do! Otherwise we have bedlam on our hands and royal meltdowns ensue.
We are slowly adjusting to life with Mama back at work. I can't begin to describe how wonderful it is to have a stay-at-home dad who takes care of all of their needs day in and day out. Albert's nap schedule is starting to fall into place and because of that, Sylvain is able to plan his days around naps, feedings, preschool drop-off and pick-up, snacks, meals, tummy time, play time, clean up time....when I think about how much he does in a day I get exhausted! On the flip side, when I get home from work, I try to nurse Albert (to avoid an evening pump session, if at all possible), play with the girls, help out with dinner, and orchestrate baths, snacks and bedtime. Just like when the other two kids were this age, I feel like I'm rushing from the minute I wake up until the minute my head hits the pillow.
On a good day, this grind is satisfying and almost blissful - the kisses and questions and combing wet hair and pulling tight jammies over tired little heads and "Good night, Syl-veee-ya" and "I love you, Margot!" and songs and snuggles.....it's usually enough to make my heart burst. But not all days are good days, and we have our fair share of whining and crying and sibling fights and wiping butts and crayons on the wall and "OH MY GOD YOU GAVE ME TOAST INSTEAD OF PLAIN BREAD, MY LIFE IS RUINED" meltdowns! Those days are not fun. But those days have an end and when I lay down at night I know that I have three healthy, happy kids upstairs and we all get another chance to love each other in the morning.
And on my worst days, I just spend a little extra time nursing Albert in the middle of the night. If I'm brazen enough to make eye contact with him, he will smile and coo and remind me that, at our core, we are LOVE. Eventually we have opinions and preferences, but as infants and starter-people....we are nothing but LOVE. That boy is amazing.
1 comment:
How sweet! Thanks for sharing your wonderful "love" story.
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