Gosh, it's been so hard. There has been some good days and some bad days. But is it worth it??? Don't know yet, ask me again when the year is done. Here are a few things I've learned in the past 6 months:
1) I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON! nor do I like to be woken up. This was not an issue when the baby was less than 4mo old because he slept like 12 hours, so I was able to catch up on my zzz's. Once the 4mo mark came, it was all over. I was only sleeping up to 6hrs and it sucked!
2) COLD CUTS HAVE NEVER TASTED SO GOOD. All during pregnancy I gave up my cold cuts and my cold wieners. Now, that summer is here, they have never tasted better. I have truly missed them and enjoy eating them without bread. haha
3) I AM NOT A BABY PERSON. I thought this was because I never babysat nor I was around babies growing up. But lo and behold! It's not that...its just that babies are not for me. I thought maybe once I had one, it would be different, but it hasn't. I still cringe when Dom screams- like nails on a chalkboard for me. And it made me feel so bad for a long time, until I recently started meeting people that feel the same way.
4) TOO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY SUCKS! Baby raising is too hard. Too much work and responsibility. I don't want to grow up just yet, and I'm not totally sure that I want more kids either. I think this is it for me. Good thing it was a boy (to carry on the family name as Spencer likes to say).
5) THINGS ARE NO LONGER ABOUT YOU. Spencer and I (especially him) learned that we no longer could just pick our things and go go go. We needed to go by what Dom felt like that day. I can't go grocery shopping if he doesnt feel up for it. And Spencer can't go to the pool if Dominic doesn't feel like it. It's especially hard for Spencer because he was used to all my attention and that is no longer the case. He now finds himself going to grocery shopping by himself or just trying to pass the time on his own- said I know....but maybe it will get better here in the near future. Most of the time we try to do all things together. But traveling is a little harder these days (especially when you want to do all carry ons).
6) THE CRY IT OUT METHOD WORKS. I didn't want to do this, but after 2 months of not really sleeping I wanted to punch someone! (dont worry- never did). I decided to try this and the first two days were hard- he cried for about 45min. But after that, it took no longer than 10min for Dom to fall asleep. And he got used to it, so now he knows that at night, when he finishes the bottle...he needs to go back to the crib and sleep. He doesnt expect me to cuddle and carry him to sleep. Sleep time is too precious for me. I do wait for him to fall asleep and I'll check on him. I make sure he has a blanket, his fan is on, and his music is playing (background soothing noises- believe or not- IT WORKS).
7)BOYS GROW UP FAST- I see the little girls in the ward that are close to the same age as Dom and they are nowhere near where he is. He's already crawling AND has found the blu ray player and tv (won't be long til he finds the dvds) and LOVES the buttons. The other little girls get to sit in a blanket at RS and just sit there and play quietly...NOT DOM. I can't put him down or he'll run away. Not too mention won't help his eczema. Dom is so curious about everything and FEARLESS. Nothing scares him- he just goes and then if he gets stuck...THEN he'll cry. He'll try anything once (any kind of food). The only one he would not swallow was potato (go figure!). Starting a couple of days ago, he started using things to prop up. he now can kneel with some furniture help. He tries to stand but his legs may be able to do it once, and then he falls. He's still a little week in the knees. haha
8) MAKING BABY FOOD IS FUN- I love making baby food. I love steaming it or boiling it and feeding to him and video or take pics of his reaction. I'll add those to his babybook. I was going to buy baby food but realized how expensive this was going to be and quite honestly it's probably more natural just to give him the actual food. AND I get to do more exotic stuff for him- like avocado, mangoes, papayas, melons, asparagus, bell peppers- you don't see those in the baby food aisle. And he loves all of them.
9)GUILT NEVER HELPED ANYONE- I have felt so guilty because I didn't fully breastfeed Dom. It first started with 1/2 and 1/2 and now he's mostly formula. I felt really bad about that and then when he got bad eczema and were told that he was allergic to milk protein (and peanut and cat) I felt even worse. I felt that the lack of my breastfeeding didn't give him the necessary defenses that he needed to fight this off. But guilt and feeling bad never helped anybody. I will try to do better and I am glad to say that his eczema is now under control and sleeps a little better at night thanks to his medicines and prayers.
10) CANT WAIT FOR HIS FIRST BDAY PARTY- I'm already planning his birthday party. I would like my parents to be there, but not sure because its in the winter. I'm sure it will be a really bad winter, since the last one wasnt bad at all. Spencer and I are already looking around for the perfect gift- not sure what it is yet, but it's gotta be big. GO BIG OR GO HOME he says. I can't wait for Dom to walk and be independent and at least be able to reason with him.
Things happen for a reason and I know he was meant to come to us and we were meant to be a family. So, that brings me courage to keep trying to be a better parent.
Here's to the next half year!
From day one:
2 months:
4 months:
I know everyone says he looks like me (and he may) but he's a total Coffey. He thinks like Spencer and he does things like Spencer does, and he LOVES the water (Spencer takes him to the pool everyday that he is off) and he laughs and has Spencer's smile. This kid is Coffey on the inside!
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