A recap

OK, so I've been a slacker. I'm sure I won't be able to capture the true essence of the last three months in retrospect, but I will give a good effort. I'll even start with the most recent news, so that those of you who don't care about old news don't have to scroll!



I think my biggest observation about new parenting is that the learning curve just sucks. Because no matter how much your friends try and tell you, they just can't remember everything you may need to know. Invariably, you learn the tricks people have forgotten far too late to put them to good use as much as possible. For example: I never realized the sheer genius of the FLOOR. It took me until about week 7 or 8 to realize that when you have a fussy baby who is kicking in your arms, it just means that he wants to exercise. And, at this age, if you put him on the floor, he isn't going anywhere...you just have to make sure you are supervising. Had I only known - oh the hours of frustration for both of us that could have been solved by some good floor time! And, now, it's almost too late! Casey has started to roll over from his tummy to his back, so I'm sure my days of him staying in one place on the floor are soon over. But, it's very exciting to watch him roll away!



He is also smiling all the time. It is nice to have a happy baby most of the time, to make up for the meltdowns that invariably happen towards the end of the day when he is trying to sleep.



He is also finally settling into some good patterns. He has grown out of his midnight feeding, and most nights sleeps from around 10:30 to 4am - which gives us a decent stretch of sleep. More so for me, since Robert generally takes that middle of the night feeding, and I get up with him at 6am or so and stay awake to feed him and play with him.



The other life changing moment for us was when he started playing with the toys attached to his bouncy chair. All of a sudden, the chair was no longer just a safe restrained location, but also a developmental tool. Gone were the times of me using the chair to just take a quick shower, now we are in the land of play, where he enjoys his time much more. He is also enjoying bath time much more now that we have moved from sponge baths to immersion baths. The first real bath took some adjusting, but ever since, he has shown that he does enjoy the warm water.



I haven't quite forgotten the first month (as people say you do), but the really hard time of those first few weeks is starting to seem like such a short time in comparison to the fun we've had with him this last month or so. I find it highly unfortunate that around the time you really get the hang of taking care of your infant, it is time to go back to work. That said, I still think that the first month or so was the hardest thing I've ever done. It didn't help that I had a c-section and TWO instances of pregnancy rash after delivery. Yes, you heard right, pregnancy rash. ALL OVER - head to toe. And, it wasn't just a few hives here and there...the hives merged and joined together to become their own large islands of rash.



We started Casey in daycare for 1/2 days this week. By Friday, he was back to his normal napping routine, and seems to enjoy himself there. We shall see how next week goes, when we move to full time. I am very sad to not have him to myself all day long anymore. It's definitely been hard dropping him off and going to kill time before I go back to pick him up, since I wish I could just play with him all day. But, I know the importance of transition time, and know that I just can't drop him off the first day I go back to work for a full day. Next week, I will kill time by cleaning the house, doing projects and getting a haircut. It will be the first time in 3 months that I have had entire days to myself without the baby. I'm not sure what I will do.



Well, I am off to feed the little man and tuck him in for the night. Hopefully, we will get a good night sleep! The next post will include pictures, I promise.