Day 20

Things are certainly better with mom at home. With a more natural order of things restored, lil’ man slept until 4:30 a.m. He only required a quick feeding and then immediately back to sleep. Dad could not be happier! By 8:00 a.m.  he was still soundly asleep in his crib. Not a peep has been made. I am reluctant, but hopeful, to believe we are rounding the bend of the late nights and that we will soon be able to enjoy a more enjoyable growth progression with our son. It could not have happened too soon. The lack of sleep has taken a toll on mom and dad. This is our first weekend back together as a family. Neither mom nor dad has made any plans for the weekend. It would seem we would have already had something in mind, but we have both been simply struggling to greet the weekend.

The long night was only a dream…or a lack of dad waking for the sessions. Mom handled a midnight, 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. maintenance; dad slept soundly, until 4:30 a.m. Mom woke for the morning feeding and then handled the rest of the day. Dad, in a stupor, milled about until he was called to action and sent shopping for groceries. The checker girl at the local grocer asked about our progress with sleep; from the bags under my eyes she already knew the answer. She suggested moving to solid foods at 4-months; that is what she had done with her child. The thicker food will help keep the stomach fuller, longer and make for a longer night’s sleep, she said. The butcher-block boy complained about how he had been up since 7:00 a.m. and then off to work at 10:00 a.m.; what a terrible day for him. I have little or no sympathy left to share. A friend of mine, with newborn twins, summed it up very well – “I no longer have time for stupid people or questions”. We concluded our day with a nicely cooked steak dinner, a bit of a celebration of having everyone home again. I did some work on our backyard; fighting off the extended mud season we have had this year. Mom played with our son, getting reacquainted by having him try on several hats we had received. He has already grown so much that the baby hats no longer fit. It was cute to see her parade him about with the various hats. He did not seem to enjoy participating in the fashion show. Visitor requests popped up and now we are already looking at having three sets of out-of-town visitors in the following weeks plus, our first out-of-town trip as a family for lil’ man’s baptism; we will have it performed at mom’s family church. Later, mom and I passively watched some television, as lil’ man slept. We talked about how she feels lil’ man is a little more lethargic than prior to her leaving. Our pediatrician had told us to expect a slowing down in the 4^th month and it looks like she knows what to expect. Lil’ man is simply learning to control himself a little better and he is maybe getting to a more stable (mental and physical) state. I too have had some concerns but chalk it up to parental paranoia. The change from flailing arms and legs to a more composed little boy is upsetting us as it signals the fast maturation of our new child – the changes happen in a blink. She handled the late feeding and mom and I began our nightly routine. Somehow we managed to stay awake until almost midnight. It was exciting and good to have her home again.