Day 11 –

Last night was brutal. At 1:30 I woke up to find little man waving his arms in an inconsolable fit. I changed the diaper, I think I fed him (I truly cannot remember) and redid the swaddle and placed him back down. At 3:00 a.m., he awoke again and needed more tending. At 3:30 a.m. he had worked himself up again and eventually ate a full meal. At 5:00 a.m., he was back at it so I again tended to him. The 6:00 a.m. feeding revealed the likely source of the earlier discomforts lil’ man was experiencing; he had completely soiled his diaper. I am beginning to see that the difficulty of a newborn is not really their 3-hours schedule. The problem is for the parents who are trained on a 4-hour schedule and who’s ramp-up / comedown time is longer, making naps and regular sleep nearly impossible. By 6:30 a.m. and a ½ pot of coffee later, I feel as though I can barely recall my own name.

This morning we headed out again for a little more shopping. At each store, we met with more admirers and friendly faces; our trip went well. We got home and the regular feedings were administered, without much issue. I recall reading somewhere that there is a theory that children can see ghosts, saying that they have not yet dismissed them and they can see what adults can no longer see or acknowledge. Having had one ghostly experience in my lifetime, I have had interest in this topic. After the noon feeding and putting back down, our son began staring, wide-eyed and panicked at something just over my shoulder. Seeing his expression told me that something was not right with the room and I began to think maybe it was one of our ghostly friends. While still singing to him, I waved my hand over my shoulder, pushing away whatever was there that was disturbing to him. He smiled, broadly and immediately snuggled in for his nap. Maybe there is something to the theory.