One out of Three

I didn't start blogging after the birth of Reese until she was almost five months old. Why the delay? Because she was the colicky baby from hell...I love her dearly, but it's true. At just days old she would stay awake for hours on end screaming unless she was being held and soothed. Some colicky babies like to eat for comfort (so I've heard), Reese made breast and bottle feeding a nightmare as well. There were many days when I was so tired I could barely stand, and my nerves were rattled by my introduction to motherhood. In short, there was plenty of material to write about, I just didn't have the stamina or gal to write about it. Five months later, Reese began her transformation into a much more manageable baby, and her blog began.

While pregnant with Paige I dreamed of having a fat, happy, sleepy baby who would make motherhood-of-two an easier transition for me. Well, I'm 1 for 3.

Fat: Born early at just over 5lbs, Paige is gaining weight, but is no chunky monkey. It doesn't really bother me that she'll likely be a little one like Reese, except that I still have worries about how much she's eating. Since deciding to bottle feed her expressed milk (which is still going well), I can see how much she eats, and I just don't know if she's getting enough. It's a total Catch-22: breastfeed and you have NO idea how much they're eating, bottle feed and still wonder if 1oz at a time is really enough.

Happy: Here's the one thing that rings true for Paige--she is a MUCH happier baby than Reese. She began smiling about a week and half ago. She turns on the smile for Mommy (or Mommy's voice) quite often, but has also been known to flash some big grins to her big sister. This week she's started laughing and "talking." If she's awake and well rested, you can put her in her bouncy seat or on her play mat and she'll screech and laugh at all the things she sees. Reese wasn't a grumpy baby, just serious, so seeing Paige act like this at such a young age is really a joy.

Sleepy: Maybe if I had been sedentary during my pregnancies, my children would have learned earlier to sleep in stationary positions. But alas, teaching kept me on my feet during my pregnancy with Reese, and Reese kept me active during my pregnancy with Paige. In the long run it was probably good for my health, but it's left me wondering if it turned my children into motion-junkies. Much like Reese, Paige has had difficulty sleeping unless she's being a)held b)vigorously jiggled (via person, automobile, or vibrating contraption) or c)in her swing. Since coming home from the hospital Paige has slept in her bouncy seat, in her swing (in our closet), and in my arms (or any other relative willing to hold her), but NOT alone in her bed. About a week ago we thought we had broken the motion-sleep habit by accomplishing a few days/nights of sleep in her crib. It was short lived, though, and she's been putting us back through our paces lately. When Paige gets sleepy (about an hour after she wakes up--e.g. leaving me just enough time to feed her, change her, and never leave the house), we swaddle her up and begin to soothe her. Rocking and jiggling are the main methods of success, although lately she enjoys a pacifier as well. Just when you think she's asleep, you lay her gently in her crib and tip-toe out the door. Without fail, between 5 and 15 minutes (if you're lucky) later, she's awake and screaming. Last night, she woke up from a nap around 12:45PM and we couldn't get her to go down for more than 15 minutes at a stretch until 9:30PM when we relented and put her back in her swing. (Where she slept until almost 3AM, completely exhausted.) At one point last night we tried letting her cry for a little while (since we KNEW she was fed but exhausted), but she only succeeded in getting more upset, sweaty, and on the verge of vomiting. We had a mild success this afternoon when Kevin spent almost 45 minutes soothing her into DEEP sleep before putting her down. It seemed to work, but the practicality of me doing that on my own multiple times a day is slim. From several experiences this week I know that there aren't a whole lot of things more frustrating that getting a baby to sleep (so you think) and then having said baby awakened by a tantruming toddler who bursts into the room, or a dog that decides to come in and give her coat a good shake, or a dog who barks at the UPS man (who always seems to come when one or BOTH children are sleeping), or a neighbor delivering holiday cookies....you get the point. It doesn't help matters that I think Reese and Paige conspire via ESP so that there's NEVER a point when they are both asleep--day or night. In my fragmented night sleep (which is still not coming in more than 3 hours increments), I'm dreaming of a night when both my children sleep for more than five hours at a time. Let's just say I now understand why sleep-deprivation is used as a form of torture.

I hear stories of babies Paige's age "sleeping through the night," being in the 90th% in weight, and never giving their parents any trouble. To them, I secretly think, "I hope your children pay you back when they're teenagers," and cross my fingers that my girls are just giving me a run for my money now and will be easier to manage as they grow.

In other news, Paige now fits in the Baby Bjorn, although she doesn't like the new born head support; and Reese has succeeded in bringing home yet another cold to share with the family. And yes, Paige has already gotten it. It must be all of those big sister kisses.