Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Holidays. Already.

I am fortunate to be able to stay home with 'Rad today.  Our daycare provider is getting married tomorrow, so on Friday Z will hit a new dad milestone: staying home with Connor by himself for the first time.  It will be a true boys day with him, Rad-a-dude, and Blue dog ruling the roost.  I look forward to hearing how his day goes and how he likes being a stay-at-home dad for a day.

The snow started flying yesterday, and although it didn't stick by our house I am starting to get into the holiday spirit.  That's right, the tv is tuned to the Traditional Holiday Music channel, I sang a few Christmas carol's to 'Rad, and am seriously contemplating digging out the Christmas decorations before Z gets home today (Surprise!  The holidays spewed all over your living room!).  I think he'd enjoy it.  I'm not usually so eager to skip over Thanksgiving and I'm still not, but with a baby the holidays are sure to go by even quicker than normal.  I didn't think it was possible, but it seems like the older you get, the more reasons there are for time to buzz past you without your knowing.  So, I'm trying to really enrobe myself in the holiday spirit before all that's left in front of me are the frigid, uneventful months of January and February.

With the temperatures dropping, we are going to have to confront another new challenge: dressing the baby for the cold weather.  It seems like a simple enough task, but I just found myself googling, "how do you dress a baby for the winter?"  I've heard that you only want them to have on one layer of clothing when you're strapping them into a car seat.  But I just read that you want them in an undershirt, then a long-sleeved shirt and pants, then a one-piece fleece suit, then a hat and mittens.  Seriously, I need to stop looking up anything dealing with babies on the internet.  It leaves me confused, rarely consoled, and blocks whatever shards of motherly instinct that I might possess.  Google, you internet devil you.

'Rad is developing at breakneck speed.  In the three days that I've been back at work I feel like he's already changed.  For example, he used to abhor tummy time.  It was like I was laying him in a bed of hot coals; the moment his soft belly touched his play mat he was crying and screaming, thrashing to be put on his back like a confused turtle.  But over the past couple of days tummy time has been enjoyable, and he can even do this:



The dude can lift his head!  No more drooling into the play mat and smothering his own face in it (ok, that still happens but not as often now).  He is thismuch closer to crawling.  Whoa.

He also has a new-found liking for his swing.  We tried to put him in it when he was tiny and, again, he abhorred it.  But a new day has dawned, my friends, and he enjoys it now.


He's smiling, batting at toys on occasion, cooing, gurgling, and just being generally awesome.  Were we all this awesome at one point?  And at what point does that awesomeness subside?  Hopefully never.  I'm still working on trying to be awesome.  I should watch 'Rad and learn.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Johanna,

I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your blog. I have a 6 week old little boy and am a first time mom as well. Many of your posts have resonated and I appreciate your honesty about some of the challenges of having a baby (so often, it seems, moms only want to talk about the cozy, snuggly part of being a new parent; it is really comforting to hear someone else acknowledge the overwhelming, self-doubting nature of the whole thing). Thanks for sharing your experience! (And your baby is indeed awesome :)

Anna

Jojo said...

Thanks, Anna! It's nice to know that spewing my feelings and doubts online doesn't make me completely crazy ;-) I hope your little boy is treating you well. Six weeks is when Connor started growing into his awesomeness!

Tyler and Sonja said...

My name is Sonja and we are expecting our first baby at the end of January. I noticed that you took your baby on a trip to see family right after he was born. We are in a similar situation where we have to drive about 30 plus hours to get home after baby is born. I was wondering if you have any advice on how to deal with a newborn and road trips?

Jojo said...

Hi Sonja,

Congratulations! Honestly, our drive home with Connor was easy. When they're that little they really just sleep most of the way. The motion of the car is really soothing and when we pulled over to feed C-rad, I had to wake him up. He fed, we put him back in the car seat, and bam! He was back to sleep for the rest of the drive.

Our six hour drive, though, can't compare with your 30+ hour drive. That's quite a trek! For you, sleep, take normal adult conversations with your partner about things other than baby (although conversations about baby are good, too!). For baby, be sure to have a good stash of diapers, wipes, burpy cloths, clothes, and maybe a toy or two. Connor wasn't on a pacifer yet when we too him home at 3-weeks old.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your labor and delivery, driving home, and motherhood!