Thursday, December 30, 2010

Parenting: Month 2


Tomie's Three Bears
Originally uploaded by LugerLA
All the baby books say month 1 is the time of upheaval and month 2 is a settling in period. Month 1 seemed fairly straight forward in retrospect. Of course, he was just a blob and his job was eat, sleep, pee and poop. And he was very well mannered for the first month. Month 2 we have a real baby that fusses and cries. The in-laws arrived for the grandparent shift change, the night we went to the emergency room for the first time. They are probably wondering if we were lying about the easy going baby we had.

Some notes along the way

- Doctor gave the dreaded diagnosis - colic. (AKA pediatrician does not know why baby is crying, but the parents better steel themselves for three months of this) Actually, if this is colic, we'll take it and run, because this is easier then what we thought colic was.

- We still have a big blob. He started out as a big boy, and he is staying big. Problem is, most babies his size are older and have learned to crawl. But in his case, we have to do all the exercising for him. Lot's of bicycling time. But that does not come close to what a self-mobile baby does. Good thing he is sick so he does not eat so much. (of course, he is still gaining weight, so no doctor is going to worry too much about him being sick)

- Colic and constipation = complexity. It's getting harder to keep track of everything that we're working on

- He is a bit of a chicken. Lots of things scare him. One of the problems is that it is so cold, so we have not been bringing him out of the house where he can be exposed to other things which is what is supposed to take care of this. (Hint: we need visitors. Call us and come by.)

- Baby gear. We love the Medela line of breast feeding products. We hope that whoever coordinates/manages/develops that line great prosperity for lifetimes to come. That makes life so much easier.

- Baby gear 2 - I like my ring sling. I have a Maya sling that is great because I can carry him and do something else while he is wailing away (or threatening to wail away) or when I'm just holding him asleep (i.e. he would not be sleeping if I was not holding him). This usually means playing music on a CD, iPod or reading on the Kindle. And I can keep this up for a few hours (i.e. the time between feedings). Of course, I am the only one who can use it. We have a Baby Bjorn that mom and grandpa can use, but he needs to be in a very good mood to get in that.

- Holidays - We are very unsentimental about holidays, birthdays, other special events. We're told it might change as he grows up. But not yet.

- Gadgets - non-baby. I'm getting a lot of reading done with the Kindle. What makes it work is that it is light, so I can hold it for extended periods of time with a couple fingers while I'm holding him. If it was closer to a pound, it would get problematic after the first hour or so.

- Carrying - I enjoy holding him. Awake, asleep, happy (even crying). Standing still, sitting down, laying down, dancing (waltz). I'd probably hold him even more if I didn't have to work.

At two months, he clearly dominates our lives. Although we are fighting to see that the world does not completely revolve around him. Mom and grandma are discussing what classes he will be taking (after all, he going on three months). Competitions to enter. And of course, noting that no child of two endurance athletes has a chance of being a sloth. But for now, we enjoy being parents. So far.

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