Does this sort of stuff only happen to me? Let me preface this by saying that when you have a son who eats a lot he also poops a lot. For the record, I am not a huge fan of the poopy diaper. Thought it might grow on me after a little time, but nope, still hasn't. I believe my last comment regarding Maddyx's poo, as I walked out the back slider door to our trash bin, holding the diaper as far out in front of me as I could was, "I am just not set up for this!" Both hubby and I just cracked up.
Two (VERY HARD) lessons learned today;
ONE: When you smell poo, and you're pretty sure there is poo, be very careful about how far down the back of the diaper you stick your finger to confirm that there actually is poo. If you're me, you will end up with a finger full of poo. Yes, really. I just about died.
TWO: When changing poopy diapers is a full-time job of yours it's probably best to have your fingernails as short as possible. If they grow out just a tad, you're likely to get poo under a nail as you try and use the wipe to clean up the blow out that has gone halfway up your child's back.
Yes, both of the above happened to me, and both happened in the same sitting. About 15 minutes ago. This diaper thing is gonna be the death of me. Just sayin...
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Two Weeks as a Family
Today marks two weeks that we've been a family of four. We've successfully made it another week! Whooohooo!
Let me just start this by saying, we have NEVER spent so much time within the walls of our home. And speaking of our home. Dear Lord, it. is. a. mess! Just today I sat down on the floor and sat right on a very hard yellow ball. Not only did it HURT like heck it actually pinched some sort of nerve in my booty! I mean, I was actually in tears. Then I looked around my house. And I thought some sort of explosion, a seriously large bomb has gone off inside my house. A bomb containing baby toys, baby clothes, baby bottles, baby teething products...(need I go on?) and thought, what the heck has happened to my very clean and organized home?!? Sigh.... I did really good the first couple of days. Picked up all of the stuff every time Maddyx took a nap. Swept, vacuumed...What happened? Well, Maddyx's naps have gotten progressively shorter. Sometimes we only get 15-20 minutes. Then it's a decision. Do I take a shower or do I clean up? I think I should take a shower. And there you have it.
How is Maddyx doing? I (we) think Maddyx is doing really, really well. We try to do one outing a day. Whether it be a walk to the park, a trip to Target, and we even hit Fashion Valley mall on Sunday. He typically lasts about 2 hours (max) before he starts arching his back and letting us know he's done sitting. We can easily subdue his frustration for at least another 30-45 mins with snacks. This is so awesome! This kid looooves to eat! As soon as he starts getting fussy we start throwing the snacks his way. And voila, he's a happy baby again. This allows you a chance to speed up your shopping and start making your way towards the exit and the final destination, home. Both Kasey and I have been able to run out (on our own) while the other stays home with Maddyx. No problems. Well, I've only done it once. And it was a big and very exciting trip to Babies R Us and the grocery store (I know you're all reading this and are so jealous). It was actually the first time I had driven my car since before we left for Korea. Yes, really. And I felt like a new women! If I had a convertible I would have thrown the top down and let the wind blow through my hair while blasting my favorite (non toddler) tunes. I did everything, just without the convertible. It was so great.
What is Maddyx eating? EVERYTHING! I mean, seriously, everything. It's become a little game for me. Each day I think to myself, what can I give Maddyx that he'd possibly turn away? Hmmm....how about chunk light tuna? Nope, loved it. What about stir fry veggies? Loved that too. String cheese, yep, liked that. Rice, beans, hamburger, turkey, pasta, salmon, crab, mahi mahi - liked them all. And he loooooves water. That's all he drinks outside of his formula. Haven't had to give him a lick of juice. Such a good eater. I mean he is 29lbs, did I ever doubt that he was?
Sleeping. Here's where we're at with sleep. As I said earlier about the naps, well, they're TOO SHORT! C'mon Maddyx, Mommy has got to get some stuff done during the day! Like for one, call people back. I apologize to all of you whom I owe phone calls to. You know who you are. We do two naps a day. One around 11am and the second around 3:30. This can change day to day. Just depends on what sort of mood Maddyx is in. No matter what, I stick to the routine. No matter how much he fights it, we just stick to the routine. It may mean it takes us over an hour to get him down for 15 minutes, but we still do it. And yes, this is so very hard. Then there's our bedtime routine. We do the same exact routine every night. After dinner we take a bath, then we hang in the nursery to do some quiet-time play. Pull books out, etc. Then we grab the Pororo pillow, the bottle and the three books we've (really me) chosen for the night. And I always end with the same one...I really think this helps. We sit in the rocker, read each book and once we're done we get up and turn out the light. For the next 15-45 mins I rock him and pray that it will only take 15 mins, versus the 45mins. Most times he will fall asleep and then I transfer him to bed. Sometimes he wakes and decides it's play time. Really? I just invested all of that time getting you to fall asleep just for you to wake up full of energy. Double sigh... Once he's down, which is around 8pm, he sleeps until 4:30 a.m. And then like clockwork he wakes. As of today, we've started giving him a bottle at 4:30 a.m. and bringing him to bed with us. He'll then sleep until 7:00-7:30. This will work. And for the record, Kasey and I take turns every night on the night duty shift. Not that the other can actually sleep while the crying baby squeals one room down, and it echos very loudly through the baby monitor, but at least you don't have to get out of bed. =)
I am realizing that this post has gotten really, REALLY long and this is probably super boring to those reading, so I will stop here. I have so much more to share, but I will keep you in suspense and share it in another post. LOL.
I'll leave you with a few cute pictures of the three boys in my house.
Surprise, we're now happy again. I'm telling you, the food works!
Let me just start this by saying, we have NEVER spent so much time within the walls of our home. And speaking of our home. Dear Lord, it. is. a. mess! Just today I sat down on the floor and sat right on a very hard yellow ball. Not only did it HURT like heck it actually pinched some sort of nerve in my booty! I mean, I was actually in tears. Then I looked around my house. And I thought some sort of explosion, a seriously large bomb has gone off inside my house. A bomb containing baby toys, baby clothes, baby bottles, baby teething products...(need I go on?) and thought, what the heck has happened to my very clean and organized home?!? Sigh.... I did really good the first couple of days. Picked up all of the stuff every time Maddyx took a nap. Swept, vacuumed...What happened? Well, Maddyx's naps have gotten progressively shorter. Sometimes we only get 15-20 minutes. Then it's a decision. Do I take a shower or do I clean up? I think I should take a shower. And there you have it.
How is Maddyx doing? I (we) think Maddyx is doing really, really well. We try to do one outing a day. Whether it be a walk to the park, a trip to Target, and we even hit Fashion Valley mall on Sunday. He typically lasts about 2 hours (max) before he starts arching his back and letting us know he's done sitting. We can easily subdue his frustration for at least another 30-45 mins with snacks. This is so awesome! This kid looooves to eat! As soon as he starts getting fussy we start throwing the snacks his way. And voila, he's a happy baby again. This allows you a chance to speed up your shopping and start making your way towards the exit and the final destination, home. Both Kasey and I have been able to run out (on our own) while the other stays home with Maddyx. No problems. Well, I've only done it once. And it was a big and very exciting trip to Babies R Us and the grocery store (I know you're all reading this and are so jealous). It was actually the first time I had driven my car since before we left for Korea. Yes, really. And I felt like a new women! If I had a convertible I would have thrown the top down and let the wind blow through my hair while blasting my favorite (non toddler) tunes. I did everything, just without the convertible. It was so great.
What is Maddyx eating? EVERYTHING! I mean, seriously, everything. It's become a little game for me. Each day I think to myself, what can I give Maddyx that he'd possibly turn away? Hmmm....how about chunk light tuna? Nope, loved it. What about stir fry veggies? Loved that too. String cheese, yep, liked that. Rice, beans, hamburger, turkey, pasta, salmon, crab, mahi mahi - liked them all. And he loooooves water. That's all he drinks outside of his formula. Haven't had to give him a lick of juice. Such a good eater. I mean he is 29lbs, did I ever doubt that he was?
Sleeping. Here's where we're at with sleep. As I said earlier about the naps, well, they're TOO SHORT! C'mon Maddyx, Mommy has got to get some stuff done during the day! Like for one, call people back. I apologize to all of you whom I owe phone calls to. You know who you are. We do two naps a day. One around 11am and the second around 3:30. This can change day to day. Just depends on what sort of mood Maddyx is in. No matter what, I stick to the routine. No matter how much he fights it, we just stick to the routine. It may mean it takes us over an hour to get him down for 15 minutes, but we still do it. And yes, this is so very hard. Then there's our bedtime routine. We do the same exact routine every night. After dinner we take a bath, then we hang in the nursery to do some quiet-time play. Pull books out, etc. Then we grab the Pororo pillow, the bottle and the three books we've (really me) chosen for the night. And I always end with the same one...I really think this helps. We sit in the rocker, read each book and once we're done we get up and turn out the light. For the next 15-45 mins I rock him and pray that it will only take 15 mins, versus the 45mins. Most times he will fall asleep and then I transfer him to bed. Sometimes he wakes and decides it's play time. Really? I just invested all of that time getting you to fall asleep just for you to wake up full of energy. Double sigh... Once he's down, which is around 8pm, he sleeps until 4:30 a.m. And then like clockwork he wakes. As of today, we've started giving him a bottle at 4:30 a.m. and bringing him to bed with us. He'll then sleep until 7:00-7:30. This will work. And for the record, Kasey and I take turns every night on the night duty shift. Not that the other can actually sleep while the crying baby squeals one room down, and it echos very loudly through the baby monitor, but at least you don't have to get out of bed. =)
I am realizing that this post has gotten really, REALLY long and this is probably super boring to those reading, so I will stop here. I have so much more to share, but I will keep you in suspense and share it in another post. LOL.
I'll leave you with a few cute pictures of the three boys in my house.
Oh, and I have to include these to show you the not-so-happy side of Maddyx. I think this was after he woke up from a nap. Let's just say he is really grouchy when he wakes up.
And here's how I turned that frown upside down...
Friday, September 10, 2010
Week Two - Fun Pics
Have I told you lately how FUN it is to have a ham for a son?!? I mean seriously, all of us Mom's and especially the new Moms loooove to take pictures of our kids. It's just an added bonus when you're child thinks he's a super model and will actually crawl towards you to give you a better shot. Yep, I love it. Just some fun pictures from the last couple of days....
P.S. thank you all for your love, and supportive comments regarding my last post!
There's a new super hero in town and he's sporting a new "do." I had to have some fun experimenting with the hair gel today. I think I just aged my baby by 4 years! He looks so grown up. And so handsome if I do say so myself.
And then there's the car...... he loves scooting around our yard in this thing. And Cooper loves to hang by his side. You can see these two are building a life-long friendship. They will some day be the very best of friends (just as soon as Cooper gets over the idea that this kid MUST be leaving some time soon so I can have my "only child" life back!). Love these boys!!
P.S. thank you all for your love, and supportive comments regarding my last post!
There's a new super hero in town and he's sporting a new "do." I had to have some fun experimenting with the hair gel today. I think I just aged my baby by 4 years! He looks so grown up. And so handsome if I do say so myself.
And then there's the car...... he loves scooting around our yard in this thing. And Cooper loves to hang by his side. You can see these two are building a life-long friendship. They will some day be the very best of friends (just as soon as Cooper gets over the idea that this kid MUST be leaving some time soon so I can have my "only child" life back!). Love these boys!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Some of the Not-so-Good
I've posted a lot of the "goods" about the adoption process, but I really feel like it's important that I also post some of the "not-so-good" parts too. As I know when you are struggling and searching for support it helps to know that there are others out there struggling with some of the same aches and pains as you. It also helps to know that what you are going through is some-what normal and you are not a complete failure. So here are a couple of things we've struggled with in our first week home...
The truth is, this is not easy. Even when you have a baby that is easy-going and pretty happy most of the time, as we do. This is still a brand new little person in your life that is used to someone else's parenting style, and a whole other life for that matter. I am a 30-something, first time parent, and learning as I go. I've become and instant Mom to a one year old who just met me a little over a week ago. I have moments of pure joy and others of complete dismay. My husband told me two nights after we returned home from Seoul with Maddyx, that I've cried more in the last week than I have in the last 10 years we've been together. Does that tell you anything? You're learning all about this new little life and yourself all at once. It's a life-changing experience that forces you to dig deep within your depths to find your truth. Not always pretty, but it is YOUR truth. These are the moments that define us and we must learn from each moment, both good and bad.
Thanks for letting me share. I think I just needed to use this blog as a journal today. Appreciate you listening.
- Hair Pulling.... Our first two days home Maddyx was literally pulling his own hair out. As he cried, he would take his hand and rip the hair out of the back of his head. It was so hard to watch. He mainly did it when it was bedtime and he was grieving. There was absolutely nothing we could do to stop him and I knew this was his way of trying to soothe himself, so we had to let him do it. No matter how hard that was.
- Head Rocking..... Along with pulling his hair he also rocked his head back and forth. The first couple of nights it was excessive and fast. I was actually really worried that there was something wrong with him. Until I figured out it was just another method he was using to try and soothe himself. So he was pulling his hair out, and rocking his head back and forth at the same time. Absolutely heart-breaking. And very scary for a first-time parent. Let me tell you.
The truth is, this is not easy. Even when you have a baby that is easy-going and pretty happy most of the time, as we do. This is still a brand new little person in your life that is used to someone else's parenting style, and a whole other life for that matter. I am a 30-something, first time parent, and learning as I go. I've become and instant Mom to a one year old who just met me a little over a week ago. I have moments of pure joy and others of complete dismay. My husband told me two nights after we returned home from Seoul with Maddyx, that I've cried more in the last week than I have in the last 10 years we've been together. Does that tell you anything? You're learning all about this new little life and yourself all at once. It's a life-changing experience that forces you to dig deep within your depths to find your truth. Not always pretty, but it is YOUR truth. These are the moments that define us and we must learn from each moment, both good and bad.
Thanks for letting me share. I think I just needed to use this blog as a journal today. Appreciate you listening.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
One Week as a Family
Today we celebrate one week together as a complete family of four (yes, I count Cooper, our dog!). I have to say, once we got through the trip back from Korea and the first two days home, things really just fell into place and became very easy and natural. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but I really think Maddyx is generally a pretty happy guy with an easy going demeanor. He is teething, which adds a little bit of crankiness to the mix, but not too bad at all.
Here are some updates from our first week.
Sleeping - Maddyx is now going to bed (in his crib) at 9pm and sleeping until 4am. As soon as he wakes (at 4am) I go in and rub his back until he falls back asleep. He usually just needs to see me walk in the door and he will lay right back down. He only stays asleep for about 30 more minutes before he wakes again. When I go in the second time I bring him back to bed with us. From there he sleeps until 7:30-9:00 a.m. After that, Daddy-duty kicks in. Daddy and Maddyx go downstairs and have some morning bonding time while Mommy gets a couple more hours of sleep! I've been sleeping until around 10:00 a.m. This is soooo not me, but I am really tired and I'm not a day-time napper. So I'm getting the sleep when I can! That's what they say you're supposed to do, right?!? He is also taking two naps a day. One around 11:00 and another around 3:00. This has been pretty consistent since day one.
Baths - Not liking the bath-thing just yet. His Foster Mom told me he liked baths and playing with the toys, but thus far, we have yet to meet that baby. We did, however, make some progress last night as he didn't scream when I put him in the tub. He just wouldn't sit down. He held on to me clinging for dear life while I splashed the water over him and cleaned him as best I could. Didn't cry though... Therefore, I see this as progress! Even if I did have soaking wet jeans when we were done. =)
Bonding - Maddyx makes wonderful eye contact with both Kasey and I. This is one of the things I read about in one of my bonding and attachment books, so I looked for it right away. He actually stares at me the entire time I feed him and also as he's falling asleep. He loves for us to hold him, and also likes his freedom to crawl and play. Seems to me like the perfect balance. If he's fussy, we immediately pick him up and hold him, and he wants this. The first couple of days we could not leave the room without a meltdown, but we're not seeing that anymore. Except when he's tired. He also does not go ANYWHERE without his Pororo pillow. Thank goodness for this pillow. I can see our son still carrying around this pillow 8 years down the road... and we don't mind!
Stroller and Car Seat - Loves walks and loves car rides. On a walk right now with Daddy and Cooper...
All that said, I think we're doing really well as a family. It's all about routine and consistency right now. What we've got going seems to be working really well. We do a lot of laughing around here, mostly due to Daddy's comedic relief. Maddyx finds so many things his Dad does funny. Mainly just the silly faces he's always making. Which comes in handy when we see the meltdown coming on. It's still a lot of work since the main focus is being 100% present for him right now. Which entails a lot of holding, running to his room immediately if he starts to cry and just plain proving to him that we will be there for him no matter what, and we are not ever going to leave him. This means not always having a super clean house, not getting showers and make-up until the afternoon nap and a whole lot of hangin' around the house time. I think Dad is ready to go back to work and more so, go play some golf (this is the longest he's gone without playing in all the years we've been together...it's been about 2 weeks), but I'm still pretty content in my new role as a SAM.
I will leave you with some fun pictures from our first week together....
Here are some updates from our first week.
Sleeping - Maddyx is now going to bed (in his crib) at 9pm and sleeping until 4am. As soon as he wakes (at 4am) I go in and rub his back until he falls back asleep. He usually just needs to see me walk in the door and he will lay right back down. He only stays asleep for about 30 more minutes before he wakes again. When I go in the second time I bring him back to bed with us. From there he sleeps until 7:30-9:00 a.m. After that, Daddy-duty kicks in. Daddy and Maddyx go downstairs and have some morning bonding time while Mommy gets a couple more hours of sleep! I've been sleeping until around 10:00 a.m. This is soooo not me, but I am really tired and I'm not a day-time napper. So I'm getting the sleep when I can! That's what they say you're supposed to do, right?!? He is also taking two naps a day. One around 11:00 and another around 3:00. This has been pretty consistent since day one.
Baths - Not liking the bath-thing just yet. His Foster Mom told me he liked baths and playing with the toys, but thus far, we have yet to meet that baby. We did, however, make some progress last night as he didn't scream when I put him in the tub. He just wouldn't sit down. He held on to me clinging for dear life while I splashed the water over him and cleaned him as best I could. Didn't cry though... Therefore, I see this as progress! Even if I did have soaking wet jeans when we were done. =)
Bonding - Maddyx makes wonderful eye contact with both Kasey and I. This is one of the things I read about in one of my bonding and attachment books, so I looked for it right away. He actually stares at me the entire time I feed him and also as he's falling asleep. He loves for us to hold him, and also likes his freedom to crawl and play. Seems to me like the perfect balance. If he's fussy, we immediately pick him up and hold him, and he wants this. The first couple of days we could not leave the room without a meltdown, but we're not seeing that anymore. Except when he's tired. He also does not go ANYWHERE without his Pororo pillow. Thank goodness for this pillow. I can see our son still carrying around this pillow 8 years down the road... and we don't mind!
Stroller and Car Seat - Loves walks and loves car rides. On a walk right now with Daddy and Cooper...
All that said, I think we're doing really well as a family. It's all about routine and consistency right now. What we've got going seems to be working really well. We do a lot of laughing around here, mostly due to Daddy's comedic relief. Maddyx finds so many things his Dad does funny. Mainly just the silly faces he's always making. Which comes in handy when we see the meltdown coming on. It's still a lot of work since the main focus is being 100% present for him right now. Which entails a lot of holding, running to his room immediately if he starts to cry and just plain proving to him that we will be there for him no matter what, and we are not ever going to leave him. This means not always having a super clean house, not getting showers and make-up until the afternoon nap and a whole lot of hangin' around the house time. I think Dad is ready to go back to work and more so, go play some golf (this is the longest he's gone without playing in all the years we've been together...it's been about 2 weeks), but I'm still pretty content in my new role as a SAM.
I will leave you with some fun pictures from our first week together....
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Catching Up....Our First Few Nights Home
I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to post an update. Needless to say, things have been VERY different around this household. The only time I have to do ANYTHING is when there's a nap in place. And those come and go very quickly. Here's a re-cap of our last four days and three nights home.
Lets start with the plane ride - Not Good. I've read so many great stories about a very easy trip/plane ride home. Unfortunately, this was not us. Let me just say this. We spent an hour on a bus to the airport (this went well). We spent three hours in the airport in Incheon (this went well too. He even took a nap). We spent 10.5 hours on a flight from Seoul to San Fran. This, however, did not go so well. He cried for about three hours straight. Beginning from the time we took off. I even tried the bottle as we took off hoping that this would help his little ears. Didn't work. Here's the good news. (If I look REAL hard I can see the positive now. At the time, I wanted to die). Once we got through the three straight hours of crying he slept for about 5 hours and was pretty content for the next couple. Then we land in San Fran. Here we stood in line at immigration for two and a half hours! Yes, I said two and a half. Thank goodness we had a three and a half hour layover. Otherwise we may have missed our flight home, and that would not have been good. From there we were on the homestretch to San Diego. By the time we made it home I was done. Hadn't slept in two days and all I wanted to do was cry. And cry. It was such an emotionally draining day and I thought we'd never be home. Good news. We are home!!!! Home never felt so good. When we arrived in San Diego we had a group of friends and family waiting for us with welcome home signs for Maddyx. We feel so lucky to have such amazing family and friends and I want to say how much we love you all. You have been such a wonderful support system through all of this and we couldn't have done it without you. Nor would we have wanted to.
There first couple of days home have been tough. There's just no easy way around it. These little babies are grieving, tired, scared and in such unfamiliar territory. Maddyx cried constantly for the first two days. It was very hard for all of us, but we knew this was coming. Although we prepared ourselves for it, it didn't make it any easier. The second night he cried until 3am. We just stayed by his side, sometimes taking turns (sometimes you have to just walk away and recompose yourself) and just tried to give him what he needed. You just don't know what they need and that is so hard. On top of everything else Maddyx was going through, he was also dealing with some serious teething pain. The MOLARS. Yep, they're coming in and he just could not get comfortable.
Now the good news. Last night when he refused to go to sleep in his room and had the typical breakdown about an hour or two into his bedtime (he'll fall asleep in his crib but only for a couple of hours), we decided to let him sleep with us, hoping that this would provide him some comfort and maybe let us get some much needed sleep. After about an hour and a half of him wiggling around and kicking both of us (not intentionally, he just flops a lot) he finally fell asleep. Until 8am!!! Success! We all got a full nights sleep. From there, the day went great (this is today....and as you can see I'm actually blogging). We have seen a whole new little boy today. He is happy, he is laughing and he didn't really cry much at all. He only whimpered a couple of times around nap time. WE. HAVE. MADE. PROGRESS! Such a great day. And we needed it. As I type (I am hiding in a corner of the living room where an unnamed baby cannot find me) Maddyx and Daddy are in the kitchen getting dinner together. Everyone is happy. I am so relieved.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I've fallen behind and had (still have) a lot to share. I'll leave you with some fun pictures from our first few days home. Take note (again), Maddyx LOVES the camera and will pretty much stop dead in his tracks (or his crying) to pose for a picture. It's pretty hilarious.
Below is Maddyx's first time in his booster seat. As you can see, not so happy. Not much made him happy the first couple of days. But watch how the pictures progress as he figures out he's on camera!
Lets start with the plane ride - Not Good. I've read so many great stories about a very easy trip/plane ride home. Unfortunately, this was not us. Let me just say this. We spent an hour on a bus to the airport (this went well). We spent three hours in the airport in Incheon (this went well too. He even took a nap). We spent 10.5 hours on a flight from Seoul to San Fran. This, however, did not go so well. He cried for about three hours straight. Beginning from the time we took off. I even tried the bottle as we took off hoping that this would help his little ears. Didn't work. Here's the good news. (If I look REAL hard I can see the positive now. At the time, I wanted to die). Once we got through the three straight hours of crying he slept for about 5 hours and was pretty content for the next couple. Then we land in San Fran. Here we stood in line at immigration for two and a half hours! Yes, I said two and a half. Thank goodness we had a three and a half hour layover. Otherwise we may have missed our flight home, and that would not have been good. From there we were on the homestretch to San Diego. By the time we made it home I was done. Hadn't slept in two days and all I wanted to do was cry. And cry. It was such an emotionally draining day and I thought we'd never be home. Good news. We are home!!!! Home never felt so good. When we arrived in San Diego we had a group of friends and family waiting for us with welcome home signs for Maddyx. We feel so lucky to have such amazing family and friends and I want to say how much we love you all. You have been such a wonderful support system through all of this and we couldn't have done it without you. Nor would we have wanted to.
There first couple of days home have been tough. There's just no easy way around it. These little babies are grieving, tired, scared and in such unfamiliar territory. Maddyx cried constantly for the first two days. It was very hard for all of us, but we knew this was coming. Although we prepared ourselves for it, it didn't make it any easier. The second night he cried until 3am. We just stayed by his side, sometimes taking turns (sometimes you have to just walk away and recompose yourself) and just tried to give him what he needed. You just don't know what they need and that is so hard. On top of everything else Maddyx was going through, he was also dealing with some serious teething pain. The MOLARS. Yep, they're coming in and he just could not get comfortable.
Now the good news. Last night when he refused to go to sleep in his room and had the typical breakdown about an hour or two into his bedtime (he'll fall asleep in his crib but only for a couple of hours), we decided to let him sleep with us, hoping that this would provide him some comfort and maybe let us get some much needed sleep. After about an hour and a half of him wiggling around and kicking both of us (not intentionally, he just flops a lot) he finally fell asleep. Until 8am!!! Success! We all got a full nights sleep. From there, the day went great (this is today....and as you can see I'm actually blogging). We have seen a whole new little boy today. He is happy, he is laughing and he didn't really cry much at all. He only whimpered a couple of times around nap time. WE. HAVE. MADE. PROGRESS! Such a great day. And we needed it. As I type (I am hiding in a corner of the living room where an unnamed baby cannot find me) Maddyx and Daddy are in the kitchen getting dinner together. Everyone is happy. I am so relieved.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I've fallen behind and had (still have) a lot to share. I'll leave you with some fun pictures from our first few days home. Take note (again), Maddyx LOVES the camera and will pretty much stop dead in his tracks (or his crying) to pose for a picture. It's pretty hilarious.
Below is Maddyx's first time in his booster seat. As you can see, not so happy. Not much made him happy the first couple of days. But watch how the pictures progress as he figures out he's on camera!
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