The Early Weeks

How many times has someone told me that every child is DIFFERENT. I heard that word a hundred times if I heard it once, and it scared me each time. Noah felt like such an easy baby that "different" sounded a lot like, "you're doomed."

Thankfully, Noah and Aaron have their differences, but they're not opposites. Noah was laid-back while Aaron is more sensitive, but both are great sleepers and eaters and neither is grumpy.

In fact, Aaron is a doll. I'm in love with his perfect little features - the dark blue eyes, button nose, quivering lower lip, and bright red hair make me melt. He's precious to snuggle and nurse and love on. And I'm eager to know the boy he will become.

I'm particularly well equipped to rave because Aaron sleeps between nighttime feedings (around 10pm, 2am, 5am) and sometimes skips a feeding (10pm, 3am, 7am)! Life is far more manageable when you can get 5-6 hours of sleep. Thank you, sweet boy.

Of course, parenting is never simple. If I had learned it all the first time, I'd have forgotten enough by now that it wouldn't matter. So it shouldn't surprise me that I can't remember how to handle a baby who can't be expected to self-soothe. The tough-love techniques that served me so well much of Noah's first year just don't apply these first months.

My current challenge is figuring out how to respond when Aaron is awake. If he's awake, he usually prefers to be held (and sometimes walked). Thankfully he's not difficult to comfort, but there's not much one can accomplish when you're walking an infant. I've actually started watching Oprah again.

I used to hear people say their baby liked to be held, and I assumed it was because they "spoiled" them with constant holding. Now, I know babies can pop out of the womb that way and what are you going to do, let them scream it out in the bouncy seat? Maybe at 3ms, but not at 3wks.

So we're swaddling, swinging, and examining my diet for irritants (so far, tomatoes top the list), but mostly we're just waiting it out as Aaron begins to discover his hands (delicious!) and his little GI system figures out flatulence.

Next challenge: At what point do I insist on a more BabyWise 3-hour schedule? I'm thinking around 8 weeks, but I'm open to suggestion.