Let’s see…
Timmy is now five week old. I’ve been trying to get an update written for a week (thus, the blog title), but obviously that has turned out to be somewhat difficult to accomplish. So here are some of the highlights.
I cannot keep Erin and Megan from shoving Timmy’s pacifier into his mouth at random moments. Usually, but not always, he is crying when they do. And the are so proud of the themselves when he actually takes it. But sometimes, I’m sure they just shove the thing in his mouth by force, poor kid.
T’s last bath also seemed to erase some of his hair. Or it could have been Megan’s tendency to polish his head like a bowling ball (with her hand). But either way, he’s got a massively receding hairline these days. It’s very cute in a little-old-man sort of way.
Alex has stopped participating in bedtime story time because he uses those moments to get uninterrupted Timmy Time. He pushes a little stool over to the crib and stands there looking at him and talking to him while everyone else is in the other room.
Timmy has quite a strong neck and upper body. Alex was the same way. In his calm moments, he just holds his head up and looks around with his still-dark eyes. He seems to have a very serious disposition, too. His general look is solemn, even concerned (he has a very expressive forehead actually), but given the crazy family into which he was born — without his consent, mind you — I think a bit of concern is probably in order. On the other hand, he gave me a full-fledged smile the other day that lit up his entire face – so, so adorable!
We get some of the best interactions with him on his changing pad, especially at bedtime. Get his diaper changed and jammies on, and he just lays there listening to you talk to him, eyes fixed on you. Love it.
He’s definitely growing (his next well-visit is this week, so we’ll see how big he is), but he’s still just the perfect little armful for me. And sometimes I even remember to just snuggle with him instead of getting on to the next thing. Don’t want to waste these few sweet days, right?
Oh, and can I just say how much I love the Babies R Us trade in event. They do this a couple of times a year (it’s on right now), and it is fabulous. We got a new stroller by trading in an old one we never used that didn’t work exactly right. No trying to sell it or what not…nope, just hand it to them and get 25% off a stroller that, as it turns out, should be perfect for us. In fact, I put the new stroller together this morning, and the three older kids played on it like a new toy most of the morning. Nice!
Of course, there are rough patches, too. Megan and Timmy both have colds. Meg’s is a (horribly) runny nose, but T is stuffy. It’s SO not fun to listen to a little one trying to figure out how to breathe and eat, all at the same time. Hopefully, it’ll be a quick run and they’ll be back on top in a day or two (and hopefully, the twins don’t get it, though I’m not holding my breath on that one!).
And for me, the exhaustion has definitely set it. It got really bad a week or so ago when lack of sleep got combined with sickness (me), Meg & Alex not sleeping, serious gas issues and a growth spurt (both Timmy). I was barely hanging on. Seriously. And it’s funny, on the third go-round, you’d think I would have been ready for it. But no, that kind of exhaustion just knocks you out every time. Of course, I have some lessons tucked away…the reality that, with babies this small, every change lasts about a week. Good week? Great…it’ll change in a week or so. Really bad week? Don’t worry…in another few days, it’ll change. And then of course, my cousin Michelle was absolutely right. You can do your best to “catch up” on sleep, but the truth is, you just learn to live without it. So we just slogged through. And things are better. For now anyway (ask me again next week – we’re about due for the 6 week growth spurt!)…
Still, we are making it. At some moments, “epic” doesn’t even begin to cover the magnitude of my mom fails. Other moments, we manage to look like we’re handling all four without a hitch. Some days I remember that Eric needs some attention, too. Other days, I even get something other than feeding Timmy and working on the laundry done…woohoo!
But regardless, we have survived the first month. Can’t wait to see where we go from here…
