My re-education through 4 months

Given my limited experience with babies, I don't suppose I should really be surprised that quite a bit of what I thought I knew about babies has been dispelled based upon my experience these last 4 months.  Here are just a few examples:

Myth #1:  All little babies are lazy freeloaders.


For the first 3 months, Coop rarely allowed himself to nod off during the day.  When he did, it was only for about 15-20 minutes.  The first month, he had two 3-hour stretches of sleep between meals; the second and third, one 4-6 hour stretch with another 2-3 follow-up.

During those waking hours, he was constantly moving.  Kicking his feet, flailing his arms, watching the ceiling fan, using his head as a deadly weapon...  You get my drift.

But the kicker has been the fact that he seems to be much more interested in standing than sitting up or crawling.  His legs are very strong and with a little support he can stand up straight and occasionally ventures taking a step or two.  He's managed to sit up from 45 degrees, but when I try to help him along by placing my Boppy-ish pillow behind his back for support...  he quickly tries to get himself into a bridge pose.  He's finally gotten to the point where he doesn't absolutely HATE tummy time, so he's doing a little bit of work on crawling, but no rush on that one.  I can only imagine the trouble he'll get into once he's mobile.  YIKES!

At least he's sleeping a bit more at night and taking naps during the day now...  I'll try to make the most of it now.

Myth #2:  It's easy to put a baby on a schedule.

The Baby Whisperer's book was a good read.  I have to admit that I felt a little more knowledgeable having read it, BUT especially now that I'm at home with him full-time, it's almost impossible to imagine having him on a defined schedule.  Only in the past week or two has he been eating at consistent intervals (6.75 oz every 4 hours).  He has gotten to the point of taking naps for about 45 minutes up to 2 hours, but it's a crap shoot as to exactly when.  Now, I suppose the blame is on me with this one, but I personally prefer going with the flow.

Myth #3:  Babies don't make for good company.

Just the other day, my MIL was reminiscing about the days when my hubs and his little brother were wee ones.  I believe the exact words used were : "I don't remember them really being human until about 6 months."  Now, it's been about a quarter century since her youngest was Coop's age and memories are subject to change with time, but the statement didn't strike me as odd when she said it as I had previously been under that impression.

When I mentioned my desire to be a stay at home mom back before Coop was born, I remember having many of my friends tell me how they had the same desire at one point, but decided that they just loved interaction with people too much to do so.  Now make no mistake, I do wish I had someone in the neighborhood that I could just chat about Mommy things with, but honestly, Coop is just a delight.

Sure he can't form words yet, but there's something really special about his trills, gurgles, giggles, and the various other sounds he uses to converse with me.  Oh and that little smile just speaks volumes.  We have fun at story time, even though I think I get more out of the actual stories than he does at this point, but he does love trying to close the book or grabbing a particularly interesting page.  Playtime is a blast - toys that play music seem to be his favorites, but he also likes a good rattle - a trend there?   Geez, reading over this I can't help but wonder if I'm perhaps a bit loony...  Wouldn't be the first time I've doubted my sanity.

Ah, he's just a wonder to me, and I'm looking forward to getting to help him develop into the man he will one day become.  I knew I would love him, but I had no idea how much fun it would be.  No doubt he's a handful at times...  just last night, he tried to play Houdini by escaping from his swing when we looked away for just a moment - so the fun for him is just beginning, but I like to think that our bond will only grow as we do.