Daily Riley!

Guess who?! Not Riley… Riley’s daddy! Not a spitting image at ALL!

It’s like we 3D printed 5 month old daddy and stuck my eyes on.

Daily Riley!

I have a feeling that this little trooper will cut a tooth soon. It feels like he’s 6 weeks old again, waking up every hour all night. I bought him an amber teething necklace to see if it would help, but his dad isn’t comfortable with having it on at bedtime. I agree, but they are made with a clasp that will unfasten if pulled on at all…

Anywho, look at that face!!

Daily Riley!

I think it’s time for early teething! Did you know that babies can start teething 1-3 months before they actually cut teeth? I didn’t. Mr. Man is a constant flow of drool lately. His current favourite activities are biting his fists, biting my knuckles, and giving me the teensiest little hickies on my arms as he impatiently awaits his bottle. Poor little guy had a pretty restless night last night and then awake for 6 hours after getting up!

Thankfully, as long as I keep the ants marching and the bononos oted, he is happy!

I have to post a second one of course! I was so inactive because I had a birthday and went to visit some family for the weekend.

Saturday was the first time going out since Riley was born and he got to hang out with nana and papa for the night. I may have had my phone in hand all night, but I somehow resisted calling to check in every hour.

I missed my little sweetie so much, I feel like I’ve hardly put him down since coming home.

Daily Riley!

The best start to my morning is laying in bed as the sun comes up with my smiley little boy. He was up almost every hour last night and I am struggling to keep my eyes open. Thank goodness his dad is the best and stays up with him for a bit when he gets home from midnights so this mama gets a little nap! Enjoy this daily dose of cute!

Daily Riley!

This guy has been seriously grumpy! So much to see, hear, touch. All that growing and eating tuckered him right out for a nap on mama’s lap.

I can’t imagine 2 under 2

For any mamas out there with more than one young child of any age or quantity, you are amazing. To all of the mamas who don’t fit that category, you are also amazing.

Seriously.

But holyyyyyy, Riley man is 10 weeks and 2 days old and he is giving me hell! (That’a boy! I was wondering when his Irish temper would come out) I’ve read that between the ages of 8-12 weeks can be diffifult for various reasons…

The first would be the 8 week shots. Riley just got his at 9.5 weeks because his pediatrician, as praised and popular as he may be, was impossible to get ahold of. Seriously, I called at 12pm on a Wednesday one time and the answering machine was more or less “thank you for calling we are closed for the weekend. Please do not leave a message, but call back Monday morning.” There is so much wrong with that in my opinion. I get that pediatricians are often not JUST practicing in the office, but at times are on-call at the hospital, but Wednesday at noon??? Really??? And don’t leave a message? What is the receptionist even there for? Anyways, rant aside, we have an amazing family doctor here in town now.

The second would be growth spurt/development leap. For my baby at least, he will have a few days of hardly napping at all during the day and being extremely fussy at night followed by a few days of sleeping and eating like crazy and showing off new coos or babbles. During our last run-in with the growth spurt fairy, Riley had a 12-hour wake period! (A couple 15-30 min naps but come on that doesn’t count when it takes that long to feed yourself in between)

The third is actually a very interesting reason and I am 100% sure that this is why my guy is so miserable. The recent literature I’ve gone through suggests that around this age (8-12 weeks), babies’ senses are well on their way to development and sights, sounds, tastes, textures, it’s all brand new. What is not developed yet is the ability to tune out all or select stimulations and so the baby gets overwhelmed.

To me, this age has been the most challenging so far. My head starts to throb after so many hours of screaming. Not crying. Screaming. Aside from that, it’s still really not that bad. As a mother (maybe even as a father, but I can’t speak for them as I’m not a man), you just develop a sense of impenetrable calm. After about 5 minutes of screaming, my head hurts but my brain kind of just tunes it out.

Would I be as calm if I had this screaming as well as another little one to get to bed on time, bathe, feed, etc.? Who knows. I’d like to say no I would not be. But I also used to be scared of babies and now look at me!

Anyways, I salute all of you mothers of fussy babies, mothers of multiples, mothers of young children, and all other flavours of mommies. You all rock and we are all kicking butt!

Daily Riley!

I took this at the end of the day yesterday with every intention to post it, but a certain amazing boyfriend of mine offered to get up with him all night (on his day off) and this mama got 7 hours of sleep! So the delayed daily Riley is definitely worth it.

Daily Riley!

Mr. Man got his shots a couple days ago and has not been a happy camper! Today he’s finally back to his usual grinning self.

It breaks your heart as a mother to see your baby so upset and nearly inconsolable, but the best thing to do is to stay relaxed and create a comfortable, healing atmosphere for your mini. We’ve had some long nights over the past couple of days, but it’s nothing a little patience and snuggles can’t help.