Being Momma G: Day 57

Sleep is for the weak and the dead. That's why I don't sleep.

Oh, OK, so sleep is also for those who don't have babies, or more to the point, don't have babies who want to feed throughout the night.

Our baby decided he wanted to snack feed throughout the night. At 1am. At 3am. At 4.30am. And at 6.30am. By the time he cried for a feed at 7.30am, I was in no state to feed him. Jonathan was able to sleep through a lot of the feeding, so he got out of bed, took the baby into the kitchen, made up a bottle of formula and tried to feed it to Sean. Sean drank 10mL and refused to have more, and only went back to sleep if Jonathan was holding him.

I managed to get a little bit of sleep while Jonathan was working his magic, but there was no denying the little guy at 8.45am when he wanted more milk. I got up and fed the little guy, and Jonathan took him back to settle back to sleep, as I needed to get on with a few things for the day.

We were expecting some visitors today - Andy and Kerry were coming by for lunch and I needed to prep a few things for lunch - chicken and vegetable skewers and a green salad, and triple chocolate brownies for dessert. Jonathan was able to settle Sean quite easily, and then set about tidying up the house a little bit in anticipation of our visitors' arrival.

The brownies were super easy to make - after all, I cheated and used the Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Brownie mix, and threw in some macadamia nuts (because I liked the nuts). The result was one pan of super yummy fudgey nutty chocolate brownie.

I was nearly finished with the skewers by the time Sean wanted another meal, so Jonathan held Sean and they both watched me as I finished and cleaned up before feeding Sean. Sean must have know we were expecting visitors, as he was hard to put down for a sleep, and when we were successful, only slept for a short while.

Andy and Kerry arrived just before 1pm, and as Sean was still awake, Kerry enjoyed a short cuddle with the little man. Kerry managed to settle Sean, so we popped him back into the bassinet and we went back to the lounge room. The skewers were in the oven cooking away and we enjoyed a beer and I enjoyed some adult conversation.

Just as lunch was ready to be served, Sean woke up and wanted to be part of the lunch party. There was plenty to eat, with everyone laughing at how much I'd over-catered for the 4 of us. We sat down to the yummy skewers, with Jonathan holding Sean so he could be part of the conversation. Andy and Kerry had brought a lovely bottle of wine, which was shared between them and Jonathan, and we all enjoyed my handiwork. By the time we were full, there were only 4 skewers left - 2 chicken and vegetable skewers and 2 vegetable skewers. Ha! So I didn't over-cater after all!

After lunch, we migrated to the lounge to enjoy the brownies and a wheel of double brie cheese. Jonathan showed Andy and Kerry his media setup, and put on Piranha 3D for us to watch. What a schlock of a horror movie - I watched some of it out of the corner of my eye and decided it wasn't something I would have wanted to pay for. Meanwhile, as we had all had lunch, it was time to give Sean his, for which he was grateful.

All too soon, Andy and Kerry had to leave. It was really lovely to have had them over for lunch, and we hope to have them over again soon.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Sean fed, we played, then Sean slept. We had developed a routine that seemed to be working well and everyone seemed to enjoy. I would feed Sean, burp him, change his nappy, then we would spend a few minutes playing together. When I say "playing", I mean we would both lie on the bed, on our sides, facing each other. I'd talk to Sean, and he'd make shapes with his mouth that looked like he was talking back. Or he'd stick his tongue in and out of his mouth. Mostly, Sean would just smile - big open mouth smiles, smiles with his eyes, such happy, joyful, heart melting smiles. Sometimes, he'd laugh too - such magical music to my ears.

Jonathan had a routine with Sean as well, as Jonathan was in charge of bath time. Sean loved bath time, and Jonathan had recently given Sean a bit more floating time while he was in the bath, which Sean loved. The boys loved spending this precious time together, with Jonathan giving Sean full body massages with moisturiser after the bath. Sean didn't always enjoy the moisturising rub, but he always smelled lovely afterwards.

After playtime, we'd put Sean to sleep at the first sign of tiredness. The signs were easier to catch these days - Sean would look away from us, or yawn. His hands would become clenched in fists and his legs would become jerky. As soon as we spot these signs, we'd wrap Sean up in the Miracle Blanket and start the routine to put him to sleep.

The routine was simple enough - we'd cradle Sean in our arms, and pat his bottom and make "shushing" noises until Sean's eyes closed, and then we'd put him in the bassinet. If Sean's eyes sprang open, we'd rock the bassinet back and forth until his eyes closed and he was off to sleep. Most of the time, this would take around 10 minutes. Sometimes, we'd get lucky and Sean would be asleep in 5 minutes. Other times, it could take up to 30 minutes.

With the routine almost down pat, Jonathan and I feel like we are more free to do things around the routine. The routine was obviously not easily followed if we were out and about, but it was working at home, for which we are grateful.

Speaking of routines working, Sean is now asleep, and with Mina visiting tomorrow, we should be heading off to bed. Here's to working on the routine again tomorrow!