Being Momma G: Day 68

A pattern is slowly emerging and Sean seems to be setting the pace!

We have been able to limit Sean's feeds between midnight and 6am to 2 feeds, usually at around 2am and then again at around 5.30am. As we are now topping up the 9pm / 9.30pm feed with formula, Sean has been able to sleep until around 2am before getting hungry again. Now if only Sean would go straight to sleep after the 9pm-ish feed, and if we were to go to bed at the same time, we would all get a good 4 hour stretch of sleep!

After going to bed around 10pm last night, post feed and bath, Sean stayed asleep until just before 2am. I felt quite refreshed when I woke to Sean's whimpering, so the feed was easy. Sean was quite tired and could only manage one side, and stayed asleep while I put him back into his bassinet.

Sean woke again at 4.30am for another feed. As he had only drank from one side earlier, I wasn't surprised he woke a bit earlier than anticipated. I gave him a good drink, even woke him during the feed to ensure he drank from both sides, before popping back into the bassinet again.

Jonathan left for work just before 7.30am, just when the little man wanted another feed. We stayed in bed for this feed and even though he was awake for most of this feed, Sean put himself back to sleep after returning to the bassinet. The little guy was showing a great deal of progress with the sleep training! While Sean was asleep, I got on with my morning routine - breakfast, coffee, shower, laundry, tidying the house.

Just before 10am, Sean became hungry again, and again I was too surprised - he only really wanted to suckle on one side during the previous feed, so I got him out of bed and fed him in the armchair. We had a bit of play time afterwards, shared some cuddles, before I put Sean back to sleep again. I needed him to sleep a bit longer, as we were going to see my parents for lunch today, and I didn't want Sean to be too much of a grizzly mood.

With Sean asleep, I ventured out into the backyard and had a look at my rose bushes. I had been wanting to prune the rose bushes for weeks and weeks, and today, I tackled the task. I had never pruned rose bushes before, so I hope I was doing the right thing, based on what I'd learned from watching Better Homes & Gardens. Armed with my secateurs, I pruned until I was happy with the rose bushes, and stood back and admired my handiwork. Just hope I haven't killed my gorgeous rose bushes!

While I was on a roll, I went to prune the geranium that was extremely overgrown. I ended up with a full garbage bag of clippings, which I set aside while I watered the other plants. The frangipani was so full of leaves and flowers - I remember the branches being bare when we first moved in.

By the time I was finished with the garden, Sean had woken up from his sleep. I went and collected him from his bassinet, and together, we walked down to the bins with the garbage bag of clippings. We checked the mailbox while we were there, before walking back to the house and getting ready for our outing. Besides having lunch with my folks, I also needed to check on the painters at the apartment, who had been painting since 8am.

Sean was in a fairly good mood when we started our trip, but once we got going, Sean's dislike for car trips reared its ugly head again. By the time we got to Chatswood, the little man was hot and bothered. I put Sean in the Minimonkey sling instead of the pram, and carried him up to the restaurant. As he had been so upset in the car, I figured Sean would appreciate being close to me for a little bit to calm down and get a bit more of a sleep.

Dad and Mum and I enjoyed our yum cha, while Sean was perfectly behaved, and even fell asleep after a while to allow me to eat my noodles. Just as we were finishing lunch, Sean woke up in a very good mood. If Sean was hungry, he certainly didn't let on, so after we left the restaurant and bade farewell to Dad and Mum, we went to Borders for a quick look at their trash and treasure table.

Last week, Jonathan and I paid a visit to Borders and Jonathan bought two CaliBowls which were heavily discounted. After using them over the week, I decided I would like to get 2 more to add to our set. Luckily, there were exactly 2 bowls left on the trash and treasure table, so I snapped them up and went to pay for them.

While Sean was still in a good mood, we paid a visit to Medicare to claim more money back from the hospital bills, then headed down to our gorgeous travel agent Mel to purchase some travel insurance for our trip to Hong Kong in April. By now, Sean was getting a bit hungry, so we went to the Parents Room where I fed Sean. He was calm and enjoyed the feed, which was great.

I still had 2 more places to visit while in Chatswood - Priceline to get some hand cream for Jonathan, and HCF to claim more money from the hospital bills. Sean remained in a good mood while at both establishments but was starting to tire. The wait in HCF was a long one, and as soon as we got our refund, we headed straight to St Leonards to check on the painters' progress.

The painters were still painting, and they had done a good job on the walls and the ceiling.. Andrew estimated he needed another 45 minutes or so to finish everything, including hanging the curtains back up and putting the shelves back into the wardrobe. As Sean was getting hungry and tired, I told Andrew to drop the keys and his invoice with Scotty our concierge when he was finished, and raced home with Sean to feed him and put him to bed.

Once we got home, the little man had a very good feed, and enjoyed a very good sleep. Jonathan and I were able to enjoy dinner without any interruptions.

Jonathan and Sean are now enjoying bath time, after Sean woke up just after 9pm for a feed. I need to go and make up a bottle of formula to top up Sean's dinner, and then we're all going off to bed. It's been a good day today. Here's hoping for more of the same!