Life Lately....

Hi all! I'm backkkk! I've really missed doing these posts but to be honest things have just been so crazy that I couldn't keep up.

Saji is growing so fast. I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital. He's already 2 months old and is "talking" (he is VERY vocal!), smiling, and trying to roll. He weighed in at 7lbs 12.5oz at his 2 month check-up and is right on-track with his growth.

He is exclusively breastfed now and still nurses every 2 hours.  He still has days where he's terrible at latching on, but then he'll get the hang of it again. I've introduced bottles to him now but only give him one like once or twice a week. I am not a fan of the mechanics of bottle-feeding and I hate pumping. I always feel so fatigued and have weird mood swings after pumping. (Anyone else experience the baby-blues post-pumping?) Nursing is just so much easier and more convenient for me and I like the bonding time. However, I do fight to stay awake during a few of our late night feeds... Instagram has been my savior on those occasions. For the most part, I don't see myself using bottles more frequently in the future except on the days that I work.

Speaking of work, I head back this week. I'm lucky that I'm able to work Saturdays for now and the husband can watch Saji, but it's still heartbreaking to think I will be leaving my sweet child for a long period of time. The only time I've spent apart from him has been a quick grocery trip about 2 weeks after he was born. Even then I was so worried he'd give my husband a hard time while I was away and kept calling home every few minutes. Emotionally, I don't feel ready to go back to work but I know that it'll just get harder as time goes on and if I stay home longer with him. I know there will be tears during my first shift back and I am one ugly crier! LOL!

Saji doesn't sleep through the night yet but he does start of with a good 4-5 hour stretch in the night and then wakes up for a feeding and goes back down for another 2 hours. He is still small for his age so his doctor doesn't expect him to sleep through the night anytime soon.  When he wakes up to nurse, the session usually lasts for about 45minutes which can be a little tiring but he rarely ever gives us a hard time to fall back asleep. We really lucked out with that!

I am a big fan of making sure baby gets in good naps throughout the day. It makes a huge difference in Saji's temperament.  He likes to play for long sessions (probably too long for a baby his age) so he gets tired quickly after playtime. I am very strict about how he naps because I want to make sure he gets quality sleep and has a healthy attitude about sleep.

I am loosely following the Baby Wise schedule for naps and feedings (nap, wake, feed, play, repeat). I'm not overly strict with it, because I believe you have to stay super flexible with babies. You just never know when a meltdown will happen! If Saji is hungry after our play session I will feed him because I feel like playing at that age really sucks energy out of babies and you have to replenish it especially if you plan to have intense playtime. He takes 2 really big naps during the day...one is shortly after we wake up in the morning and get through feedings and playtime and the other nap happens a few hours later. After his papa comes home everything gets a little messy. He has a hard time settling down for a nap after that...probably because the house is more lively when Viv comes home (humans are talking, dogs are barking, baby gets to play more). He tends to get fussy on evenings....that dreaded "witching hour"...and likes to cluster feed before bed.  I indulge his cluster feedings most of the time. I'll just park up on the couch and nurse off and on with mini breaks to stretch and rehydrate. I'll also wear him in my ring sling (the Sakura Bloom sling is my favorite)  when he's fussy and he usually falls right asleep. Despite his fussy moments in the evening, he still usually goes down for bedtime without fussing.

This sweet smile! <3

As for me, I think I'm managing well.  You get a lot of talks when you have a kid from everyone. "Wait 'til the baby comes, you'll never get sleep again...."  Going into this, Viv and I expected sleepless nights and hardwork, so I wouldn't say any of it was a shock. As much as I love Saji, he's not a perfectly calm and quiet baby. He has his meltdowns and tantrums, but that's what babies do.  It actually reminds me of the days when I got my dogs as puppies.

So in love with these two!

We are truly enjoying being parents. We spend a lot of time reflecting on my pregnancy and the delivery and can't help but smile when we see the result of all of our efforts. He is growing and changing so quickly that I just want to savor every minute of it!