Things I Am Forgetting

The photos have nothing to do with this blog post. They are just my favorite iPhone photos from the last month. After my normal post 3 a.m. wake-up, baby feeding time last night, I had insomnia, a frequent occurrence as of late, I realized I was forgetting things from Jamisen's first few months (already). Thus, I am setting my thoughts to paper for my future self - the future self that wants another baby and is going to forget all of this and be surprised by it all over again unless I warn her.

1. Jamisen cried. A lot. While it wasn't quite colic, it was definitely a lot of crying and he was inconsolable. This inconsolable crying stopped at about 3 months, 'ish.' Until then, it was like playing hot potato with a baby. Chris took one hour. I took another hour. He seemed to appreciate James Brown music and that would settle him. I am puzzled by his taste in music and trust he will outgrow it.

2. Breastfeeding has not been all hunky dory. Jamisen lost 12 ounces in his first four days in the hospital because my milk didn't come in. And then, when it came in, it was only enough for Jamisen's first 2 months of life. After that, he just screamed at my breast and we didn't understand why but it turns out, it's because I wasn't producing enough. Whoops. So for future babies, watch to make sure this doesn't happen.

3. I miss Jamisen dreadfully during the day. I am exceedingly thankful that I have a job, a calling, that I love and that I am successful at. And, still, at about 2 p.m. when all the urgent things have been done for the day, I find myself looking at photos of Jamisen, checking the NannyCam and texting the Nanny to get updates about what Jamisen is doing right this very second. That's our awesome nanny, McKenna, in the photo with Jamisen below.

4. Jamisen hates to sleep. Either he is always extremely hungry and needs to eat every 3 hours or he worries that he is missing out on something, but he is not a sleeper. For the last 4 months, Chris and I have been going to bed at 8 p.m. nightly so that we can get 6 to 8 hours interrupted sleep by morning. Lately, Chris has taken to bringing Jamisen with him to the guest room between 2 and 4 a.m. so I can sleep and Chris can just lean over and shove the pacifier in Jamisen's mouth when he wakes up, looking for it. This process is not fun. We are both tired. We hope and pray the next baby will love to sleep at night. It seems all of our friends have babies that sleep.

5. Jamisen is fascinated by fans and the movements and shadows that they make. I'll be reading to him and find him paying zero attention as he stares at the shadows the fan in our house make. This is both amusing and mildly disconcerting when I realize I might as well have reading Time magazine aloud for him.

6. Everything Jamisen does is infinitely fascinating, amazing and wonderful. Every little progress he makes fills us with pride, joy and such admiration. Every grunt, every little movement, every little smile is more genius than the last. He giggled this week and it was absolutely my best thing in the entire world.

Despite the schedule juggling, the lack of sleep and our only half functioning brains, Chris and I love being parents so so so very much. We crave time with Jamisen (well, not so much at 2 a.m. but most other times) and he is the best part of every day.