This is Isabella. She cries. And cries. And cries. She is still very, very cute and very, very loveable but she cries an awful lot! That makes for a very hard time to get other necessities in life done. Like cleaning the house. Like bathing the dogs. Like bathing the kids. Like taking a shower. Even getting myself to look unscary. And blogging. "This too shall pass!" is what I repeat to myself daily. The good thing is, I truly know it will. Repetition is what has taught me this very valuable lesson of "This too shall pass!" Repetition of having 5 other little girls ahead of her that have had various challenging characteristics or phases. Like one colicky baby (our first). Like many tantrumy children. Like several aspiring artists. Like lots of fighting warriors. Like terrible tattle-tailing. And many loveable, cherishable characteristics. Like calling me, "Mama" (I miss that, now I'm just "Mom"). Like the innocence of toddlerhood. Like the total trust that Mom and Dad know what they are talking about. Like believing in the magic of Santa Claus (two of them have caught on that although Santa really exists, he is a little different than they once believed). So I have learned to cherish each moment, good and bad, because "This too shall pass!"
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Oh, I know how that feels! Hang in there. It is so frustrating not being able to get anything done. Especially when you have 5 older kids who need to eat a decent meal every once in a while! My fourth cried and cried and cried and spit up and cried and spit up some more. The only way he would be happy was if I would walk him around outside. I thought I would go crazy! He turned into the easiest, sweetest toddler you could imagine. Right after I weaned him. So maybe he was sensitive to the breast milk (or, rather, some proteins in it).
Speaking of which, someone suggested to me that for subsequent babies I take digestive enzymes while nursing; something about my body not breaking down the proteins sufficiently and letting them escape into the breast milk? It's worth a try....
Well, I found that wearing the baby helped alot in the getting things done area, but I didn't have bathe the dogs on my list, so GOO LUCK!!! :D I'm sorry that she's so vocal, ear plugs?! :P
Could ya use some ear plugs? My first cried for 3 months straight and now she's 16 and it seems like it was a bad dream I had once. This too shall pass faster than you think!
I pulled out the Baby Bjorn carrier again the day that I posted this and wore her in the carrier the rest of the day. It worked better this time! I had used it before and for the first while it worked well, then for some reason she didn't care for it. I just held her then after that and learned to get the most important things done with her on one arm, I learned to delegate to my kids to the point of exasperation on their part, and otherwise I just sat tight and enjoyed holding the baby! :)
What digestive enzymes did you take and where can I get some? I am thinking that it is something to do with the breast milk as well. It doesn't seem to correlate with any one food in particular so that is why I've also been thinking that it may be more related to a food allergy or my breast milk or something. I started using the gas drops with each feeding that I remember to give them and it seems like it is helping some. We'll see but although it sounds treachorous on one hand, I really don't mind so much on the other hand. I love holding her and now have a reason, a true and legitimate reason why my house isn't caught up! ;)
Sounds like you have the right attitude about enjoying it all...the good and the not so good. I was going to suggest the Baby Bjorn (my sons LOVED that thing!), but I see you already thought of that! Hang in there! God bless.
By the way, I decided to try the Baby Bjorn with her facing outward and guess what! She loves it!!! She still fusses a bit when in there off and on but she is more content in there than out. An added bonus to that is I love holding her anyway so it's a nice way to get some holding time in while using both hands. Another added bonus (so now that's TWO bonuses) is that my oldest daughter loves, loves, LOVES holding her and using the Baby Bjorn so as I type, she has baby in the carrier sound asleep and is playing SkipBo with her younger sister! It's a win-win..win-win-win situation!! :)
Hey lil' sis! Can't believe I figured out how to get on here. I've tried a few times and had forgotten my user name, believe it or not! So between your busy house and mine, we just don't seem to connect quite as often these days, hey? Haven't even talked to you since Christmas? Unbelievable!
Cole has double ear infection, and Niclas seems to be coming down with something. Our social-bug wasn't interested in going out the door this evening (were going to all go to church) - he was dragging his feet as we were going out the door, and he had his stuffed dog along. We decided that he's coming down with something, so I stayed with these 2 and Lukie. He's now telling me that he's getting a headache. So ... house is a mess, as you can imagine. But oh well. Such is life.
So avoiding milk and eggs didn't do a thing for Baby Bella's tummy ache, hey? You're such a good mom, tho'- you know how to prioritize. It'll all come back to you some day when you put your kids needs first!
I'm listening online here ... better try focus on one thing, cuz that's hard enough for me. Two things is too hard! Gotta get together soon!
I just typed a lengthy comment in here (surprise, hey?!) - all proud of myself that I finally figured out how to log in ... and then my comments disappeared in internet la-la-land! Don't jaksaa to write it again - anyway, let's get together sometime!
Hey, Joni! I had wondered if you had ever come on here and read my rantings...you hear it first-hand quite often so a lot of this is probably old news to you! :) Good to hear from you. Did Ami tell you that we called to invite you for New Year's Eve? He said that you guys thought that Nic might be coming down with something. We ended up with Kristin and Gregg and girls...was really fun! Gregg started teaching the girls chess and guess what! Chess is the hit of the household!!! Will blog on that tonight if I get around to it. Call me!
Oh, by the way, the comments don't show up right away like they used to. I changed it so that I first approve all comments...only so that I don't miss any comments. I had worried that if someone reads an old post and comments, I might not go back and notice them. One other thing, I decided that I am going to go on an all oatmeal diet (just kidding...just a super bland, non-offensive diet) for the week and see if that helps. If she is just as fussy, I am going to bring her in. I've been wondering if it's a relux problem for the amount she spits up. I have to focus sooo much time into making sure that I have her upright at a certain angle, not patting her back too hard, upright for a certain amount of time after eating, and on and on, just to make sure she doesn't spit up too much of her feeding. Yet she spits up much of her feedings anyway. So hard to know what to do but I decided it's time to pull out all stops, majorly change my diet first, then have her checked for reflux and whatever else it could be...food allergies perhaps? I'll let you know how it goes this week.
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