brief updatey-type thing
Apr. 21st, 2006 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamajoanI am mildly freaking out about next weekend (not the one that starts tomorrow, but the following one) when my mom will be out of town and so will our babysitter Sally. (And also our backup babysitter and friend-extraordinaire, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anotherjen!) If I've learned anything from the past two weekends, it's that Isaac and I can get pretty darn short-tempered with each other when it's just us and the baby -- he wants more attention than I can give, and I need more patience with him than I can seem to muster.
I know that all his misbehavior is totally normal (and is all saved up for me, based on what others are telling me -- he's a perfect angel when it's just him and grandma, for example) but that doesn't help me have patience with it when I'm already so tired and hormonal, and Ruth is occupying so much of my attention. I hate the feeling that lately all I do with Isaac is yell at him and tell him not to do stuff. Not only is he not getting much attention from me, but what little attention he is getting, is mostly negative. :( I was literally in tears the other day just thinking about how much I feel like I'm neglecting him. And again, I know it's all normal and temporary and so forth, but still...it's hard. And it's making me really nervous to think of a whole 3-day weekend (all our weekends are 3 days during my leave) with no grandma or Sally around to serve as a buffer and a substitute mom-figure to give him some attention. sigh.
Anyway, so if any of you Boston-area folks have any free time April 29-May 1, and want to come hang out, please let me know! Actual playing with Isaac would be lovely, but even just being an extra presence between us would be a help. Or you can hold the baby and coo at her while I play with Isaac. I'm hoping to arrange some one-on-one mama and Isaac time for this weekend, leaving Ruth with my mom for an hour or so.
(We haven't tried giving Ruth bottles yet, and there are many different theories out there as to when you should start a breastfed baby on bottles -- but since she is (omg!) almost a month old, I think we're ready to give it a try. I've been pumping a bit, and although I haven't exactly built up a huge stash yet, I've got enough to "waste" a few ounces on an experiment with grandma. I say "waste" because I don't want to push it, and if she won't take it, it'll have to be thrown away.)
(This part won't mean much to the majority of you, but just now I pumped for just five minutes and got six ounces!! woohoo! Go go gadget boobs!)
On the plus side, yesterday I got some sorely-needed cleaning and organizing done. I packed away a bunch of Isaac's winter clothes, making lots more room in the drawers of the dresser that serves as our changing table; and then I reorganized the clothes in the drawers, so that Isaac and Ruth each have their own drawers and their clothes are organized therein, for convenient dressing while diaper-changing. In the process I also unpacked and put away all the stuff from the multiple bags and boxes that were cluttering up the changing-table area. Since that area is also the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, having it cluttered is Bad, and having uncluttered it makes me feel very accomplished.
Now if only I had the time and energy to tackle all the random bags that have accumulated in the living room...sigh. Things got kind of chaotic in those first few days after Ruth's arrival, so the living room is totally cluttered with bags of random stuff that needs to be sorted and put away, etc....
oops, baby's awake, more later
anotherjen!) If I've learned anything from the past two weekends, it's that Isaac and I can get pretty darn short-tempered with each other when it's just us and the baby -- he wants more attention than I can give, and I need more patience with him than I can seem to muster.I know that all his misbehavior is totally normal (and is all saved up for me, based on what others are telling me -- he's a perfect angel when it's just him and grandma, for example) but that doesn't help me have patience with it when I'm already so tired and hormonal, and Ruth is occupying so much of my attention. I hate the feeling that lately all I do with Isaac is yell at him and tell him not to do stuff. Not only is he not getting much attention from me, but what little attention he is getting, is mostly negative. :( I was literally in tears the other day just thinking about how much I feel like I'm neglecting him. And again, I know it's all normal and temporary and so forth, but still...it's hard. And it's making me really nervous to think of a whole 3-day weekend (all our weekends are 3 days during my leave) with no grandma or Sally around to serve as a buffer and a substitute mom-figure to give him some attention. sigh.
Anyway, so if any of you Boston-area folks have any free time April 29-May 1, and want to come hang out, please let me know! Actual playing with Isaac would be lovely, but even just being an extra presence between us would be a help. Or you can hold the baby and coo at her while I play with Isaac. I'm hoping to arrange some one-on-one mama and Isaac time for this weekend, leaving Ruth with my mom for an hour or so.
(We haven't tried giving Ruth bottles yet, and there are many different theories out there as to when you should start a breastfed baby on bottles -- but since she is (omg!) almost a month old, I think we're ready to give it a try. I've been pumping a bit, and although I haven't exactly built up a huge stash yet, I've got enough to "waste" a few ounces on an experiment with grandma. I say "waste" because I don't want to push it, and if she won't take it, it'll have to be thrown away.)
(This part won't mean much to the majority of you, but just now I pumped for just five minutes and got six ounces!! woohoo! Go go gadget boobs!)
On the plus side, yesterday I got some sorely-needed cleaning and organizing done. I packed away a bunch of Isaac's winter clothes, making lots more room in the drawers of the dresser that serves as our changing table; and then I reorganized the clothes in the drawers, so that Isaac and Ruth each have their own drawers and their clothes are organized therein, for convenient dressing while diaper-changing. In the process I also unpacked and put away all the stuff from the multiple bags and boxes that were cluttering up the changing-table area. Since that area is also the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, having it cluttered is Bad, and having uncluttered it makes me feel very accomplished.
Now if only I had the time and energy to tackle all the random bags that have accumulated in the living room...sigh. Things got kind of chaotic in those first few days after Ruth's arrival, so the living room is totally cluttered with bags of random stuff that needs to be sorted and put away, etc....
oops, baby's awake, more later
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wow
Date: 2006-04-21 04:29 pm (UTC)Re: wow
Date: 2006-04-21 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 06:42 pm (UTC)I COMPLETELY understand and empathize what what you're going through with Isaac right now. I don't really have any words of wisdom for how to get through it and, as you've already said, you know it's temporary but that doesn't help. I just wanted to let you know that I went through that with my girls (who are roughly the same age difference) and I know it was really difficult. My lifeline was having my husband take over with the older one in the evenings. I also wanted to let you know that all of that happening with me and my older daughter does not seem to have damaged our relationship and we are still quite close, though I still sometimes yell at her too much. :(