To Babywise...

Many of my girlfriends had babies before me and swore that a book or method often referred to as "baby-wising" ("On Becoming Babywise"), would save you. The method of babywise is to teach your baby to sleep on their own and your baby would be able to sleep through the night. And the way to teach your baby to sleep is by keeping to a schedule for baby and letting them "cry it out" for their naps so they learn to self-soothe. The concept makes sense and every mother I have spoken to that has "babywised" their child insists the method works and is a life-saver. And since I am getting ready to go to work, I thought, what the heck, I will give it a try.

This past week was "Mission: Babywise Noah." Let me just say that it was the hardest week of parenthood for me so far. Letting your baby "cry it out" is torture for a parent, especially for a first time parent. While he cried, I cried. I was constantly texting and calling my other mother friend's who had done this before to make sure this was going to work and everything was okay. By the third day, the crying wasn't as bad and he was still only getting up once a night. 

It hasn't been a full week yet, so Noah is still learning and I am still struggling, but we are pushing through. I know the methods of putting your baby on a schedule and allowing them to cry it out are controversial, but if both Noah and I are able to get 8 hours of straight sleep a night, I think it will make us better. We'll see how week 2 goes...

Little Baby, Big Boogers

Since Noah's birth, we have gotten compliments and comments on his nose. He doesn't have a "typical" Japanese nose that is kinda pug with no bridge. It's a fairly substantial nose and he has pretty big nostrils too. And what I found out is big nostrils=big boogers. Man, this little guy gets adult-sized boogers that are sometimes bigger than mine. This is an Akira trait, by the way. The hardest part is getting those suckers out of his nose. I have to use the nasal aspirator and tissue and then he cries. Ugh, oh well. More (unexpected) joys of parenthood.

Watching baby grow- 6 weeks

It's fascinating to watch little Noah reach these seemingly small, yet significant milestones. The small actions of him pushing his arms up and holding his head briefly, following objects or people as they move, or smiling when we give him a kiss, are all so exciting. And makes us look forward to all the other more exciting milestones to come.

What is also exciting is the last four nights he has gone with only one late night feeding! He will sleep from 9 p.m. for about four or five hours and wake at 2 a.m. and then sleep another three or four hours until 5 or 6 a.m. This is really helping me feel more like a normal person and less zombie like during the day. I don't even really need the afternoon nap...but I still enjoy taking them since once I go back to work naps are not an option.

When I am supposed to run the garbage disposer?

Okay, so all the websites, magazines, baby books, etc. tell you that when you are at home with your newborn to leave the housework and just take care of baby or take a nap when he's napping. So seriously, when the heck are you supposed to get the housework done if you do this? And if you leave the housework, it's still you that's going to be doing the housework, just later and you'll have more of it because you left it. When your hubby comes home he could help with the housework, but that means he'll be busy with the housework and not helping you with the baby or he'll help with the housework and you'll be taking care of baby, just as you were all day. Do you see the dilemma here?

So my question really is, when the heck am I supposed to run my garbage disposer? It's loud as heck and I don't want to run it when he's napping and never remember to do it when he's awake. Oh well, I guess besides having a messy house, I'll have a clogged sink until I remember to run that stupid disposer.

What is with the finger nails?

So I had heard that baby's sometimes are born with really long finger nails that need to be trimmed at birth. Noah was definitely one of those babies. He had these soft, long, sharp nails. When we got him home, we used our baby manicure set and filed them down (I didn't have the guts to use those nail clippers and risk clipping his finger off). But man, those suckers just keep on growing like weeds. I feel like I am filing them every other day. I had no idea how quickly they grow...

Poop, Pee and Spit Up

In his short life of 5 weeks, Noah has managed to spray poop at both Akira and I, pee on me on more than one occasion and almost spit up in my mouth (I was going to give him a kiss and there it came). Oh, the joys of parenthood. And I know there is much more of this to come in the months and years ahead.

His life still pretty much consists of sleeping, eating, pooping and crying. There has been more crying recently, but I can't really complain because he is still a pretty mellow guy. I hope he stays that way...don't want to jinx myself. But again, everyday is different. He grunts and groans a lot, which is definitely better than crying, but sometimes he sounds like a.....I can't think of it....some kind of grunting animal.

He is now 8.5 pounds and 19.75 inches long- still a small guy but he is gaining weight. And hopefully I am loosing the weight I gained by breastfeeding. Not even close to my pre-pregnancy weight, but at least I can squeeze myself into my fat jeans. It's hard too because I'm so fricken hungry after breastfeeding and I also now get to enjoy all the foods that I couldn't when I was pregnant- sushi, runny eggs, cold cuts, wine, etc.

Well, time to feed my little peanut.