Thursday, August 02, 2007

Thinking back to Baby #1 while preparing for Baby #2

I just started my fifth month of pregnancy for our second child and since I'm starting to show, I am more conscious that I am "expecting".
Our first son was born just 13 months after our first wedding anniversary. I was living in New Brunswick for the duration of the pregnancy and had a close friend who highly recommended a parenting book. So I picked up my copy and started reading. I then loaned it to my mother-in-law to see if she felt the ideas matched the advice she had been providing to me, which was babies need a schedule. Sleep, eat, play. Sleep. eat, play. That was the main structure of the schedule. So with my newborn, I began to work on those three areas of baby's life. My son, however didn't like sleep. He liked eating often and sleeping little. Three months in, I was a wreck. I was operating on much interrupted sleep and tricky breastfeeding issues. Things were not going well. At six months, I wanted to strangle anyone who suggested we might have more children. Then the tide began to turn. Baby began to sleep for longer intervals at night and have solid naps throughout the day. I forgot about writing in my Baby's First Year Calendar, it was a struggle I didn't want to record. Life began to smooth out. Baby was sleeping in his crib for at least 6-7 hours a night and napping predictably without needing a car ride or a sit in the swing(which we adamantly avoided). If he cried when put to bed, it only last for several minutes and then he was sound asleep immune to the noise of the guests in the living room. We were able to have mothers and in-laws put him to bed without much fuss and he enjoyed seeing these now familar faces. We worked on keeping quiet for church and prayer times and he worked on sitting up without falling over. Every visit to the doctor saw progress on his developmental curve. Yes, he wasn't crawling yet, but his legs were sturdy and his manner was alert and aware. So we waited, hoping it wouldn't take him too long to catch up. Crawling at 13 months was late, and perhaps so was walking at 17 months, but he was learning and there was nothing medically wrong with him. I congratulated parents whose children were outdoing our son, knowing that although he might be slower he would catch up in all the right areas.
Today our four year old son is a endurance runner; he has staying power. And his steady hands make fine motor skills come easier. He's now working on conquering the first levels of phonics. "Mommy, what letter does f-f-f-f-ast make?" I say, "ffffff". He says, "f!". Two weeks ago, he didn't understand this world-of-letters-having-their-own-unique-sounds thing. Today he went to play with the neighbor girls. He asked if he could ride his bike there(another newly acquired skill!). The path to their door is visible from our door. I said sure, surprised to see the bike interest growing. "Can I take monkey too?" Yes again. So monkey is carefully stuffed into the zippered bike bag. I carry the tricycle down the front steps, put on the helmet and sandals and help him navigate the brief incline to the walking path. Off he pedals to the neighbor's walkway. He brings the bike to a halt, climbs down and slips his helmet off his head. Hanging it on the handlebar, he walks around to the bike bag and hauls monkey from his zippered spot. He looks back at me while I wave to him. Slowly he walks to the front door, clutching monkey. I call to him to ring the doorbell and soon a little friend is there to let him in the air-conditioned house. He made it and I just watched, a little sad but mostly proud of how far he's come in four short years.

2 comments:

  1. 'Bess its little heart...............Nannie wishes she was there....Nannie wouldn't trade him for the world!!!!!!!

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  2. Anonymous6:36 PM

    Yes, and so does his "MemMem" !! This is the 2nd time I'm reading this awesome account of a day in the life of our little guy!
    I'm looking at this black and white screen through eyeball water!
    Give him a special hug tonight! and feel hugged yourself, americanadiangirl. =)

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