Saturday, March 15, 2008

Spoiler Alert: Devastatingly Cute Baby Pictures

Sorry the posting's been so random and infrequent the last few days. Eli's been VERY fussy the last week or so, and has also been getting up three and four times a night. I'm exhausted. I'm grumpy, too, because you have a certain level of TOLERANCE for this sort of nighttime behavior at six weeks old that you are sort of lacking at SIX MONTHS old. I'm trying, on the pediatrician's advice, to night wean him, but it's not so easy when he goes from "groggily awake and thinking about maybe eating" to "ravenously hungry and screaming for the walking milk machine to come get him NOW" in about five seconds. He shares a wall with Addy's bedroom, so it's not as though I can just let him "cry it out." And standing by his bed patting his back, as the doctor suggested when I told her of my dilemma, doesn't seem to do more than further enrage him. "You're RIGHT THERE!" he seems to be trying to convey to me. "Why not just whip the ole' boob out if you're going to be awake anyways?" I have to say, the logic of his argument is pretty convincing. I have managed to soothe him back to sleep without nursing exactly once so far. Ask me about night weaning in another month or so.

We had a showing of our house today, with less than twenty-four hours notice, so as soon as everyone was up and about I sent Jim and the kids to his parents' house and then cleaned like a Merry Maid on speed for about three hours. Due to Eli's frequent waking and my consequential tiredness, plus his fussiness during the day, I haven't done any kind of deep cleaning for over a week other than dishes, laundry, and picking up toys after the kids were in bed. It wouldn't have been that bad except that it has been in the thirties here all week, meaning piles of snow are melting into muddy slush everywhere you walk, plus it's rained the last few days, so there are also dirty puddles all over. So... add the dirty shoes plus the giant muddy dog and you have some very dirty floors. There was some frantic mopping going on here.
The house is getting shown again on Monday, which is good because I feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck, if you will, out of the thorough cleaning I did today. All I'll have to do is vacuum and tidy up for this next showing, hopefully, since everything got dusted and scrubbed already today.
All right, wake up there, you. I see you skimming through, wondering where those baby pictures are to redeem this ridiculously dull post. HERE:


Eli with his birthday buddy, Gabriel. Note the holding of hands taking place, completely of their own volition. Dab a sentimental tear away. Oh wait, that's MY tear. Sorry.



Cutey patooty.


The airplane game fails to amuse.



Straighten my posture and imagine away that giant zit on my chin and it's the perfect picture!

17 comments:

Mommy Daisy said...

Oh boy, good luck with the night weaning. That and sleeping through the night are hard things to get good advice about. Different people have different stories. I think you just have to try some things and do what works best for you. It will happen.

Good luck with house showings. I hope at least one of them goes your way!

Adorable photos. I can't believe how big Eli and Gabriel have gotten. I seriously thought when Eli was a newborn that he was going to favor you more, but each time I see him (and photos of him) I can see that's just not going to happen. Oh well, you still have a beautiful family!

Kelsey said...

I really can't imagine trying to keep the house clean enough for showings and waking up multiple times each night. Hang in there!

We're dealing with the muddy mess too, having a dog makes me hate spring sometimes.

Mary O said...

Cuuuuute baby pictures. Those big blue eyes are just to die for.
I hope you get some serious lookers on your house. Selling houses bites the big one.

Swistle said...

1) Henry is fussy and waking, too. WT heck.

2) When I FINALLY night-weaned the twins at FIFTEEN MONTHS, what worked for them was offering them a cup of milk instead. They would take a few sips, and then I would put them back in their cribs. But fifteen months is a whole different pot of tea than six months.

3) I love the TOLERANCE/lacking part.

4) I love the "Why not just whip the ole' boob out if you're going to be awake anyways?" part. Ha ha ha!

5) Merry Maid on speed! Ha ha ha!

Anonymous said...

You know the first thing I thought when I saw those photos? I mean, after "He's so freakin' cute!" of course. I thought, "Poor Sarah. Neither one of her kids look anything like her. They've both got her husband's coloring 100%." Then I thought that's not a bad thing at all. Why am I all "poor Sarah?" He kids are both adorable.

Maybe it's because I'm over here obsessively peering at my daughter looking for any tiny sign that she might look something remotely like me at some point in her life. Maybe.

clueless but hopeful mama said...

Okay, you caught me, I skipped to the pictures and then went back to the post.

Whaddaya want? You TOLD us there were cute pictures to be had! I'm only human.

d e v a n said...

Aw, cute pics! :)

Good luck with your showings.

Maggie said...

Do you have any of that speed left over? Because I'm trying to clean up around here and getting a big fat NOTHING done.

I have to say that although he might be a little angry in the middle of the night at the attempted weaning, he sure doesn't look any worse for wear - he is adorable!

Anonymous said...

Adorable pics - look at those big eyes!!!

Good luck on the showings! We haven't had one for about a month now and I have become completely lax about keeping the house clean. I'm going to have a heart attack/panic attack when we finally get another one because there will be So Much To Do. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

awww..cute pics!

Jess said...

Oh that is a cute baby! I love that last picture especially. And I hope your house sells, stat.

bananafana said...

Those pictures are adorable! I can't believe he's so big!!!!

This time of year always makes me wish we didn't have a dog. It always amazes me how messy he can be/where he can splash mud with his tail. I can't imagine trying to sell our house - GOOD LUCK! hope one of those showings is your buyer

LoriD said...

He is CUTE!

We were doing a major clean this weekend (just because) and Homer commented that we haven't cleaned like that since we had our house on the market! Sad, I know.

Katy said...

I never tried any sort of weaning with Charlie. I just fed him when he was hungry and eventually he kept sleeping later and later. It didn't happen till about six months, though. I realize that this goes against all the mothering advice in the world, but it was easiest for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't have any advice with the night weaning.

Pickles and Dimes said...

Awwww, I am melting at the big blue eyes!

Erin said...

WOW. Look at those BLUE EYES. I think I've said that before about your children, but they are beautiful and captivating.

Anonymous said...

There must be something in the air - my previously sleeping through the night, 9 month old, has started waking up in the middle of the night for the last 2 weeks. WTF? So frustrating!

Good to see that your lack of sleep hasn't robbed either one of you of your high adorableness factor.