Week 10: Mommy's Lack of Objectivity

Ten weeks already. I can't believe it. As my Dad said this week, "double digits already!" I'm terrified of how fast time is flying already - and I know it's only going to go faster.

Daniel's doing great - sleeping through the night like a champ. The one night he woke up at 4 a.m. was the night we skipped his late night feeding and put him down at 8:30. So we learned our lesson there. Now his last feeding is at 10 p.m. for at least a few more weeks. He goes all the way to 7 a.m., usually. Sometimes longer!

This week I did the unthinkable and volunteered in our church's nursery. That sounds tame enough, but our church sees anywhere between 1200 and 1400 kids on a weekend. So I thought it would be a fun way to learn more about baby care from the experts while keeping Daniel in the same room as me. It was actually fun - I worked all three services on Sunday and in each service we had about a dozen babies.

And I did learn a lot about babies, but the main three lessons I learned were about Daniel:

1) daniel IS the cutest baby in the world.
2) daniel IS the best behaved baby in the world.
3) daniel IS the most fun baby in the world.

I feel vindicated! Now I know I was right all along - i wasn't just being biased. :) (It won't do you any good to reason with me... my mind is made up!) It was amazing how well behaved he was. At times he was actually ignored because the workers all had to take care of the screaming ones. It helped that he was in the same room as his daycare during the week. And it was fun to have all the volunteers come in and ooh and aah over him - how great his hair is, how cute he is, how perfect his lips are, etc. Heaven for a proud mama.

The other thing we started this week (well, by "we" I mean "my husband") is teaching Daniel good manners. It's pretty cute, actually. Every time Fernando gives him a bottle, he has the same conversation with himself. "Daddy, may I have a bottle please?" "Yes, Daniel, you may." "Thank you, Daddy!" "You're welcome, Daniel!" Too cute. Now Daniel just calms right down when he hears the word "bottle".

I have also been thinking a lot about what I'd do differently if I could start over with Daniel. And the more I think about it, the more I realize it's a pointless thing to think about. As parents, we're learning to respond to a need in a particular moment, and it's going to play out a little differently every time. I guess I'd just be a little more flexible from the beginning, and not freak out when he doesn't act "like the books say he will". Daniel is developing his own personality, and the more we can remember that he's his own person - not a statistic - the easier life will be.

Needless to say, my policy on not rocking him to sleep has become a little more... flexible. All too soon I'll look back and wish I had indulged him just a few more times. And there is nothing in the world that's more fun than watching him nap in my arms. Nothing.