IT'S FUN TO BE ONE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
We made it! David is one years old. He turned the big one-oh on Saturday, April 7th (I know I'm slow to update the blog lately). There have been so many changes in our little guy. He went from a helpless, tiny little blob to an independent, talkative (yes, he has a couple of real words he says) growing busy body. Who knew a little person could change your life so much. You know you hear it all the time how kids change you. When you're really living it, you really see it for yourself.
I won't lie. There are some things I miss before he was born, especially being able to sleep in now and then. David is very early riser. I also miss being able to go off and do things spontaneously now and then, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
There are a lot of things people don't tell you the first year about kids. Some people would say oh _______ gets better by the 3rd month, 6th month, 8th month etc..etc.. Then, I had friends who said oh I just don't remember any of that stuff. Personally, I think those friends had blocked a lot of things out because it was hard. I'm not going to sugar coat it. The first year with our little boy was tough for us. He is a very very spirited child. From day one, he came out kicking and screaming, louder than any other kid in the hospital. He wasn't the typical sleepy newborn. He napped often on my lap, but he woke just as often. He nursed a lot, a whole lot! He hated to poop without nursing first (a comfort thing I guess). He wouldn't take a pacifier from us. Early on,he hated the swing, the carseat, his crib, the jumperoo, exersaucer, anything that contained him. Whereas as my friends said their kids were sleeping through the night by 6 months, David's sleep habits didn't improve until around the late 9th month. I thought I was going to pull my hair out at times. I was really on the verge of sleep deprivation. Plus, there was the communication gap between us and newborn. We were constantly trying to figure out is he sleepy,hungry, gassy, tired of us already? What's wrong?
We moved to Alabama to be close to family, but at times it seemed as if we just weren't close enough. It would have been nice to have a relative five minutes away to drop David off with for a couple of hours or vice versa. My sister just doesn't know how good she has it with it with moms and grandmas right there. Nonetheless, my husband and I survived. David sleep habits are better now. He still wakes up in the night a few times a week. At least, it's not 2-3 times a night. We've learned to just deal with it. He also takes better naps in his crib, with an occassional kicking and screaming session before he goes down. He'll walk around the house playing and dancing with his toys books or dragging out my pots and pans to the living room floor. He keeps us laughing. He's becoming a little jokster.
Yes, times have changed. Things are getting easier day by day as we bridge that communication gap. I must say I love being a mom! Our son has made our lives so much better. He's touched the lives of our family and friends, even the strangers he meets. I'm so looking forward to the many years to come. Happy Birthday My Little One!