十周後

JoJo媽咪從178磅變成135磅 寶寶從8.5磅變成14.5磅
終於又可以穿上八個月前已被放棄的褲子(雖然是懷孕前最鬆的一條)
肚子上雖然還有難看的妊娠紋 但至少可以看到許久不見的腰身 (贅肉還是有啦)
十周的產假已結束 但一點想回去工作的意願都沒有 (只好再休4周年假)
還是不習慣當媽媽的身分 但當媽媽的每一刻都開心 (好啦! 不是每一刻但絕大部分都開心)
十周後 少了40磅 但遇到老同事 卻還是被問 "妳懷孕了呀?"

E.A.S.Y. vs E.A.G.E.R.

"The Baby Whisperer" says that parenting should be easy if you follow the E.A.S.Y. method: "E" for eating, "A" for activity, "S" for sleeping and "Y" for the 'you' time. Babies should be satisfied if you allow them to eat well, play well and sleep well. It all sounded wonderful and I thought we could just take it E.A.S.Y. However, what it fails to address is what happens when your baby refuses to take it easy.

Chamu is usually good in the mornings, following the E.A.S.Y. method closely, but when it comes to after 2pm feedings, everything goes haywire. He would eat, play and then fall into perpetual grouchy mood for the rest of the afternoon until he exhausts himself around 9pm. Last five days, he has been extremely difficult to deal with: eating every two hours while being grouchy, refusing any activity and sleep time (which means there is zero "You" time for us).

Today we called it quits when Chamu was still refusing to fall asleep at 9pm after two feedings and 3 hours of grouchy. We had to call our helper to take over and we left to get a foot massage.

E.A.G.E.R. seems to characterize our parenting experience better than E.A.S.Y. these days: Eating and Activity followed by Grouchy until we Escape but only to Rush back thinking we are bad and impatient parents to have left our baby.

Hopefully this E.A.G.E.R. stage will soon become E.A.S.Y. again...

Chamu Wins the Battle (and Mamu Calls a Truce)

So we have been training ("teaching" is a better word since Joaquin is not a puppy) Joaquin to 1) be on a schedule; 2) sleep overnight; and 3) to fall asleep on his own.
For the first few days, he was making very good progress: eating, playing and sleeping to our schedule. Last few days, he would wake up before 7am and therefore fall out of his schedule, resulting in difficult evenings and cranky days. We also would fall out of our schedule (not used to getting up at 3 or 4am) and become sleepy all day.
Sleep-on-your-own training is harder. We have established a bedtime routine where curtains are shut and Chamu gets swaddled. First few days all seemed too easy, Mamu would hold him for 5-10 minutes and he would drift off and fall asleep inside his crib. The last few days, he has become extra sensitive with the motion of putting him down in the crib and would start crying the second you move him towards the crib. After doing 30 some repetitions Sunday evening (and missing my dinner), Mamu had to hand him over to Dadu. Tonight, after dealing with Chamu from 5pm to 1130pm (3 feedings and countless repetitions of putting him in the crib), Dadu is now carrying him and sitting on the sofa and decided it is not worth it to teach Chamu to fall asleep on his own. Mamu is still exhausted from yesterday so she decides it is time to call a truce.

Joaquin Making Progress

So we have been training Joaquin for the last 4 days to be on schedule and also to sleep over night. The first couple of days he still woke up around 5 or 530am. We fed him some water before we put him on breasts for 10 minutes. Yesterday he woke up at 630am and today he woke up at 7am!
His schedule has more or less settled, not exactly to the minute but usually does not deviate more than 30 minutes. The key is also for us to learn not to stress out when he deviates from his usual pattern. For examples, two nights ago he needed a top-up before going to sleep and yesterday he needed a top-up around 5 pm and I have come around and learned to accept that it is okay.
I started also training him to fall asleep by himself in his crib instead of being held or rocked to sleep. For the last five times I put him to bed, he has learned to relaxed more and more each time without fussing around. Just now, he was tired and wanted to be swaddled. The minute I set him down in his crib, he was content and before the musical mobile stopped playing the first round, he already had his eyes closed... and I'm sitting here at my computer five minutes later. That makes me a contented little Mamu!
Well, we are leaving for Vancouver in 9 days so maybe we will need to start all over after the jetlag.
P.S. Chamu's pediatrician corrected me and said that babies can adjust to jetlag better than we do so we will see...

More Boxing

Chamu (unsuccessfully) tries to suck his thumb

Darned fingers keep getting in the way

I Miss Chamu

I have been on all-day conference calls for the last 3 three days. Even though I am home and I get to see him and know what he is doing, the fact that I cannot play with him or hold him (since I'm on blue tooth headset) makes me really sad. I miss him so dearly!
I don't know how I can go back to work if I can't even adjust to working from home!