Aedan: Week 6
Samantha often wants to hold Aedan, especially in the morning. Here are some cute pictures of the two of them together from last week that I forgot to include in the last post.
Meanwhile, I took Samantha and Aedan to Wonderlab, which is a hands on science museum right in downtown Bloomington. We were invited by a friend from BSF and could get in for free, so I couldn't turn it down. Samantha was still pretty tired from having a very busy week and got a time out in the bathroom at one point for screaming when she had to come with me so I could change Aedan's diaper. Aedan did really well in the baby sling that Trish helped me figure out how to use, but he was too busy looking around to get much sleep in. He did finally fall asleep, but when I transferred him to the car seat in the stroller once it was time to leave, he woke up and was not a happy camper on the way home. It was a little overwhelming having both of them to take care of, but it wasn't too bad.
I was hoping that once we got back home, nap time would go better with Samantha. However, Tuesday was another nap time struggle, continuing from the screaming and crying and carrying on that started in Upland. I was so tired and overwhelmed having to take care of everything by myself, I was worried about Ben as he went to talk with Dr. Ghosh about what the next step would be for his diverticulitis, and I let myself get angry. I hate when I let my emotions get the best of me and let my temper flare. Samantha was super tired after going to sleep at 10:00 the night before, but continued to refuse to nap. Luckily, I got Aedan to sleep in the swing downstairs. I tried everything I could to get Samantha to sleep: I was mean, I was nice, I offered to sit in the room, I threatened to take things away, I offered rewards for if she napped, nothing worked. I even spanked her once because she was being so disrespectful. However, I was getting way too emotionally involved, and I don't like being this mean with her. I don't want all my interactions with her to be fighting battles. So, once, after giving her a time out for screaming, I had her come sit on my lap and talked to her for awhile. We hugged, and she curled up in my lap, leaned her head against my chest, and fell asleep in less than a minute as we sat there in the middle of her bedroom floor. I couldn't believe it. After a little while, I picked her up and laid her down in her bed, and she stayed asleep, sleeping for close to two hours, and was in a much better mood afterwards. So then I was left to wonder, is she going through more than I realize? Does she need more love, reassurance, and attention with all the change that has been going on in our lives lately? Does she need me to cuddle with her for awhile to get her to go to sleep, or is she just manipulating me to get me to stay in the room? This nap time battle is so challenging, and now it's become even more so.
After her nap, she was able to watch a show, we got dinner brought to us by the Helds, and then it was time for Samantha's first swim lesson. I took her since Ben wasn't feeling well, and I nursed Aedan right before I left so he was good to go for awhile. Samantha had a great time learning how to do spider arms, singing songs, and swimming around in the water as I held her under her arms or under her belly. It seemed like most of the kids in the class were younger than her and much more afraid of being in the water and being away from their parents, but Samantha still had a good time and was learning important water skills. After about 15 minutes of the 30 minute lesson, she was ready to get out of the pool and play in the kiddie area, so I used that as a reward for if she listened to and followed directions well during class. She continued to be respectful and do a good job, so she was able to play in the kiddie area for about 10 minutes after the class was over, and then I decided we'd better head home in case Aedan needed me. It was kind of fun going out and enjoying something with just Samantha. I enjoyed giving her that one on one attention and not having to worry about taking care of Aedan at the same time. We will definitely have to keep this up so I can spend time with my little girl all by herself.
On Wednesday Ben was feeling a little bit better, but still decided to take it easy and work from home so that he could rest more. We had a pretty easy, relaxing morning at home, especially since it was storming most of the morning. After awhile, I took a trip to the grocery store with both Samantha and Aedan in tow. I figured it would be an adventure and we would see how it went. I got Aedan in the Ergo once we got to the store and Samantha sat in the top of the cart. Aedan fell asleep quickly, all comfortable and curled up against me in the baby carrier. Shopping went really well. Samantha was respectful and there were no major crises to have to deal with. When checking out, one of the other employees from another lane came over to help me load things from my cart onto the checkout belt. It was very nice of her, and I was surprised to see how much people are willing to help when they see you have your hands full with a little baby and a three year old. We were gone for about an hour. It was a successful shopping trip, and I was proud that I accomplished it on my own.
Once we got back home, Ben helped me unload the groceries, we had lunch, and then it was the dreaded nap time. Ben put Samantha down today, but she did not nap, she was just up in her room playing and making all kinds of noise the whole time. Ben and I were both pretty frustrated because Aedan was sleeping in his crib in the next room, and she was making so much noise that she woke him up once, and Ben had to get him back to sleep. What do we do? She can't keep carrying on like this. It's not restful for her or for us, and she certainly can't make so much noise that she wakes up Aedan when he is trying to take a good nap. Despite all the craziness, here are some pictures of Aedan sleeping calmly and peacefully in his crib for the very first time.
As Ben and I were going to bed on Wednesday night, I looked at him and asked, "Do you want to go to the zoo tomorrow?" The high for Thursday was the mid-70s, there was no chance of rain, and as I discovered later in the morning, our zoo pass was going to expire in a few days. We wanted to go back to the zoo at some point before we moved, but we wanted to go on a day that was nice enough that I could carry Aedan in the Ergo without him getting too overheated. It probably was a little crazy, going to the zoo with a 5 week old, a 3 year old, and a husband who just got out of the hospital on Monday, but we did it anyways. It took us awhile to get around in the morning, and we had to stop while on the way there to try and calm Aedan down in his car seat. (So far, he is not the best car rider as he doesn't enjoy being in his car seat unless he is already sleeping.) We stopped at a gas station, and Ben took Aedan's car seat out of the car, swinging it back and forth until he fell asleep, then we were able to continue on our way.
The zoo was pretty busy, apparently other people had the same idea I had, but it still was really fun, a beautiful day with beautiful weather. Aedan slept peacefully in the Ergo for most of the early afternoon, until we got to the dolphin show at 12:30. I took him out of the Ergo to see if he would be interested in nursing and to let him cool off a little, but there was too much going on at the dolphin show; he was too distracted and didn't eat very well. After the dolphin show, we went outside the zoo to the picnic tables to eat our lunch. Samantha scarfed down her food, you could tell she must have been very hungry, and maybe that's why she got a little crabby during the show. After our lunch, we were going to go see the new orangutan exhibit, but Aedan was hungry again since he didn't nurse very well earlier, so I found a shady spot to sit and nurse while Ben took Samantha on the carousel.
After that, we were intent on using up our last punches on the ride pass, and Samantha just met the height requirement of 38 inches for the little roller coaster ride that they have at the zoo, so her and I rode the roller coaster together. She was really excited about it as we waited in line and watched others ride it, but once we got on it, went up the hill and back down again, she acted a little scared. It went around the track twice, but she wanted it to stop after only going around once. Afterwards, she said she didn't like it because of the hills, because it went too fast, even though every time Ben looked at her on the roller coaster, she was smiling. I think she says she didn't like it just because she has never been on a ride like that before, didn't know what to expect, and it surprised her a little. We'll see if she will be willing to go on a roller coaster with me another time, maybe when she gets a little older. We think she has enough dare devil in her that she will enjoy roller coasters at some point, just like Mommy and Daddy. :)
After the roller coaster ride, we took a family ride on the train (even Aedan got to come along, although he was just asleep in Daddy's arms for the whole ride). Then, we hit up the carousel again, this time I went with Samantha instead of Daddy. We had spent most of the day at the zoo and it was about time for us to leave, so we gave Samantha the option of seeing the butterflies or playing at the splash park. She chose the splash park, so while she played, ran around, and got wet, I nursed Aedan again at a picnic table in a shady spot. Ben took some cute pictures and video of Samantha playing around. Do you see how she skips everywhere she goes? It's so adorable. She just loves life.
Just like I started off this post, Samantha really adores her little brother. Here are some more pictures from Friday morning. As soon as Aedan comes down in the morning, she wants to hug him and kiss him and hold him.
There were a couple cute things that Samantha did throughout that morning. When she walked by Aedan sleeping in the swing, she said, "Aww, he's so cute when he's sleeping." And then one time she went up to him and I thought she was going to bother him or try to wake him up, but she just gently pulled down the blanket that was covering him so that his little feet stayed covered up as well. She continues to be so sweet and cute with Aedan. She loves him so much, wants to take care of him, wants to see him first thing in the morning, wants to be around him as much as she can, and will ask to hold him at least once a day. Sometimes she will even sit next to him on the couch with a book and tell us that she is reading to him.
Nap time on Friday was interesting again. She was crying and carrying on, again while Aedan was in the next room sleeping in his crib. I really didn't want her to wake him up, but I was trying as hard as I could to keep my cool. I didn't want to let anger get the best of me like it did on Tuesday because really, it doesn't do any good to get angry anyways. I tried letting her cuddle with me, to see if that is really what she needs at this stage, just to be cuddled to sleep, but she just kept fidgeting and wiggling. I had her get in bed and tried to rub her back, tried to cuddle with her that way, but that wasn't working either. So, I ended up just leaving the room, but then she screamed and yelled again. I went back in her room awhile later to tell her that she at least had to be quiet so that she didn't wake up Aedan, and as I was talking to her, she couldn't even keep her heavy eyelids open. Her eyes kept drooping shut, so I stopped talking, left my hand on her back, and she fell asleep right away. What a crazy girl! What are we going to do with her? Nap time is making me so confused and tired, and the sad thing is that she is so tired too, but just won't let herself calm down enough to fall asleep on her own.
Here is a video I took that afternoon of what my reality is now. It's challenging at times, but it's wonderful.
The other exciting thing that has been happening lately is that we feel like we have glimpsed real smiles from him, not just gas smiles. I tried to get his smiles in a video the other day, but as soon as I got the camera out, he stopped smiling and started crying instead. We are really enjoying getting to interact with him more and find ways to make him smile. Oddly enough, he smiles a lot when we blow lightly on his face, so that's always fun.
On Sunday Samantha wanted to wear her bright pink polka dotted princess dress, and she wanted me to do princess braids in her hair. I'm sure she stood out to many people with that outfit as even Pastor Bob asked her about what princesses were on her dress and interacted with her for awhile.
Later that afternoon, Daddy and Samantha had a lot of fun playing on the couch together. They are just so silly together!
No comments:
Post a Comment