For the most part, I think taking care of a baby has been very intuitive and not as hard as I'd thought. I don't mean it's not demanding, or exhausting, or frustrating at times. Figuring out what to do when - that has come pretty easily (a few "no matter what I do, he still cries" days aside). But, there are still a few lessons that I seem not to have learned, because I keep messing up whenever these situations arise. You'd think I'd know better by now.
Case in point. This week Liam has not been sleeping well. I can't believe I used to get up four times every night because if I get up even once these days, I am a complete mess the following day. When it happens every once in a while I can recover - but it's happened the last 5 nights in a row, and I'm zonked. Anyway, it has cooled off here quite a bit recently, and when we were putting Liam to bed last night I wondered whether he might need to wear a little something extra. Silly me decided that he'd be fine the way he was. (For what it's worth, blankets are pointless, he just kicks them off). Sure enough, he was up just two hours later. Chad went to check on him and said he thought he felt cold. So we put another long-sleeved sleeper on over top of the one he was wearing - and I'm still thinking, he's going to be too hot - but then he slept til nearly 8 a.m. this morning.
OK, lesson learned.
This leads me to Case in point #2. This is how we wound up dressing him last night. Look how small this outfit is on him - he's stuffed in there like a sausage and can't even stretch out. If only the nurse could see me now, I'd get a chewing-out like you wouldn't believe! But this was us going through Liam's closet last night, trying to find something warm for him to wear:
Me (rummaging through the closet in the dark, trying not to wake Liam up too, too much, holding up an outfit that has a label like "12 months" on it:) How about this?
Chad (holding it up to Liam to estimate the size:) Nope.
Repeat x20.
As Chad says, it must be high school kids sewing the size labels in these clothes, because nothing is labelled properly. The worst offender seems to be The Gap - Liam currently wears size 12-18 months there, even though he's only 4 months old.
Anyway, I thought it was bad that he had outgrown his summer stuff - now it appears that he has also outgrown a lot of what I thought he was going to wear this fall, including many things he has never worn and now never will. Insert big fat sigh here. I guess I have some shopping to do. We may be short on sleepers. I suppose I will need to plan some time to sort through the closet and try things on him one at a time to really see what's going to fit and what won't. When am I going to learn that if I don't get stuff on him right away, he will outgrow it before he can use it? (Although with a lot of these sleepers, they were too big in the spring when the weather was right, and it's been too hot this summer to wear anything so heavy.)
This prompted me to dig out this outfit this morning. It's a gift from the Barrs - a pirate outfit with Captain on the front that they thought was fitting (though I have to wonder if it isn't going to give Captain a bit of a complex - I mean really, how much more does he need to feel like he's been replaced?) It's a cool day so it's completely appropriate. Luckily it still fits. You may see this outfit ad nauseum in photos to come, since it looks like I am once again running short on baby clothes.
4 comments:
For all of you readers in Europe who do not know the family in this blog, Captin is a CAT!!! He will not care that Liam is looking oh so cute in that outfit that we got him. By the way, if Chad could get over it we have tonnes of Liam sized sleepers that would fit, unfortunately they are all pink. Same goes for hooded towels.
Carrie...I may have the answer to your "what do I put on him" to sleep question. Snuggabye makes sleeping bags that are fleece for infants (~$20 at Zellers)...our house is quite cool at night in the winter and that is what we always put Sydney in and she was nice and warm. Although, if Liam is much bigger than when I saw him...it may already be too small for him. They also make a "wear a blanket", but I have never actually seen one in a store. So my next suggestion is a little pricier (~$50 at Once Upon a Child). Grobags come in infant to toddler sizes with varying weights (for warmth). Check out their website at http://www.gro-group.co.uk/brands/grobag/
Thanks for the suggestions Kelly... I have a question for you... how old was Sydney when you started using blankets on her, and is she OK with them or does she struggle to get them off? I think I read somewhere that you can start using bedding around six months. We have the quilt that came with our crib set, but Liam just kicks to get out from underneath anything I put on him so I don't know how much use it will actually get.
In the winter...our house is cool enough at night that I was putting the quilt on top of her with the sleeping bag and she was fine. But she really did not move around a lot then. Now she is moving everywhere in her sleep...so she would just get wrapped up in a blanket. I am just hopping that when it gets cold again...she will put up with the sleeping bag or we will need to come up with something.
Post a Comment