Just thought I'd check in with an update about life with Dane in the family. It's pretty much great! It's been 5.5 weeks since he's joined our family and maybe it's too soon to say, but so far, he's a dream! I had a really hard time in the beginning with Brady. I remember wondering WHY I thought having a kid was a good idea and sometimes just wanting to run away from him to sleep for a few days. Things seem easier this time around. Not sure if it's because I'm more experienced and have learned more patience, or Dane is just a better sleeper and is less fussy than Brady was (remember Brady cried for the first 5 months of life, mostly due to reflux), or perhaps it's still early and sleepless nights and lots of crying are still to come. Either way, I'm really enjoying life with this babe right now.
Dane is mostly very calm and content. He is a great sleeper. He wakes about every 3 hours to nurse and goes back to sleep with ease. He does seem to suffer from some pretty painful gas bubbles every day. They seem the worst around 5 or 6am for some reason. If I feed him around then, I can't put him back in his bed, he'll just grunt and whine, so I climb back in bed and let him sleep on my chest. He's kind of restless and wakes every 10 minutes or so grunting, but I can comfort him and settle him back down pretty easily that way.
I've quit drinking milk to see if that will help the gas situation. I stopped just before Christmas and it's supposed to take about 2 weeks to notice a change. I haven't noticed much of an improvement yet, but I've slipped up on the "no dairy" front a few times. I forget about the "diet" and accidentally eat cheese or ice cream sometimes. So I'm going to try really hard to be dairy free for the next week or more and if I still don't see much improvement, I might just go back to eating dairy, since I LOVE my milk! Dairy is just one guess for the culprit, it could be many things...including just a new sensitive little tummy, so maybe he'll just grow out of it. We'll see. Any gas tips would be welcomed!
Life with 2 kids is about as I expected. Harder to go places, challenging when they both want to eat at the same time (I hear a lot of "NO, don't feed baby Dane" from Brady), and challenging in general for Brady. This has definitely been the most challenging time I've ever had with him. He's generally a little more crabby and ornery, but it's understandable since he's experiencing a lot of change in his life right now. He does LOVE his brother and is always talking about how cute or tiny Dane is. He is a great helper and is eager to get diapers for me or replace a paci that has been spit out.
Speaking of pacifiers.... We've gotten rid of Brady's finally!! I knew I wanted him to be paci-free by the time he turned three but I was terrified to pull the plug...for totally selfish reasons: I figured sleepless nights and less naps would result, at least for a little while, and sometimes Brady talks too much and I just need some peace and quiet, especially in the car. BUT, I see his teeth moving and I don't want to make them any worse, and I especially don't want to deal with speech issues because of prolonged pacifier use, so I knew it was time. On January 1st I decided to do it. I snipped the tip of his pacifier and left it in his crib. That night at bed time he put it in and immediately took it out to investigate. "It's broken, fix it". After explaining that it couldn't be fixed and there were no more, he tossed it aside. It took him a while to fall asleep that night (he came out of his room several times), but he eventually fell asleep and stayed in bed all night. Nap time was hard and bedtime the second night was the worst, but we're not going back. He threw the pacifier away and understands that there are no more. He HAS asked to go to the "baby store" to get more, but I told him that they are just for babies and he is a big boy and doesn't need one anymore. Sometimes when I remind him of that he'll say "But I'm NOT a big boy, I'm a baby". Little stinker! I'm hoping that in a few more days, he'll have adjusted and be used to falling asleep without it. Luckily he seems to understand that Dane's pacifiers are just for Dane and he hasn't tried to take them.
Anyway, I'm thrilled that we've finally gotten rid of the pacifier. Now I'll let him get used to that for a bit before the next big change comes. We expect to probably be moving somewhere in the next few months for Ryan's job as he's about done with his training. When we move, Brady will get a big boy bed and once he's used to that, we'll start potty training. Eek!
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