Aug 29
Still not sleeping…
Me, that is. Not Caspar.
I’m one of those annoying mothers whose child sleeps through, eats anything I give him, cries only to let me know his nap is over, and fills his nappy at the same time each morning.
That’s not to say there haven’t been a few hiccups along the way. The week after his first two vaccinations were awful. The week after surgery was horrible. And he has a tendency to shit twice on any day that I’m not the one who changes that first nappy. He must know it’s my job.
I have slowly worked his bedtime back from 11pm to 7pm. My alarm goes off at 7am and I wake to the sound of ABC Classic FM (Caspar’s choice), not to a baby crying. Mostly I’m lazy and I take Cas back to bed with me so I can steal another dozy half hour or so while he annoys his toy giraffe and the curtains.
I’d like to give myself some credit for his 12 hour sleeps but I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve it: Routine and I are incompatible. I just happened to get the beginner’s model baby. Take tonight for example.
He had his dinner and I stripped him off to let him play in the nude. (It’s nice to play in the nude. I miss it.) I had intended to give him a bath but decided I couldn’t be bothered so we just hung out. Like I said, I’m lazy, and, boy, is Big Sis’ bathroom draughty!
At 6:44pm Caspar went to his bookshelf and pulled out all his books. This is not uncommon but he usually turns each one around trying to get to the pages before giving up and trying again with another. Tonight he was actually looking for something. And there it was, being handed to me: Time For Bed by Mem Fox.
(This is nearly always the last book we read together before I tuck him in for the night. The other likely suspects are Penny Dale’s Ten In The Bed and Mike Brownlow’s Little Robots.)
It was at this juncture that I looked at the clock and saw 6:44pm. Why else would I have any idea of the time? He’d factored in 16 minutes to have a snuggle, drink his bottle and hear his bedtime stories before lights out. He’s got it down. Me on the other hand…
As a first time Mum you hear a lot about how hard it is having a baby and living off 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. I’m not saying that being Mum isn’t exhausting because sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s boring. Sometimes it’s draining. And I know that it’s different for everyone but I wonder how many other Mum’s are like me and living off 3 or 4 hours sleep because they choose to have a full day of their own once bub has gone down. Did I really luck out and get the beginner’s model, or was I being hazed?
October 10th, 2007 at 9:25 am
You lucked out. I got the beginner’s model SECOND - and used to just sit and stare at this baby who, after being fed and changed and put down for his nap actually went to sleep. I couldn’t believe it, having become accustomed to his older brother who used to fight to keep his little eyelids open, not wanting to miss a moment of wakefulness.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Yes. He really has been an easy baby. But I’ve also been quite certain from not long after he was born that he won’t be an easy child. He’s a very stubborn, independent fellow, much like his Mum.