Friday, March 12, 2010

5 weeks of Parenting

What I've learned in the five weeks of Thomas John's life:

1. Putting on socks is impossible to do while holding a baby. It's challenging even when he's in a sling. And with a baby who loves to be held (yes, even during naps), this can be a challenge. For warm feet, I must put socks on immediately after showering.

2. Babies are cute even when they're crying! However, cuteness decreases after an hour and a half of continuous crying.

4. I wish I could bottle up his sweet little squeaks and grunts and save them for a rainy day in about 14 years.

5. I hate to admit it, but everything I heard about parenthood is true. It does change your life. You do love them to pieces. You are sleep deprived. You shouldn't expect to get anything else done while at home with a baby all day.

6. He's started to smile and coo and it melts my heart.

7. I can hardly wait for 5:00 because I know Brent will be home soon. I celebrate each passing hour after noon because I'll soon have my companion back. Also, nothing is more fun than seeing Brent be the best daddy I ever could have imagined.

8. Thomas spends most of the day hanging out in one of these: http://www.sleepywrap.com/ He loves it and so do I. I wouldn't want to go through the infant stage without it. In fact, as I write this, I'm standing up and bouncing while Thomas looks calmly looks around and fades in and out of sleep.

9. Cloth diapering is not as bad as people make it out to seem. The price is certainly right, and you can't deny the environmental benefits. Plus, they're kind of cute.

10. Family is amazing. We've had so much help and support from both of our families. Both my mom and Brent's come one day a week to spend time with Thomas and help me get some work done. We're so lucky that our parents love Thomas (and us) so much and live close enough to help us out.

4 comments:

Najla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Najla said...

You can and should capture those little squeaks and coos on either a recorder or a video camera because I will tell you that you WILL sit down 14 years later, think it was only yesterday he was that little man, and wonder how he got taller than you in such a short time.

This is another parenting "truth" -- My first son is 14 and those videos are precious.

You and Brent are doing a great job.

CChenoweth said...

Anna- I am so happy to hear your little one is doing well. Even though an hour and a half of crying sounds exhausting! I am currently nearly 14 weeks along and looking forward to all of it!

Josh Hengemuhle said...

Great lessons Anna - definitely looking forward to learning some of them for myself.

I'll take that tip about recording every coo and grunt to heart and break out the video camera.

Thanks for the insights and we'll see you soon!