6.23.08
Humble Pie never tasted so sweet
Before I was a mother, I flat out scorned soothers. Oh, my children would never have a soother.
Then when Leila was born and wanted to suck all. the. time, we tried desperately to get her to take a soother, but she wouldn't have anything to do with them. Ah well, three months into it, things were getting better and I was pleased she never did end up taking one.
Alena is a very different baby than Leila was. And yet, from eight until eleven at night, she cries and cranks and screams and wimpers and generally can't be settled and so, on a whim, I stuck a soother in her mouth two nights ago. And she stayed in my arms, awake and alert and happy. And Steve and I looked at each other, and sighed a relieved sigh and the silence was that loud kind of silence, where your ears still ring for a few minutes from the noise that used to be there. And it worked again last night, she even settled for the night at nine, which is the earliest she's ever fallen asleep.
I'm starting to think that in her distress, she would get overtired, and that's what caused her to get so upset. She only needs it in the evenings, and last night I took it out of her mouth before I put her in bed because I don't really want her to get completely hooked on it. But when it comes to crying babies, I think you just do whatever works. In any case, what I'm trying to say is that for the past two days, I have been eating every word I said about soothers pre-children and even this kind of Humble Pie doesn't taste so bitter, especially when I have my happy chubby baby back in my arms.
On another note, Steve is headed to Maine for some white water rafting on Friday night and we promised his mom that she could take Leila for the weekend but now I kind of wish she wasn't going. It will give me some time to get some puttering around the house done anyway, and spend some one-on-one time with Alena, but still, I miss her when she's gone. Little people take up such a big place in a home, their absence is noticeably larger than they are.
And also, update on Family Picture yet to be taken, I had the girls all dressed up yesterday because we were going to a birthday party and we were ready to take some pictures and the freaking camera was dead. Ridiculous.
wunderwuman at 10:36 a.m.