I've been feeling really depressed all day. I feel like Fredrik is not a happy boy. Teething takes a toll on this guy. He can't sleep, he takes one bite of the ten or fifteen things I offer him at a meal then chucks it on the floor and screams. He doesn't want to drink much. He gets frustrated with books, toys, games, and us. Napping is ridiculous and we've taken to car rides, then parking when he's asleep and doing homework/reading/what not until he wakes. I brought him to the car today after over TWO HOURS of trying EVERYTHING to get him to take a nap. I'm a stay-at-home-mom and can not even figure my baby out, I'm with him all the time! Hey, that gives me an idea...maybe I need to step away from the problem. I don't know. People talk about phases, so maybe this has nothing to do with teething and is just a phase. While I'm ranting; over-stimulation, what's up with that? Busca seems hyper, yet the only thing that calms him down is loud stimulating music or lots of bouncing and dancing. And he likes when I read books using crazy voices, not a calm soothing lullaby voice. When he was born I adopted a go-with-the-flow attitude, adjusting things to suit him, but now he's getting older and I feel like I need to lead him to the valley of calmness-for his own sake. But then, of course, it is probably his personality,right? Nature vs. nurture...who wins this one?
On a more happy note, he did have happy moments, even today:
1. He enjoyed walking around the Art Institute in the sling today (free!) and seeing lots of people and paintings.
2. He enjoyed a ripe pear.
3. He's braving his way through his new tunnel, even without one of us waiting at the other end and seems very proud.
4. He is having fun with mimicry- especially if I cock-a-doodle-doo.
5. He seems to be learning cause and effect all of a sudden and is trying new motor skills-like trying to put a ring on the stack-o-rings stick. (maybe this is frustrating for him?)
Any thoughts? Anybody?
4 comments:
You are not alone! Lean on everyone you can for help. Talk to Dr. Deb about it and maybe she can ease your mind.
Focus on those happy points instead of getting bogged down by the more challenging ones. And, it never works to force anything with a baby, that's what I've learned. They will nap when they want to and eat when they want to!! I, too, tend to stress about those two things. There's just not a ton you can do about no napping and hunger strikes. Maybe you can check out foods that are good for teething babies if that's why he won't eat. I can't wait to see you guys on Sunday :)
Since I know that you weathered this storm (having seen you on Friday and Saturday with Fredrik, well fed, well rested, and of a calm temper) I'll offer this belated advise. You are in the middle of the toughest job you will ever have. You are one of the unsung, unappreciated heroines of our society, the Stay at Home Mom! Ever since I decided to stay home with my babies, I have had to answer the question,"What do you do?" It's the hardest thing there is, and unless you have done it yourself, you just don't know what it is like! Katy, because you are home with Fredrik, it doesn't mean that every day will be idyllic. To the contrary, you are there for the hard days when teething pains dominate every aspect of your baby's day, when you are not feeling at the top of the world yourself, and this little one is still demanding 100% from you. It is really hard! (You know this...)One other thing I learned is that just because I was home with my babies, it didn't follow that my children were perfect, or they never had bad days, never misbehaved. I always felt so personally a failure when my children proved themselves to be quite human and behaved accordingly. Now, I see that I did the best I could, they developed and grew because of and inspite of me being there 24/7. I surely don't regret being the full time mom - you know my kids mean everything to me! but I don't want you to think that it is any shortcoming of yours that our darling, our Fredrik has some not so good days and even some very hard days. You are doing a great job, Katy, and I love you and pray for you every day. Hang in there!
Love, Roz
Hey Katy Rose-
I echo everything my mom said. I don't know if I would have survived early childhood rearing without her cheerleading. Remember that she's 2 hours away, and she'll magically appear if you call her. She came to help me, and she can come and take the baton (or baby) for a while. Don't be a martyr! You'll make me feel bad for calling in the reserves so frequently when I was in your spot...as for the tunnel crawling, that is impressive! FGH is a strong, brave boy. Most almost-one-year-old are just too scared to venture into that tunnel (we had the same one), and it freaked most of them out until they were much older. SEE?!? You're doing A LOT of things right!
Love you,
Anna
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