Every time I say that Koby is super easy I feel like I have to justify it by saying that Elie was SOOOO not easy. I'm not bragging. I'm just SOOOO appreciative.
I was fairly sure I would not be able to handle three children under five (I only have a few more weeks of saying that, so I have to milk it for all it's worth...). I could barely handle Sam and Elie. How could I add another baby? What if the baby was like Elie and took four hours to put to sleep and only slept for 20 minutes? I could leave Samara alone when she was two years and ten months, when Elie was born, but I can DEFINITELY not leave Elie alone. How will I do that? How will I be able to feed my kids or myself if I have no time to cook because I'm holding a baby all the time? I was very sure this baby would be very inconvenient, and I would lose my mind.
For the first few weeks, as I blogged about before, he cried a lot. He went to sleep fairly easily, and he ate just fine (it hurt, but normal amounts, I think). But he did cry. Then I realized that he was SUPER tired a lot of the time, and instead of calming him down, I needed to just swaddle him and put him in a bed, and he went to sleep. If I did this before he was super tired, it was damn easy.
Now that we have been at home and very unambitious with our schedule (oh - we also have very few friends yet, so we don't have a lot going on...), Koby is even easier. This is what he is like if I don't wake him/bother him:
8am - wakes, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, put day clothes on, feed him, play for a half hour
9am - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
12pm - wakes, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour
1pm - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
3pm - wake, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour
4pm - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
6pm - wake, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour. Bathe, pajama, feed/nurse
7:30pm - swaddle him, put him in bed. Smiles and falls asleep. Usually he is asleep by 7, but 7:30 at the latest.
2am - wakes to nurse for about 30 minutes. Doesn't even open his eyes. Right back to sleep.
5:45am - wakes to nurse for about 30 minutes. Opens his eyes to give a few smiles. Right back to sleep.
He cannot really be awake for more than an hour. I have to find a way to fit in all of his needs while also filling the needs of the other kids, during that hour...due to this limited amount of time of his awakeness, Koby has only had tummy time probably four times. He does sometimes go more than a day without being on his back on the floor. He is often swept from place to place, usually including his bed, changing table, my lap, car seat, bouncy seat...and that's all.
I will have to bother his schedule as we take Samara to school every day and Elie three times a day. Today, though, we woke Koby to take him to school, he came home and slept the entire morning, until it was time to get Sam. Then he ate, we got her, he went straight to sleep right when we got home and he slept basically the whole afternoon. Then he played for a bit and slept for one more short nap before he then went to sleep for the night. It's a lot of sleep. It's amazing that I just put him in bed, and he goes to sleep. He is super happy. He doesn't complain. He schleps. He is amazing. I am so so thankful.
I was fairly sure I would not be able to handle three children under five (I only have a few more weeks of saying that, so I have to milk it for all it's worth...). I could barely handle Sam and Elie. How could I add another baby? What if the baby was like Elie and took four hours to put to sleep and only slept for 20 minutes? I could leave Samara alone when she was two years and ten months, when Elie was born, but I can DEFINITELY not leave Elie alone. How will I do that? How will I be able to feed my kids or myself if I have no time to cook because I'm holding a baby all the time? I was very sure this baby would be very inconvenient, and I would lose my mind.
For the first few weeks, as I blogged about before, he cried a lot. He went to sleep fairly easily, and he ate just fine (it hurt, but normal amounts, I think). But he did cry. Then I realized that he was SUPER tired a lot of the time, and instead of calming him down, I needed to just swaddle him and put him in a bed, and he went to sleep. If I did this before he was super tired, it was damn easy.
Now that we have been at home and very unambitious with our schedule (oh - we also have very few friends yet, so we don't have a lot going on...), Koby is even easier. This is what he is like if I don't wake him/bother him:
8am - wakes, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, put day clothes on, feed him, play for a half hour
9am - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
12pm - wakes, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour
1pm - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
3pm - wake, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour
4pm - change diaper again, swaddle him and put him in bed. He smiles and falls asleep
6pm - wake, smiles, stretches when he's unwrapped, change him, feed him, play for a half hour. Bathe, pajama, feed/nurse
7:30pm - swaddle him, put him in bed. Smiles and falls asleep. Usually he is asleep by 7, but 7:30 at the latest.
2am - wakes to nurse for about 30 minutes. Doesn't even open his eyes. Right back to sleep.
5:45am - wakes to nurse for about 30 minutes. Opens his eyes to give a few smiles. Right back to sleep.
He cannot really be awake for more than an hour. I have to find a way to fit in all of his needs while also filling the needs of the other kids, during that hour...due to this limited amount of time of his awakeness, Koby has only had tummy time probably four times. He does sometimes go more than a day without being on his back on the floor. He is often swept from place to place, usually including his bed, changing table, my lap, car seat, bouncy seat...and that's all.
I will have to bother his schedule as we take Samara to school every day and Elie three times a day. Today, though, we woke Koby to take him to school, he came home and slept the entire morning, until it was time to get Sam. Then he ate, we got her, he went straight to sleep right when we got home and he slept basically the whole afternoon. Then he played for a bit and slept for one more short nap before he then went to sleep for the night. It's a lot of sleep. It's amazing that I just put him in bed, and he goes to sleep. He is super happy. He doesn't complain. He schleps. He is amazing. I am so so thankful.
Sam is an amazing sister. She loves him so much and loves taking care of him (including wiping his spit up! It's amazing!)
Elie has started showing a bit of affection towards him and he gets super excited with Koby smiles at him. He now kisses him a lot on the head and also on the tummy. For the first three months and one week (inclusive...) he stepped on his face no fewer than five times, kicked him in the head at least four, hit him more than ten...it wasn't pretty. It's getting better. This was the first positive moment between them.
Koby breaks all non-miracle swaddles. After he pooped through a miracle blanket I did a do-it-yourself miracle blanket, as I had seen in a video Shana sent. You lay out a small blanket (I used a burp cloth) on top of the swaddle blanket and put the baby on top. You wrap each arm in the burp cloth/small blanket and tuck it under the baby's body, so the arms are at the baby's sides. Then you use the swaddle blanket on top of that. He loves it. He just goes to sleep. Amazing.
Face shot, sporting a hat we borrowed from Rafa Abrams - not super practical, so he has never actually worn it out, but so cute.
Post bath. So fat. So happy. So tired looking all the time. But so cute.
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