A Two Month Review: What I've Learned So Far

"I'm 2 months!"

We've been parents for 8 weeks now! Its been a great 8 weeks. First off, I LOVE being Jackson's mom. To break it down, its been a combined 5 weeks of awesomeness, 2 weeks of total confusion, and about 1 week of 'WHY did I want a baby???' All in all its been a pretty fantastic time. Then again, I think I have a pretty easy baby.

Besides the obvious some-things-just-don't-matter-as-much-as-they-used-too feeling you get now that you have a tiny homo sapien glued to you 18 hours a day, there are quite a few random things that have changed that surprised me, or; I was not expecting to experience.

• Spit up is no longer "gaaa-roooose"...or, lets just say body fluids in general. 

Seriously contemplating if he's still hungry or not. 

I've been peed on, poo'ed on and spit up on enough now that I barely give it a brief  'aww, darn' before wiping it off and continuing what I was doing. Sometimes its even cute...say what?? If I don't have time to mess around (Like if I finally got into work clothes in the morning), I'll throw a whole receiving blanket on the shoulder and call it good. Coming from someone who was scared of babies and their hazardous waste products - this is a big deal.

• Baby socks are no easier to match than adult socks. 

Not only are there 297 different designs floating around, they are also 1/10th the size of a normal sock. So if you were lucky enough to not to lose one before removing it from tiny humans foot...you probably won't be lucky enough to see it return from the dryer before it gets sucked up into an air vent or something. 

Since we're talking about laundry...

• I used to be completely fastidious about folding shirts, pants, etc exactly how I liked it. 

Turned right side out, sleeves neatly tucked away, stacked perfectly. That life has ended. Good bye. Gone. If its clean, its gets folded in half and lucky enough to be stuffed into a drawer in my closet. Hey, gotta safe time somehow.  

Nap time at Aunt Elizabeth's.

• Pump-and-Dump is harder than I thought. 

Yup, I'm talking about boobs and breast milk here. Sure I'd love to enjoy 2-50 glasses of wine on occasion, but when that means waiting 2 hours, and then pumping a beautiful 4-6 ounces of liquid gold and then THROWING IT DOWN THE FREAKING DRAIN, it is not such an appeasing idea anymore. Just get me a milk shake please. Not expecting that - I love wine.

• Watching your baby is often times more entertaining than TV. 

Who needs cable anymore? The unique and often adorable faces that your baby makes seem to keep us plenty entertained for now. I've had to re-watch about 10 episodes of Fringe because I ended up spending most of the time staring at baby, or cooing at their babies like moms do. I still do watch quite a bit of Netflix...its just that baby wins more than I thought. 

• Standard humor is not the same anymore. 

...because nothing is funnier than when your little boy lets a giganteus motor boat fart that your pretty sure the neighbors next door heard with you. What can I say...farts are funny now! 

Jackson prefers to be "worn." This is how we roll at the parks. 

• Baby wearing is amazing. 

I used to see those parents pushing their babies around in the expensive and adorable little strollers. Everyone say awwww. I thought I'd be joining the stroller herd, but let me tell you this; baby wearing is MUCH better. First off, your baby is happier. Pending hunger crys, little baby has never cried in the wrap for no apparent reason. Secondly, your not pushing a big stroller around the grocery store, and you have two hands to do normal things. Thirdly, it keeps your baby close and snugly and we just love that. I know all babies don't agree with wrapping, but our baby does. I've used a stroller once in the past 8 weeks. We just love wrapping baby Jackson up and taking off! 

• Falling asleep is easier, now. 

I've never been a very good sleeper, but I guess that changes once you have a limited amount of sleep to your name. I never understood how Seth could pass out after just 2-3 minutes. It takes me about 20 minutes of gentle reflection to pass into the sleep realm, and even after that, I'd wake up once or twice at night just "for." But, when your newborn just closed his eyes, and you've only got about 4 1/2 hours until your alarm goes off - I'm pretty sure I meet the 2-3 minutes mark now, myself. 

Jackson and Daddy snuggling on the couch.

• Getting up at 5am is easier, now. 

Let me rephrase that. Getting up at 5am is easier...when you have a crying baby that gives you no other choice. 'Ok! I'll get up, just please stop screaming! Here, have a boob!'. I can't complain too much, though. Jackson goes to bed around 10pm and usually sleeps 6-7 hours. Yay! I used to 'practice' waking up in the morning. Dragging my but out of bed by 6am was depressing and discouraging. Now, 6am feels like sleeping in. I guess that's normal. 

• The challenge of breastfeeding is (nearly) equal to the challenge of labor. 

You do all these things to prepare yourself for labor. Labor labor labor. Prepare prepare prepare. Especially when you do a natural birth. In my opinion labor was almost easy when comparing it to the non-stop challenges of breastfeeding and nursing. Why does no one tell you how completely hard and un-natural breastfeeding can be? No wonder so many moms choose other methods, like formula, or exclusive pumping. The nurses say "After the first two weeks, its easy." I say "The first two weeks are excruciatingly PAINFUL. The next two weeks hurt, but at least your not crying. And by the fourth and fifth weeks, you MIGHT feel like you know what you are doing." Finally, at 8 weeks. I will admit that breastfeeding is FINALLY easy. I swear I almost died a couple times, but alas, I did not give up. 

"I'm precious, and I know it." 

• The baby only loves me for my boobs. 

He's a boy, what can I say. But no, seriously. Jackson used to cry a lot when I held him because all he wanted to do when I held him was nurse. He'd be happy and sleepy in Seth's arms. Then, when he was handed to me, he'd immediately start rooting and whining to be fed. I was a little saddened by it at first, but I guess God makes them like that so they eat and gain weight. He finally quit doing this around 5-6 weeks, and now he's happy to lounge in mom's arms between feeding without demanding to be fed. 

"It's too HOT for clothes."

So yes, besides all the obvious shockers of becoming a parent, this pretty much concludes all the major items in the past 2 months I was not really expecting. Its been a thrilling, and exhausting two months. But totally worth it, and totally fun. Its not all glitter and sparkles 100% of the time, but it is most of the time, and that rules out the less enjoyable moments. 

We love you, Jackson! 

Dana & Seth