Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time...

Alrighty, here we go. Get ready for some serious venting regarding the Babycenter board entitled, "Great Debate--Go to your child or let him cry it out?" For those unfamilar, let me first explain that the cry it out method (CIO) is a kind of old-school way of getting one's baby to sleep. There are various interpretations of the practice, but it's basically the belief that you shouldn't rock a baby to sleep or otherwise try to initiate sleep save putting the baby down and walking away. Now, different parents do different things, but by and large, you let the child cry for a few minutes, go to them and comfort, and then leave again (all without picking up the baby). It's kinda like, "I'm letting you know that mommy is here and loves you, but it's sleepy time."

Uh, I'm all for it. We've been doing a modified version of the Ferber method for about three weeks now, and if you've read my previous posts, the results have been nothing short of miraculous.

A ton of these nutso women on babycenter firmly believe that by allow a child to cry for a while, you're abusing them. Yeah, I'm serious. That letting a two month old cry for ten or fifteen minutes at a time is neglectful and will cause permanent damage, trust issues, etc.

WTF? Uh, no. I'm taking a stand here and now and saying, "That is crazy talk." Now I'm not advocating leaving a baby to scream his head off for an hour, or neglecting a basic need. But if the kid is fed, changed, and A-ok, there's not a damn thing wrong with saying, "ok, little guy. Time to sleep." To yet again quote my mom, I called her the other week telling her that Cole was perfectly fine, but seemed tired and overstimulated and generally grumpy. Know what she said to me? "Sara, haven't you ever had a bad day? If the baby isn't happy, no matter what you do, then put him down and take a break." Glad someone has some sense. Yeah, and she had another good point--how frustrating must it sometimes be to be a baby? How about sometimes they need to cry just like I do?

A well-rested baby is a happy baby, and a well-rested mom is a happy mom. So yeah, I'm a fan of CIO. What kills me about these women is how they somehow believe that sacrificing your own life and happiness is going to result in a happier child...Uh, heck no. It seems to be part of a larger 'child-centered' parenting philosophy (you know, with the co-sleeping and baby-wearing). They're like baby nazis. And if you don't do it their way, you're a horrible mother and will end up with a maladjusted, damaged child. Again, this is beyond ridiculous. My thought on the whole thing is this: yeah, having a child changes everything, as it should. But if you make yourself miserable, if you neglect yourself and your marriage, you're setting the entire family up for serious problems. The best gift we can give Cole is a loving mom and dad, and the best way to do that is to find balance. And I'm sorry, but centering your entire existence around the child is not the way to do that. Love isn't about instant gratification or doing what feels right in the moment--rather, we're trying to create a loving family environment that mets the needs of everyone. So that's my rant. I'll shut up now.

By the by, more pictures soon to come. Picard has been smiling and giggling a lot, so I'll try to capture that so you guys can enjoy as much as Jed and I have.

Shoutouts

Uh, can I just say, "holy Mary, mother of God." Yeah. Uh, I just logged on to see if anyone had left a comment under the baby pictures, and--lo-and-behold...I see comments from two of my favorite human beings in the whole wide universe...my bestis bud, Jamie and my long, long lost friend Petenut McNut.

Gah, how good is was to hear from you guys. You can't imagine. I'll call soon so we can plan a trip for y'all to see the little bean. I'm beyond excited.

More good news--the little bear slept from 8-3 and then from 3:30-7:30 this a.m. Do you realize that this is considered "sleeping through the night"?!?!! Good stuff. Mommy is well-rested. We went to the mall today and Cole was wonderful, even quiet enough for me to try on shoes and lingerie (yeah, that's right, undies!). He's a sweet little peanut.

My mom is coming tomorrow early to watch him, so that mom and dad can have a BIG weekend out, with tons of fun, craic, and debauchery. If you read this, please wish Jed a veraaaa happaaa birthday. He'll be, uh, 34 (lol) on the 31st. We're gonna party like rock stars. Soul Patrol...keep on rockin' in the free world

...More Pictures (as promised)

Ok, guys. Here are some more images of the Bean.

The heart of the matter

Thanks to all who have left sweet messages about Cole's new pictures!

Good news we'd like to share: We took Cole to the pediatric cardiologist today to take a look at his heart murmur. From what he saw, it looks like an innocent flow murmur, which should fade in time. Finally, a positive doctor's appointment! We are immensely relieved that the Bean is healthy, and are thankful for everyone's prayers and support.

We had a rather grumpy afternoon yesterday, but once again had a great night. He's just doing so well.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

Ah, another day of mommyhood. Y'all, things were SUPER last night. Aubs, Alysha, Jed, PoD, and I went to Chili's for Alysha's going-away dinner. I had an excellent margarita. The Captain was a little fussy, but it was rather noisy, and it was just getting to be his bedtime. We came home and gave him a bath, and Jed and I read him a story and sang a song, and then put him to bed. And he slept! Jed woke him at midnight for a feeding...and then, miracle of miracles, he didn't wake again until 4! That's right, four hours of uninterrupted sleep. He went straight back down after eating, no complaints, and slept until 7. This, my friends, is awesome.

So yeah, Alysha has gone back to Manchester for a week. Should be interesting to see how I do without the extra help around the house, but I'm feeling generally calm and happy and think we'll be just fine.

That's pretty much it for now...Off to do laundry and feed the little one. I'll post some pictures later. Daddy and baby fell asleep together on the couch this morning, and were a precious sight.

Xanax, anyone?

Hey guys and girls…missed me? Of course you have. Well, while the PoD (that’s Prince of Darkness for those of you not yet aquainted with our little man) is napping, I’ll attempt to provide you all with a long-overdue update as to the state (read: chaos) of our lives. Now be warned, this may be brief, as we’re having a rather fussy day (read: the PoD is driving me outta my mind).

Things are going fairly well. Cole’s eating about every 2-3 hours, which we’d like to space out a bit, but he’s still just a little guy, and can’t hold a ton of formula. Oh yeah, I’m not breast feeding. That lasted, oh, about 5 days and I had to call him off. No problem latching on though—he caught on quite well. Too well. He’s getting big; well, big for him. At his one-month appointment, he was up to 8.5 pounds…he’s probably around ten at this point (we’re seven weeks old today), but we don’t have another appointment until next week. On a serious note, he has a heart murmur, but hopefully it’s benign. We see a pediatric cardiologist tomorrow. Oh yeah, and I know we all made jokes about the blob being, uh, well-endowed, so to speak. Ugh—the cause of such largeness may be due to a hernia. We’re just watching it (fun) and waiting for now, as it doesn’t seem to be bothering him in the least.

All in all, life is beautiful. Mommy dearest was prescribed Zoloft for postpartum depression/anxiety, and it has worked. I wasn’t having any “icky” feelings about the baby—it was more a “Oh fuck, what did we do? I need to run away from this” sorta feeling (sorry for the cursing, but the truth is the truth, n’est pas?). That being said, daddy has handled the transition from martini-drinking-rock-star to bottle-holding-diaper-changing-song singing-family man extraordinarily well. It’s amazing to watch Jed with his son…he has this gentleness that I’ve never before seen. We’ve been out on the town a couple of times, and got away last weekend to Charleston, so yeah, to all you that laughed when we said we were going to maintain at least a semblance of our old lives—HA TO YOU. We are. And we will. And we’re loving every second (ok, most every second) of this new chapter. We’ve got it all…and it’s difficult, tremendously so. But the only way I really can describe it all—the ups and downs, the sleep and lack thereof, the smiling and crying—is that it’s the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine.

More to come soon. Yours truly needs a cigarette before baby wakes (and I don’t want to hear a damned thing about me smoking from anyone. Blame the screamy monster).

Long awaited pics of Cole