These days, it has been quite difficult to get JCH to sleep at his bedtime. Somehow, he is just super wide awake. So, what happens is that, with all the bottles/cloths/bibs/wipe up bucket unwashed, hubs and I will sleep before JCH sleeps! Only then he will get to sleep a little while after hubs and I are knocked out. He doesn't like crawl or turn. I think he just wants to make sure like he is not missing out on anything fun with dad and mom? But at night time, we try to keep things toned down after I had read of such mentality that babies might have which would lead to them unwilling to sleep.
Basically, we have to get into our bed with him, turn on his lullaby music, snuggle. And he will start crawling all over, attempting his standing feat all over, get a little more exhausted and willing to lie down quietly. Being tired as we are, we'll just drift to sleep effortlessly with the lil' one snuggling in between and he will drift to sleep following. Then, I will awake around 12plus or 1plus morning time and start washing up all the things. So, that was what just happened. After that, here I am, wide awake, not able to get back to sleep no matter what. It's like a deja vu sometimes. During pregnancy this pattern of waking up at 1plus morning happens so super often. Next I know, I will still be wide awake at 3plus, may be sleeping around 5am.
When JCH was a lot younger, as in when he was still really small and waking up at every 3hrs interval through the night, it was ok with me to have interrupted sleep. Because I would be able to catch up on lost sleep time in the day when he have his 2hrs nap. Now with a 9.5mths old little monkey, nap time for me would mean a lot of things not getting done. He is already having longer waking hours, during which have to plan his playtime and read to him. And during his long nap session in the afternoon, is the time when I have to do the things that I can't do when he is awake. So, no nap time. Or rather, I try to avoid till really cannot maintain an awake mind, then hubs will return to a super duper messy room. Now, the room is in perpetual messy state, and then it will be super duper messy.
Couple the abovementioned condition with JCH's separation anxiety, I can totally imagine the mess in the house of some of my friends with babies older than JCH when their babies had separation anxiety too. It is a challenge to get anything done (especially cooking and laundry) with the baby needing your physical presence. But at the same time, he has got to get used to not being able to see mommy sometimes.
Quite thankfully, JCH had like 2 play dates last week, when I could have a brief respite as he mingles with the other babies and my friends and/or hubs can take over a little while.
One was a pretty last minute fixed up, when a friend had to take urgent leave to rest up after her girl just didn't sleep well through the night. We just met up at another friend's place (another SAHM), put the babies together on a single sized mattress, and its a mess of babies' bodies all over the mattress!!
They would just squirm and roll all over the place, crashing into each other sometimes. With them not knowing what are dangerous acts, we just gotta keep looking out so that they don't poke each other in the eyes or pull the hair blahblahblah. The youngest still couldn't sit for long and can't crawl well yet. The other two gorgor and jiejie are just all over the place, trying to grab each other's biting toy and their mommies' water bottles. They say the grass is greener on the other side eh? It was quite hilarious and relaxing in general. They babies entertain each other or themselves, while mommies could chitchat and just do supervising, at the same time they are actually play-learning! It is a plus considering all three babies here are the first children of the families. Wished such play dates could happen more for JCH. Somehow he would get a little distracted and forget to cry for me, though he still wanted to keep me in sight. But of cos I can stay in his sight, I didn't have anything else to do other than stay around the area (except for toilet time) with my friends! XD
Another was at a friend's daughter's first year birthday party. It was really good that they have a play yard at home too! So babies and young tods are just put into the play yard with some toys and balloons and they start playing!
It was funny all the same. Especially with JCH meeting twins for the first time. He was absolutely baffled, can see it from his signature blank look when he was trying to figure things out. Putting babies together and watching them play is just a very funny time! You would see them interacting cautiously at first, checking each other out, and then later clash of the baby titans as they start reaching out for each other and they start talking too!
Lately JCH has not only been having separation anxiety, but also stranger anxiety according to a friend who is a doctor doing his rotation at paediatrics currently. JCH is wary of strangers (something we have observed), and he is not doing very well in unfamiliar environment with strangers. He would get spooked out and want to look for me and be carried. Its super evident when we went for my friends' housewarming, he just cried and stop, and cried and stop, continuous cycle. Until I carry him (daddy wouldn't do~), and he will still be giving that wary look to other adults and cry if they start playing with him. Even at the birthday party too, he did cry but a lot lesser compared to the house warming. Somehow, he handles his stranger anxiety better in the day. Or was it because he sees so many babies around it made him feel safe?
It's the same even at my mom's place, a place he is familiar with, in the evening time. Somehow, the trigger time is evening, when the sun is setting. He would fuss and cry. But on reaching home, he is back to normal, playing, smiling, laughing. Although he would still cry for me.
The elders would keep saying, "see how your baby treats you now, you will know this is how you treated your mother when you were this young". But my mom says I was very guai wor (meaning obedient). Hmms..
Anyhows, think am finally getting a bit sleepy. Better capitalize on it and try to get back to sleep.
Last picture before sleeping, the Haenim play yard that I didn't post previously aka JCH's castle! Yet to name the castle, still thinking of a name.
The prince getting busy in his own castle!
Tah tah~
Post note: Will be giving my two-cents worth on breastmilk and formula milk. Have been witnessing some situations about BM vs FM recently.
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