Amy Looks Great!

Eye teeth.  Fangs.  Canine teeth.  Cuspids. 
Call 'em what you like.  They stink!  My boy is in pain, and I feel helpless!  In my mommy mind, there's nothing worse than knowing I can't fix the problem, or alleviate the hurt.

I think the issue is somewhat exaggerated though.  I haven't yet shared, but my lil' man is developing a flair for the dramatics.
(He must get this trait from me.)  For instance, all times centering 'round CRIB-ville (by that I mean -- naptime, bedtime, resty-rest time) have become nothing short of a battle.

Basically, it breaks my heart to hear the resonating levels of cry, to see his chubby appendages flail, to feel his desperate hands grasp between spindles, but I have to tell myself it's for the best.  I AM IN CHARGE!  He needs to know it, too!  I just wish he wasn't in pain.

Doggone it...

Dogteeth stink! 


Who needs 'em? 


I think Amy looks great!

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A MOM-zilla mention:

If you like Baby Talk without the Babble, follow the link below and cast your "vote" to make it one of America's top baby blogs.

http://www.topbabyblogs.com/cgi-bin/topblogs/in.cgi?id=MOMzilla

Grazie!

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LL Cool A: Mama Said Take a Nap!

My little man is a stud.  He's a heartbreaker... already!  In fact, I have a new moniker for my bugga boy --

" LL Cool A "

Not to be confused with Kool-Aid.

The ladies love cool Aksel!

Lock up

your

 daughters!  

All jokes aside, my little one's a flirt!  Seriously though, here are a few interesting developments in the life of my ever-changing boy:

For one, Aksel's recently shown an interest in dance.  He's got rhythm, too!  It's adorable to watch him wiggle-n-bob to kiddie
hip-hop songs.  (See Below, I Love Bugs!)

As a side note, he didn't inherit this ability from me.  I'm a horrible dancer! 

To take it one step further, I have my high school reunion this weekend, and in my mind, I'm already making apologies for my steps.  The Pedestrian ** will be out in full force, and I just know I'm going to make an arse of myself! 

(**If curious, refer to entry -- The Pedestrian and Phrases.)

Tying things up, LL Cool A has also been battling me recently to give up his second nap.  It's an exercise of determination and will on his part.  Mine too, really.

Will he or won't he sleep?

It's like a bottle quickdraw every day 'round three to see who'll rise victorious. 

(Can't you just hear the lone whistle of tumbleweeds blowing?)

Well, I'm singing a different tune... LL Cool A, mama said please knock out!  No really, mama said take a nap!

Getting the Motherly Mush Out!

I'll write just as it is... 

My child does NOT sleep through the night, and I don't mind!  To take it a step further, I have an even stranger admission... I actually love it!  After five plus hours of curious sleep, I miss him!

In fact, I quietly skip to his crib each night (some more noisy than others), and I adore the moment he first sees me...

SMILES and glee!

EXCITEMENT and leg kicks!

In the wee small hours of the morning,
I get the motherly mush out.  I tell him how much I love him, and how I'll always protect and care for him.  I kiss him repeatedly on the forehead, and manage miraculously to never make him cry! 

It's bliss!

Photographer:  Josh Branstetter

http://www.jabberpics.com/

All of the many sleep concerns I had months ago have dissipated.  I wonder now, looking back, why I even worried myself over the matter?  (Refer to entry, Lonely Nights Behind Bars)

In regards to sleep training, my child let me know when he was ready to sleep on his own.  There was a day somewhere along the line, when he cried in a particular way, and I just knew he wasn't sleeping well in our room, in my bed.  I realized from there, that I was the one with sleep issues!  I couldn't let him go.  He'd been so close to me, for so many months --

It was hard.  I'm not saying it was easy, but ultimately it was for the best.  My little man now, for the most part, sleeps like a champ!  At six months, he naps reliably every three hours.  He puts himself to sleep, and wakes refreshed-n-ready to play.

It's beautiful, and I more than love this time in my life!

A sleep essential in the Mulligan-Kohn household...

Summer Infant Deluxe Day & Night Handheld Color Video Monitor

Lonely Nights Behind Bars.

The point I make now, has been established in past entries, but it's well worth repeating -- parenting is HARD!  I chuckle to think how it will change?  I'm certain there are those of you readers out there now, rolling your eyes, laughing at my naivete?  I know.  It's okay.  I mean, really?  I'm two months in, and Aksel has yet to even roll over.  He has no teeth.  He isn't speaking.  He doesn't walk, or eat solid foods for that matter!  How will I feel about parenting and its difficulty, when he catches on, and comprehends that I'm a novice, a newbie, a totally-whipped mommy pushover?  I LOVE my boy... more each day, in fact! 

So, like I said before, it's hard!  To date, however, the issue I've most struggled with is sleep training.

The question isn't whether or not I'm going to sleep train.  The questions are, when and how?  When will I knowingly admit that Aksel is strong enough to "cry it out" and self-soothe?  And, how will I muster the strength to let him go, to nearly rip him from my warm embrace?  I could really cry to think about it!  I am seriously conflicted...

I've read countless articles on the matter, and I have asked numerous individuals for their opinion on the subject, yet every which one seems to contradict the other.  "Whatever works for you.  Each child is different.  Start as you plan to go."  So basically, I'm left to think it's a matter of instinct, of some divine maternal know-how. 

Here is what I know...

I know that I love my child, and as the saying goes, I want the very best for him.  I know that he will be small for just a short, short time. I know that if I am not resolute, I will confuse him greatly.  I know it will be more difficult the longer I wait, but... I also know in nature, a cub is not separated from its mother! 

(I failed to mention the negative effects co-sleeping could potentially have on my adult relationship.  I know this too, Mark!)

Prior to giving birth, I was skeptical about the whole mother/child bonding bit.  To start, I knew Aksel would know my voice, and my smell.  I knew, theoretically, I would love him more than I'd ever loved anything before, but what I didn't know or expect, was when and how it would manifest itself?  Here we go again with the when and how!

Every person is different.  Situations vary.  But, my child was born with his eyes wide open, and he knew and needed only me.  The bond was instantaneous!  In saying that, it was not as strong as it is today, but it was certainly there.  The love, the primal need for one another, was palpable the very second my doctor slung him on my chest.

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Gillian

(the words catching

 in her throat)

Phew! Life is amazing! I think I need a minute.

She brings her hand to her head, takes a deep, centering breath. 

Gillian

                 (continuing)

Where was I?  Oh, the dreaded sleep training!

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What courage I will need to bravely assume, to listen to his pleading cries!  While instinctively, I would much rather swoop him up, place his slight body in the gentle bend of my left arm, and wrap my loving warmth around him.  To softly tousle his hair, and faintly tickle his temples, something close to what I remember my mother doing when I was a young thing.  To sleep face-to-face, nose-touching-nose, breath-on-breath as the morning hours pass.  It doesn't feel wrong.  On the contrary, it feels natural...

So, the idea of exiling him to his far-off nursery, sentencing him to lonely nights behind bars, is excruciating, but I look to let him go soon.  I shall release my little arrow forth.  I just need a week, or two, more.

Aksel:  13 pounds, 5 ounces & 25 inches

      

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And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

          -- Kahlil Gibran

              The Prophet

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