My Bouncing Baby Boy

I love Little Man. He smiles easily and has started laughing although I'm not sure if he's laughing because he's happy or if he's laughing at me.

Little Man is also pretty challenging. The only way to get him to sleep is to swaddle him tightly, give him a pacifier, throw a blanket over his face, and bounce him. I have an exercise ball that I spend several hours a day on...not exercising, but bouncing Little Man, who is quite literally my bouncing baby boy. If I forget to cover Little Man's face with a blanket while trying to convince him that he needs at least one nap during the day, he simply will not close his eyes. My theory is that he never has actually fallen asleep, but simply passes out from lack of oxygen due to having his face covered. Don't worry though. When he falls asleep, I pull the blanket off his face so he can revive himself within 11 minutes and then proceed to scream for the next two hours because he's so tired.

Little Man may view falling asleep as tantamount to having his fingernails pulled out one by one, and he may have issues with taking a nap that's longer than 17 minutes at at time, but he does sleep through the night. So my days are frustrating and long while my nights are peaceful and full of sleep. When I'm out somewhere and Little Man is screaming his head off like I've forgotten to feed him for a week, I get looks of pity which turn into deep sympathy when I explain that this is what he does EVERY TIME he gets tired. Then, I usually make the mistake of saying, "Well, at least he sleeps through the night." At that point, most people roll their eyes and tell me that I don't know how good I have it. I'll agree with that. I've been blessed with two children who, so far, (knock on wood, cross fingers, pray HARD) are good at sleeping during the night, but lack that skill during the day. However, people don't have much sympathy for a mom with a "high-needs" baby if that baby sleeps through the night. Guess I don't blame them though. I'd much rather that Little Man is a bear during the day as long as he sleeps all night.

Unsolicited Advice:
When taking laundry out of the dryer, fold it and stack it in the laundry basket instead of just dumping it all in. This ensures that, even if you don't have time to even look at the basket of clothes again until you actually need to wear something out of it, you will at least find folded clothes instead of a wrinkled mess.

Why Won't You Stop Asking Me Why?

I hate the word "why." And if you ask me why, I'll probably bite your head off. So please don't ask, let me just tell you. Princess is in the "why" stage. She has been for a while, and at first, I thought it was cute that she wanted to learn so much. Now, she seems to think that no matter what I say, I expect her to follow up with "Why?"
Me: "Princess, you just stepped on your sunglasses and broke them."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "I don't know why you did that."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because I have no idea why you do most of the things you do."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because 2 year olds are inexplicable."
Princess "Why?"
Me: (Pulls out hair in frustration) "Stop asking me why! I don't know why!!"
Princess: "Why?"
Me: (Screams and locks self in bathroom)
Princess: (Bangs on bathroom door) "Why?"
So yeah...not so cute anymore.

Have you ever noticed that people are never happy with how many children you have or don't have? After the wedding ceremony, people (especially prospective grandmas) sidle up to you at the reception with a glint in their eye and casually ask how long you plan to wait before having kids. Five months later, the same question is posed, but this time with a vague sense of urgency. A year later, people start slipping you brochures with titles like "How to Overcome Infertility" and "Babies: A Fulfilling Experience"

When you finally cave and become pregnant, complete strangers feel as if it's acceptable for them to add their opinion. Questions arise as to the number of babies you are carrying even though you've had two ultrasounds to prove that there really is only one baby in there. Fast forward to when the baby is 6 months old. People start to whisper behind your back. "Do you think she'll have another soon?" It's almost as if, since you've proven your ability to create a new life, they expect you to pop out another one within the year. After you've had your second baby, some people start to change their tack. Instead of pushing you in the direction of pregnancy, they tell you how you now have the perfect pair and don't need any more. Others will still hold out hope that you continue to have more. If you dare to become pregnant again, you will receive advice on how three children is really a difficult number to have because someone is always left out. About half of the people telling you this are trying to make you feel guilty for bringing another life into this world, the other half are telling you to have one more to even things up a bit. When you bring home your fourth baby, with only a few rare exceptions, people will begin giving you literature on the dangers of overpopulation and asking you how you can possibly handle so many little people hanging on you all day long.

Unsolicited Advice:
One of the best things about having kids is that they make great gift ideas. I don't mean you should wrap your 10 month old up and give him away at Christmas time, but pictures of your kids or personalized items with pictures of your kids make great gifts for relatives (your boss at work may not be too impressed with a mug showing off your children's "silly" faces).