Ricky And Donna's Visit

ricky and donna's visit
Originally uploaded by xosunnydaysxo.

This past weekend was pretty busy. Thankfully, not busy working and doing open houses. I was busy spending time with the family. My brother, Ricky, had been out of commission shortly after Gabriel was born due to repair of a ruptured achilles tendon. He's finally gotten off of his crutches and decided to drive from Atlanta with his wife to visit Gabriel for the first time.

We spent the weekend lounging around the house and simply letting Gabriel become acquainted with his uncle and aunt. Ricky even surprised me by helping out with the baby duties. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Ricky And Donna"s Visit
Originally uploaded by xosunnydaysxo.

Gabriel showing us how much he likes his breakfast!

Gabriel's First Day Swimming

swimming
Originally uploaded by xosunnydaysxo.

I'm really not a water person. I guess since my mom was afraid of us being in the water and kept us from it, I never really got used to it. I think that I would like Gabriel to be exposed to as much as possible and let him decide on what he likes and doesn't like on his own.

This weekend while Ricky and Donna were in town, we hung by the pool and let Gabriel take his first dip. The cool water took him by surprise, but he quickly got used to it. While holding him against my shoulder, he even let his legs float back behind him, and began kicking. I guess it's true that babies instinctively know how to swim already. He even let out little squeals and laughs as we went around. Even though he probably already knows how to swim, I didn't dare let him go, as I was afraid of him swallowing water. For now I'll be at least somewhat overly cautious.

IMGP0419
Originally uploaded by xosunnydaysxo.

Okay, I Think I'm About Ready To Shoot Myself

Well, we've gotten our air fixed. I was a little excited to get my bed back, because Gabriel's been sleeping with us, since our room was the only one in the house with the portable AC to hold us over. It's nice to have him near me, but I get scared I'm going to roll over him, which results in me sleeping like a statue all night.

I was just about ready to celebrate when I laid him in his own crib, until he let out an old familiar sound I hadn't heard in awhile. Crying. Yep, he's gotten spoiled and doesn't want to sleep alone anymore. Last night has been my fourth night of not sleeping. That really sucks cause right before our air broke, he was actually beginning to sleep through the night. Getting him to bed was easy; I would just lay him down, and he would toss for a little while and settle into sleep. But, not anymore! He cries and wants to be held. When I finally get him to sleep, he's up in a couple of hours looking for me, won't sleep until I've rocked him (30-45 minutes), then when I lay him down, he only sleeps for about 10 minutes when he realizes I'm not there anymore. And then, it's the same process ALL. FRICKING. NIGHT. Last night, I kept going with the rocking, but finally thought that I should quit, as I'm only reinforcing what he wants. So, I just stood (wearily) by his crib and patted his belly. He won't take a pacifier anymore, but after several tries, he finally took it and fell asleep after about an hour and a half or so. So, I finally collapsed into my bed. Bad news is, it was 5 a.m. Worse news is, he's up at 6. Dammit.

I'm determined to not have him sleep in our bed. So, I suppose I'm going to have to suffer and try to get him to get used to sleeping alone again. I'm not quite sure how just yet, but I sure hope it's soon. I thought I was home free...now I'm back to square one, like having a newborn. The only thing is, I work now. If I can get him back in routine, I swear to God...he will never ever ever ever ever ever ever spend the night in our bed again. EVER. This SUCKS!