I debated about whether or not to write this post for several reasons: 1) Maybe this crazy day would look better after a good night's sleep 2) By not writing this post, you might go on thinking that Elijah is perfect (like his mom) 3) I am tired after a long day and weary from motherhood. But alas, I am sitting here with my sweet husband writing this little note to say I've had a hard day.
Elijah awoke this morning with a sad look on his face. (He normally wakes up so happy so the sad look was a little surprising.) That was the beginning of his "terrible, no good, very bad day." When I sang him his good morning song (This is the day the Lord has made...) he cried. Then when David changed his diaper we realized he had leaked through his pajamas and onto his sleep sack for the very first time ever. Then I fed him, and he fussed throughout the feeding as if to say he was still tired and inconvenienced by my waking him and feeding him. Waketime- Elijah spits up all over the chair, all over the floor, all over my pants, all over his playmat, and then all over himself. He hardly ever spits up, and this gave me no small mess to clean up. Finally, nap time- thank goodness. He slept well, but again woke up cranky. The only thing he smiled about during that diaper change time was when he tee-teed all over the wall and the changing table and the floor- another first! Another fussy feeding and another fusssy waketime not wanting to do anything on his own- no swing, no playmat, no singing. He didn't even want to be read to. Thankfully, naptime came again quickly. It's 1:30 and time to wake Elijah again- he is sleeping so soundly, and I so badly do not want to hear him fuss again, but he needs to eat so I go in and gently wake him trying to cuddle him so he does not get cranky again. He is sweet for a few seconds and then gets irritable seeming to be hungry. I change him again and feed him again but am interrupted halfway through the feeding by a man who says he is here to change out our modem since our internet has not been working. Several minutes into his task, he calls me into the office to help him, and as it turns out I know a lot more about changing out the modem than he does which is just crazy since he is supposed to be the expert. After several minutes of me trying to explain to him in technical Chinese about how a modem works I finally tell him that I need to finish nursing my baby. This time Elijah is upset because the milk isn't coming fast enough since I had to interrupt the feeding. He eats a little and then remains fussy again not wanting to play and especially not wanting to be read to. I put him down for a nap at 3 and he is to sleep until 4:30. But awoken by yet another guy who is trying to "fix" the internet, he is up at 4 and ready to fussily eat again. When David walks in the door at 5:00 I am so thankful and so ready for a break. I put Elijah in his bouncy seat and let him watch Praise Baby. He is quiet at first. After a few minutes though he realizes that the babies on the tv are not real and that mom and dad are, and he insists on having a real person come to pick him up. After dinner David plays with him and he laughs for the only time today- of course he laughs with David, and then moments later cries when I try to play with him. I bathe him... more unusual fussing... I put on his pj's... lots of screaming... then I feed him again... FOR AN ENTIRE HOUR! Finally, I tell him that he cannot eat anymore, and David takes him to bed. He cries out one loud cry as the door closes, and then falls asleep. Whew! What a day!
So David and I sit here tonight thinking on this crazy day and praying for a better day tomorrow.
Elijah is 5 months old today, and we are so in love with him. We weighed and measured him today, and although I'm pretty sure we did not get completely accurate measurements, he is weighing in at 14 lbs. 6 oz. and measuring 25 3/4" in length. He seems to get cuter and cuter each day and is always doing something new. Just yesterday, he decided to say his first word which was, "Oh". Actually, that is the word for lotus root in Chinese, and we were just sure he was asking for some. He continues to love Chinese people more and more, and even gave a huge smile to a grandmother with missing teeth just the other day. He enjoys playing with all kinds of toys, and he loves for David to play the guitar for him. He still loves bathtime and morning time (definitely his daddy's boy in these areas). He loves rides in the stroller and playing with other babies. He has started doing cute things like burrying his head in our chest and rubbing his eyes when he is tired. We still have lots of fun names for him like "Little Papoose", "Babycakes", and "Sweet Cheeks". What a blessing Elijah has been to us these 5 months.
