Eli turned 4 months last Wednesday and he had his 4 months check up yesterday. He got his second round of shots and he was so brave!
Ever since I went back to work end of November, things have been different at home. Before I went back to work, I was very nervous about leaving Baby E with my MIL. I was worried that he wouldn't adjust well to this change and wouldn't sleep well. So before I went back to work, my MIL came for a few days to learn how to take care of Eli our way lol. I made Danny stay with her the whole day and show her how we take care of Eli. He made sure she understood his nap schedule and his routine. Then it was time for me to go back to work... I was a bit nervous the first week, but then when I see that both Eli and my MIL are adjusting so well.. I was just so happy to get my life back!
During a normal week day, Danny and I both get up around 5:30 - 6 am... I hop into the shower while Danny takes care of the dogs and warms up the bottle. Eli gets his first morning bottle with Danny at around 6am... then around 6:30 when I am all ready for work, I get to play with Eli for about 30 minutes when Danny gets ready. I then leave the house at around 7am and Danny stays with Baby E until my MIL arrives at 7:30am. I usually get home around 3:30pm.
We keep a detailed log of Eli's sleep, eat, and poop schedule. So when I come home, I can easily see how he has slept and ate the whole day and knows when to put him down for bedtime. Eli takes 3-4 naps during the day nowadays. His bedtime is usually around 6 - 6:30pm depending on when he wakes up from his last nap... some days he sleeps before 6pm and some days he sleeps a little later. Overall, he is such a happy and good baby. He is so easy going and it makes our life so much easier. He has been sleeping through the night since when he was 2.5 months old and it's really a blessing.
His naps are still irregular but one thing for sure is that he has at least one long nap a day. It's usually his first morning nap. We keep him on a schedule so his naps are more predictable. He goes down for his first morning nap at around 7:30am and gets up around 9:30am (sometimes later). He gets his second bottle at 10am... then he goes down for his second nap around 11:30am... after that, he eats at 2pm and has one or two more short afternoon naps. When I get home, he is usually napping. I manage to squeeze in a shower before he gets up at around 4pm and then it's play time for us :) I really enjoy spending the two hours with him each afternoon. At around 5pm each day, he either gets a bath (or we just washes his hands), lotion, in preparation for bedtime. He gets his last bottle at around 5:30pm and is usually out by 6:30pm.
I get my alone time after he goes to bed. Nowadays my MIL even washes the bottles for us so I don't even have to do baby dishes anymore! (Umma is the best hehe) Danny usually comes home around 7:30pm so I spend that hour usually lesson planning for the next day. He comes home, we eat dinner, watches a bit of TV and I'm usually out by 9:30pm (I know I am such a granny... but I get sooo tired these days!)
Every morning I wake up feeling very blessed because I get my sleep! haha. It's such a wonderful feeling knowing that when he goes down at night, he is down for good. I get to have my "me" time and my sleep.
Life is a bit hectic most of the time with Baby E... but I am much happier now that I am a working Mom. I love waking up every morning going to work. I love my job.
On weekends, it's always a bit busy. We have to take care of Baby E and run a bunch of errands. On top of that, I usually have to do plenty of lesson planning for the week. Sundays are always hectic because we have church. We are still adjusting to life with a baby but so far... it's going well. We try to have date nights every other Fridays. My sister has been so nice to babysit for us :) She usually comes around 6:30pm and we are usually back before 9pm to get her home.
People always ask- How's it like being a mom? My answer is usually... It's okay... lol.. I wonder if people expect me to say- "Oh it's wonderful being a new mom!".. or "I've never been happier!". I guess I can say that.. but that would be lying lol. Don't get me wrong- I love Eli and he makes me smile and laugh all the time... But it is SO. MUCH. WORK. being a new parent and there are new challenges every day.
One more week of work and then it's Christmas break! Now that I'm working again, I can look forward to vacation time! :)
