on growth spurts and separation anxiety

(this post is dedicated to all my girlfriends -- you know who you are -- who don't yet have kids, who are fighting the good fight.)

so i've read that babies hit growth spurts on the 3's and 6's: three weeks, six weeks, three months, six months...

aidan is nearing the end of six months and i'm semi-delirious for lack of sleep. i'm lucky if i get four straight hours any given night. he does sleep for five hour stretches, but they start around 8PM. and although i'm exhausted, work and human connection (i.e. chatting with my husband) preclude me from turning in anytime before 11PM. that means, i'm up two hours later (1AM) for the next feeding. after that, it's two hour intervals at the most. i believe i've aged fifteen years this month. scratch that: this week.

and then there's the issue of separation anxiety. he doesn't want to be apart at all. not at all. sometimes, if i'm just standing behind him he'll lose it. he needs me in eyeshot pretty much the whole time he's awake. he'll have momentary bouts of independence, but they're stubbornly short-lived moments of joy.

i long for an eight-hour stretch of sleep and for the day aidan says "mom, i need some space."

our little lion

Went to the doctor yesterday for the six month check-up and all is well. Nothing to report other than the nurse referring to Aidan as the bravest baby of the day. He got five shots (no more for several months, thank GAWD) and only winced once. I didn't experience this first-hand because, wimp that I am, I can't stand to watch. So I turn the task over to Simon. My mom thinks I should do it eventually -- and she's right -- but until I have to, I won't. According to the nurses, this is a common weakness among new mothers.

I already feel like he's growing up so fast: he's "talking" (it's babel and it's freakin' cute), turning over, propping himself up, grabing for anything we're holding, and he's developed this very coy smile when others stare at him. It's as if to say "aw, shucks, you really think I'm the cutest baby you've ever seen?"

Hard to believe that he's already been around for half a year.

stay at home mom?

hey chicas,

so i turned in my a.i. application today and for some reason being on campus felt strange and so far removed, which was a very wierd feeling. being at home with ethan, i have no intellectual stimulation at all and dream of teaching again. but being on campus made me want to become a stay at home mom, which i didn't expect. nor do i think we can afford it. maybe it just felt wierd to be on campus with ethan, but this was the first time i felt like i didn't belong there. and i've been a part of the english department since 1996! huh.

regressing

ethan is backsliding with sleep and is getting drooly. teeth at 12 weeks too early? typing left handed so short post. found interesting book on cognitive development called the wonder weeks. dumbed down but still useful for it's identification of cognitive growth spurts which do not always coincide with physical ones. ethan very clearly in one now.