Not bad, baby!

Lest you think my child does nothing but scream, here's an update--he sleeps too!! Eight hours!! Yes, for two nights in a row, he's been sleeping for eight hours, from 11:00 to 7:00. Hallelujah! This could be because he spends the previous 3 or 4 hours raging. Not crying. Raging. Each night I go to sleep in tears, nerves ripped apart and I wake up...rested. Incredible. We've given  him two doses of probiotics so far, and we'll see if it helps at all. 

Brice remains very interested in this new intruder, though still not at all sure what to do with him. The past weekend he tried to pick him up. Squatted down and shoved his little paws underneath him and when that didn't work, he grabbed his arm and pulled him (he was being closely supervised whilst doing this, in case you're cursing my parenting skills). He also likes to try and shove the pacifier in his mouth when he's crying. It's sort of sweet. I look forward to the day when they can actually interact and play.

The Verdict

Definitely colic. But sort of textbook colic. He's been doing okay during the day and raging at night. Not every night, but if the definition is at least three hours a day, at least three days a week, at least three weeks (don't know about that, yet), our boy's in. It's the kind of screaming that'll blow your eardrums. Seth and I were one foot from each other's face and we could not hear each other talk. Honestly. It was THAT loud. Geez!! 

So, I read online that there was a new study that seemed to prove/strongly suggest that probiotics (one, in particular) can ameliorate most colic. Babies in the study went (after a month) from crying over 3 hours a day to crying a little under an hour. I could handle that!! So, we've ordered a month's supply. I'll let you know.

Colic Watch, Week 3, Day 4

I think I spoke too soon. It does appear that this child, also, is colicky. The crying started about 36 hours ago. And when I say "crying" I mean "raging." Maybe some of this is normal? I just have no idea what "normal" is--Brice did not prepare me for normal. It's crying for no known reason--fed, changed, held--what else? We even bought a fancy carrier so I could wear him and apparently he hates that too. What gives? But more important, how do you survive with a very demanding 17 month old (who still can't talk!!) and a colicky newborn? Bueller???

Colic Watch, Week 3, Day 3

Still good, I think. He has the occasional crying jag--almost always related to getting his diaper changed. Can't say that I blame him. Four days to go until we can all relax. 

Our first family outing

Our first family outing--to Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins. This is before we had our double stroller all fixed up. 
We didn't actually give Brice his own cup of ice cream. The nice thing about this age is that he is just as happy to play with a spoon and the last dregs of melted ice cream. Works for us!!
We asked the clerk to take our first family picture. Apparently she didn't know how to zoom with our camera. Oh well. I was having a bad hair day (month), so it's just as well. 

What were we thinking???

When we told my mother we were pregnant with boy #2, she looked at us and said, "congratulations. you're insane." I sort of knew what she was talking about, but how could I really know what she was talking about? (and why didn't she elaborate??) So here we are now with two boys under 18 months (under 17 months, to be precise) and we're now asking ourselves, "what were we thinking?" 

Take tonight, for example. We decided it would be fun to go to Chinatown for dinner. We're trying to get out more as a family--figure out how to do it. So, at 4:45 we make the decision. At 5:30 we meet at the back door. That's right--it took 45 minutes to even get out the door with TWO OF US. Between feeding Harry, changing both boys, socks and shoes, packing a purse, loading Harry into a carseat (no small feat), we were finally ready to head out. We make it down all the stairs, to the car, only to realize we now own the two biggest car seats on the market. And to install them right next to each other, which we have to do by law, is just asking for trouble. First of all, it's almost impossible to get the infant seat in, as it's installed too close to the toddler seat. Then, I had to ride in back to keep Brice from torturing Harry (all in the name of curiosity, I can only assume). Something I won't be able to do when it's just me.

We finally make it to Chinatown, and had a lovely dinner. We let Brice run free for a while in the open area and he charmed the locals while Seth ran after him and tried to keep him from running into stores, climbing the open staircase, eating ice cream off the ground and more mundane dangers.

Once we got home, I began to panic. Honestly, how am I supposed to do this? How can I get Brice and Harry (in his carseat, thus tripling his weight) out of the car/stroller and in the condo and up the (many) stairs. Brice immediately takes off once he's on the ground. I'm getting a headache just writing about this. I have to keep telling myself these times are precious and they'll be gone all too soon. I know it's true. I know i'll miss this (and every) stage. 

Colic Watch, Week 3, Day 1

Colic scares the daylights out of me. Brice was colicky for four months and I remember that time as just one of darkness. He cried and fussed ALL THE TIME. There were two hours each day when I could count on him to be pleasant. They were the two hours after he got up, before he would go down for his morning nap. It hit around 3 weeks. Actually, it really reared its head the day before Seth headed back to work, of course. Technically, colic is defined as at least 3 hours a day of crying or fussing, at least 3 days a week, lasting at least 3 weeks. That sounds like vacation to me!! Brice cried and fussed about 9 hours a day, every single day, for four months straight. I mean, to the day. 

So, for nine months, I have hoped and prayed that this child would be easy. Each time the dr. took his heartbeat, it would be in the lowest possible range. "You have the chillest baby in there," she would say to me. I crossed my fingers and prayed it was true. And here we are, entering the third week. Colic usually begins the second or third week. So far, so good. Up until now, he's only cried when he was hungry, or when he filled his shorts. He's sleeping for about 3 hours at a time. He likes to be swaddled. He's actually kind of a dream so far. But I can't relax. Not until we pass the three week mark. So it begins: Week 3, Day 1.