So, whats it like...?

We will inevitably be asked this question. It has not happened yet, but I know it is coming. "What is it like with a baby in the house now?" And I am going to use the description that a friend of ours used when we asked her that question.

Everyday feels like Groundhog Day around here! And I am Bill Murray. And I am not even home all day, every day. No, we are not on a routine, or a schedule yet...but the same cycles repeat themselves all day, every day. It is the same, with very little variety.




Somewhere around 5-6 AM, she wakes up, and its time to change a diaper. But before you can change the diaper, start getting a bottle ready, turn the warmer on, get the bottle out, hope it is still cold from the overnight in the cooler...or else you have to go get a new one. All the while, there is this scream emanating from the little bundle of joy in your arms, a scream that makes your ears twitch, and your brain hurt. Now that you have the diaper changed, hopefully that bottle is almost warm...because your head is starting to split open...then....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! She gets to eat, and all is quiet again, someone turned the switch off.

At this point, she may, or may not go back to sleep. Assuming all is well, she goes back to sleep. For maybe 90 minutes...2 hours if you are lucky...then, guess what?

It is time to start that process all over again. Except this time, the bottle is not even made up yet, now you are downstairs, and you need to get the formula out of the fridge...hope you have clean bottles on the counter or in the dishwasher...don't find yourself with no clean bottles...your head can't take it. Because she is developing her lungs again. So, you go through the whole thing again...diaper, bottle, maybe another diaper, some more bottle...except this time she doesn't feel like sleeping. Sometimes that is ok, she will lay there in her rocker or bouncy chair and be content to just stare at you...but not always. Before you know it...it has been 2 hours again, and guess WHAT?

You guessed it again, time to start all over! This goes on all day. With the occasional bit of variety of a dirty diaper somewhere between feedings. It is amazing, this child weighs 10 pounds, and pees more than any adult I have ever seen...even the well hydrated ones. It is astonishing.



But while it feels like we are stuck in some alter universe, where we are destined to repeat the same things over, day after day, we know there is an end to this phase. Much like there was an end to the potty training for the dog. There is an end. And through it all, we love her more everyday. She is a wonderful bundle of joy...who would make Steven Tyler envious.