6 week hump

So everyone kept telling me "don't worry, the first 6 weeks with a newborn is the hardest", "once you hit the 6 week mark you're in the clear". I'm here to tell you this is yet another lie that people tell you when you have had a baby. Whoever chose this 6 weeks benchmark as a guideline for being in the so-called clear is a) not a Mother, b) someone who is trying to talk someone else into becomming a mother c) a liar d) has mommmy-amnesia. These are the people who have already been through the newborn stage and have forgotten all the shit you actually go through.

Today, Olivia is 7 weeks old! I have been trying to write this post since last Sunday when she turned 6 weeks old! But, because the 6 week hump is a lie, I've been unable to complete it til now. Right now my prcious little princess is taking her third nap of the day. Oh, wait, no, no she is not. She is now grunting which means she is waking up for the 3 pm feeding. I'll make this quick then. Let's take a look at what we've discovered over the past 7 weeks together with Olivia.

Sleep. Olivia is a great sleeper. All she needs is a swaddle, soother and a little white noise and mostly, she's down for the count. I'm lucky that so far, she doesn't freak out when I leave the room (sorry Bella, you're guilty of this one!). Olivia has recently started to skip a feeding at night, so she sleeps from 10-2am, then up again at 5, then again at 9. Party. The middle of the night feeds are a killer. She screams her face off for about 20 minutes and refuses to latch. It's really not fun for anyone. But we're managing!

Smiles. Olivia is a great smiler. She's been smiling for weeks now as per my last post, but now she reallly puts on a show for me and Dad, and anyone else who says the word SMILE to her and looks right into her eyes while saying so. This, in itslef, is enough to melt anyone's heart. Her big blue eyes and big smile makes you completely forget what she's like when she's screaming bloody murder. This leads me to my next point.

Crying. Olivia, bless her, has found her cry. I really thought in the early weeks I'd lucked out and had created a little person who would just coo and whine when she wanted something. Not so. Seems as though Liv has her Mother's lungs and as of late, she has located the perfect pitch to drive me to insanity - and she now excercises it on a regular basis. Olivia, as perfect as she is, likes to cry. On the flip side, she really does have a beautiful voice. A singer in the making perhaps?

Tears. Oh my, this was a hard one to swallow the first time I witnessed it. Olivia has tear ducts and they work. The other day she cried and tears popped out of her perfect little eyelids. I just stared at her and cried right back. I've been told that when I was a baby I had tears that could pop out of my eyes and fly across the room. She clearly gets this from me too.

Witching Hour. I've heard about it. I thought it was a crock of shit. It's not. At 5pm sharp for exaclty 2 hours, Olivia screams, cries, wiggles, shrieks, and sheds many tears. At 7pm it's over. It's freaky. It's horrible. It's just a phase. Right?

Hands. Olivia has found her hands! She is satrting to figure out that there is more to life then boob, although not much, and likes to suck on her fist. It is probably one of THE cutest things she does. That, and playtime on her favourite play mat. If you have a baby and you don't have the Tiny Love musical play mat go buy it. Olivia spends hours on her back batting and kicking at all the little colourful do-dads. Her favourite is the musical triangle that plays POP GOES THE WEEZLE and other tunes that are now permanently tatooed on my brain. So what, I say, it keeps her happy and quiet.

So this has taken me so long to write we are now mid-way through week 7 and barely surviving. Yes, yes, it is true, week 7 is worse then week 6. But because I was smart and got knocked up just after my BFF, she tells me week 8 is awesome. If she's lying I'll kill her.