Xander Week 7 - Ok, What’s Next?
November 7, 2006
Our little family has been adjusting quite nicely, I think. We have our routines down fairly well, and Zach and I are able to handle most of the situations that arise with the little guy so far. I’ve been enjoying my maternity leave, but lately I’m wanting more. I understand this infant phase now, and I’m ready for some new developmental milestones. Xander seems to be right on target for his age - learning and growing just as he is supposed to. Since patience has never been a virtue of mine, I’m ready for him to start doing more things - I’m ready for him to take an interest in toys, or sit up, or start laughing at us when we make funny faces at him.
I think part of me wants to cram as much learning at I can in before he gets to day care. I’m worried that he won’t get much one-on-one time at day care, and thus, won’t receive the same time and effort that a parent might put into teaching their child.
Another part of me sees that we have a good routine, that I can set him down for a morning and afternoon nap for at least 2 hours at a time, and get things done around the house, but when the laundry is drying and the dishwasher is going, and the house is mostly clean, I look at that sleeping boy and start to wish that he would wake up so that we can play. Of course, “play” is a relative term, since his play right now consists mostly of staring, stiffening his legs (he loves to “stand”) and sometimes smiling.
I am just so excited to see what will develop next, I can hardly wait. I was thrilled when he started smiling and What to Expect The First Year (the “manual”) says that in the next month or two we can expect Xander to start laughing - and I’m so excited for that, and for all of his developmental milestones. On the other hand, I want to enjoy the time that I have, because I know that the blink of an eye, he’ll be 10 and I’ll yearn for these infant days again, so I don’t want to waste time thinking about the future, and not enjoying the present. Hopefully, I’ll find a good balance between my excitement for new developments with appreciation for the present…
Hi Sara -
I just discovered your blog today and am really enjoying it. It came up in one of my searches - I’m currently expecting my second baby and wanted to refresh my memory on how big my 14 week old fetus is now. Your site caught my interest, not only because it brought me back to my first days/weeks with my my first child - but also because my name is also Sara (’no h’) and we also named our son Alexander! He’s now 18 months - and it’s been such a wonderful adventure. I agree that too many people warn you about the difficulties (maybe they weren’t expecting any and wish they’d been warned?) and not enough tell you about the joys. I still remember what one professor in my department said to me later in my pregnancy (and it really moved me because I was braced to hear another ‘your life is going to CHANGE!” speech), he said: “I will never forget the day my first daughter was born: being able to touch her tiny fingers and toes - it was such a wonderful experience - I’m so excited for you.” So when I talk to people who are about to have kids, I always try to be that person.
Looking forward to watching Xander grow!
Sara
As we discussed last night, I can’t wait until he is big enough to do all that cool stuff
but it was So fun doing airplane with him and having him smile, it made me forget I wished he was older hehe
That’s what is fun about this age - they change so quickly, you only have to wait a few weeks to see some new and relatively exciting change in their development. Unfortunately, sometimes I get impatient for those next weeks to come along
Hi Sara, congrats on your second! I think both you and your son have excellent names
I’m glad that some mothers out there do remember what it’s like to hear the negative comments and make an effort to express positive thoughts to expecting mothers - thank you for that, and good luck!