Oh Dr. Karp, you are a god here on earth

So first off, an update on the screaming. My friend Melanie, Hi Mel, told me that her sister has had good luck with calming her newborn using the techniques in Happiest Baby on the Block. I had read this book months ago and used some of the techniques but as the author, Dr. Karp, tells us, you must use all 5 of his calming techniques together for maximum effect. So last night we did them all - swaddle, side-lie, suck, shoosh and swing and lo, the screaming stopped. We then put Ben to bed swaddled and he slept for three hours! This was an hour more than his usual stretches so we were very excited. We also tried to provide some white noise with a radio turned on dead air but there really isn't such a thing as dead air in this city so music and weird tones kept breaking through. But I just downloaded some womb sounds so we'll try that tonight.

The second big news is that we took Ben in for his 6-week check up and he weighs 13 pounds. 13 pounds! This is enormo giant baby! But the midwife said still in the normal range. So hah! It wasn't just that he was big for his age in the womb, he's big for his age out here in the world too. Anyway, he is gaining weight faster than I can grow the muscles to lift him so my poor back is getting quite a workout these days. But Mark and I are getting more competent. We are now awesome at the bathing thing, I can cut his wee little fingernails like a pro, and we can both change a diaper in no time flat. We finally tracked down glass bottles so even though I'm not breastfeeding, I can still be a little bit earth-mothery. And now that we have a trick for the screaming, why, it's almost bearable!

But it's still very very hard. We're still counting down the days to three months, to six months, to kindergarten. But the thought of a second child doesn't make me want to cut out my reproductive organs with a rusty spoon anymore so things must be getting better. And this morning, Ben even cood at us and smiled at the pretty, pretty light coming through the window. And I started to have that feeling again, like I can see how this parenthood thing might be a good thing. :)