Sami is now 110 days old. She is becoming more aware of her environment. She loves it when people talk to her, and when her brother goes entertaining her, she even laughed a few times out loud, which is the best music in the world! She has been lifting her body up a bit by using her legs, so maybe it won't be long before she can roll herself over. I still remember how astonished I was when seeing that happening for the first time with Julian.
Not only is Sami learning everyday. I'm learning every day too. Even though I'm a mom for the 2nd time, with 8 years of parenthood experiences, it's like going onto a new job in the same field. You will have a new boss, new colleagues, new standards, new environment, etc.
With Sami's feeding and reflux issues, Sami has been admitted to the hospital already 4 times since she was born. Recently we have changed her reflux medication, as the one she was given since she was 6 weeks old isn't really meant for babies, and no proper research has been done on it for babies. In the US, it's even not approved by the FDA. As parents, you expect doctors to know the best, so you trust them. Luckily, these days we have the world of internet. Certainly we need to find the right balance and find the right source, to avoid self-doctor-ing too much. However, we have seen multiple times that our parents instinct isn't too far off. Just too bad that babies can't talk, and it's therefore our job as parents to represent them and to help them.
I'm someone who likes to be in control and stay productive, with high expectations on myself, quick in resolving things, etc. So when it comes down to parenthood, I suck in this new job. My boss, Sami, protests quicker than any usual bosses, and sometimes I don't know the exact reasons behind the protests. So to resolve things, you can't expect the choices you've made would work or would show its effect that quickly. I have to learn to sometimes let things rest a bit, let it go, and see if all will fall into its own space by itself eventually. At the same time, that doesn't mean I'm giving up.
Also, with this new job, I've new colleagues, namely my hubby and my 8 years old son (from my previous marriage, and is my other boss). My hubby is new to the world of parenthood in total. On a working floor, normally men and women work differently, and in the world of parenthood, that applies too. He isn't a baby whisper, and probably he won't be one. Having baby whisper qualification certainly would be a preference, but like any recruitment process, companies can't always get what they want. We just have to work with what we have, and everyone is different! My hubby has other skills that I don't have. He is most of the time more patient than I'm when our boss protests. He provides back-office support, such as cleaning, cooking, getting groceries, etc. We sometimes disagree with each other, but then we often talk through it and work on a better solution.
In this new job, even with all the skills I've gathered over the last 8 years, I am encountering different and new challenges often. And the great part is though that with the world of social media and internet, I'm getting more support from people whom have been in the same or similar shoes as mine. We share our experiences and sometimes it helps to just laugh over it. We remind ourselves that any of the difficult stages we come across would not last forever.
We will eventually get to sleep through the night and that we end up needing to kick them out of bed instead.
We will eventually have our own living room back without baby furnitures or toys all over the place.
We will eventually have our kitchen counter back without baby food, formula milk and milk bottles lying there.
We will eventually go on vacation without moving the whole household along and hoping that you can still enjoy a little bit of your vacation instead of just having an environment change.
We will eventually have our dinner peacefully without rushing so that you can take over or aim to lower the crying boss' volume.
We will eventually have less baggy eyes due to the lack of sleep.
I am sure there are plenty more that anyone in a similar job can add onto this list.
Yet this is a job that I've signed up for with my one particular colleague, my hubby, and it's a job that you can't resign from until we leave this world. There is no sick leave on this job, and you're only paid by kisses, smiles, etc. It's amazing how rewarding these immaterial items are which keep us going all the time. We do get taxed by having to pay for their food, their clothing, their education, their entertainment, etc. I will openly admit sometimes I want to glue my bosses behind the wallpaper as the Dutch will say it. From this job, I can see my strength and weaknesses very well. But still... I love my two lovely bosses. I am sure at each work anniversary I get on this job, I can look back and say "yes we did it!" and time may feel like it has flown by, even though the days may seem so long when we are dealing with each project/ stage.
My two bosses
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