sleep deprivation strikes

Wow and wow. How quickly we forget the lack of sleep one gets with a newborn at home. Now throw a toddler into the mix and subtract even more hours from your daily sleep regimen. Olivia is up between 7-730 every day and that is usually when we want to have that 3rd jag of sleep from our night feedings. I'd say the mornings are the hardest because Fiona chooses not to sleep well from 430 onwards. Am I selling anybody on the whole have a baby thing yet?

Thankfully, I sleep when Fiona sleeps, but it is never good sleep since I always have an ear and eye open. I am not a caffeine drinker, but I might have to start if I want to see any semblance of normalcy in my life. Otherwise, I will be in my robe until the afternoon for 5 months.

Let's see...more what i've learned moments:
1. Mom needs to proactively spend time with the toddler every day. This could be an outing to the farmer's market or supermarket or reading a bunch of books in bed or something where attention is solely devoted to the toddler. (can't remember if i already called this out)

2. If you have a toddler, then Mom must always sleep when baby sleeps. Otherwise, Mom is cranky and toddler time is not as fun.

3. Toddler should help soothe the crying newborn and engage with the baby whenever the baby is awake. I have found that Fiona loves Olivia's voice so we encourage a lot of interaction between them when she is awake. Last night we put the baby in Olivia's bed while she was getting her bedtime book read to her and she loved that.

4. Take large injections of patience every morning. Since parents are already on edge from lack of sleep, the toddler feels the brunt of it. Try and put yourself in her shoes and recognize that the change is actually much bigger for her. We are learning that slowly and actually remind each other of that when we notice one of us is getting to the quick temper place.

OK....baby is asleep on my chest which is my cue to start winding down and try and get some rest. Maybe if we are feeling bold we will go for a walk today. Though, given my brain function at the moment, I would probably get lost in my own neighborhood.