Not so long ago, President Obama completed his first 100 days in office. The media had a field day, with everyone eager to assess and reflect on the beginning of his term. This year I noticed that most major news outlets had decided to give a letter grade to sum up how well they thought it was going.
Since yesterday marked the end of our first 100 days with Ewan, I thought it would be sort of fun to reflect and assess the beginning of our lives with him.
Just like the major news sources, I guess I’ll start with a letter grade and then flesh it out with some analysis.
In my gradebook, our first 100 days with Ewan would definitely get a B+. Here’s why.
So far, I think we have done a really good job at getting to know him and becoming attached. It is clear that there is no single place in the world that makes him feel happier than in one of our arms. We don’t have or use many toys around the house, some of this is out of necessity some out of choice, but it is obvious that we are his favorite playthings. He loves to interact with us and seems to genuinely enjoy our company. This gives me great joy and assures me that already we are setting the stage for our future as a family. Hoping that he always values people over things.
We are learning more about him each and every day and I think that is really important. Most of the time we can tell the differences between his cries. We know the hungry cry, the I want to be held cry, the I’m uncomfortable cry, and the I’m struggling to go to sleep cry. Knowing the difference between his cries has made parenting so much easier. When confronted with a crying baby, it is easier now for us to do the one thing that will help make his world right, rather than rolling through the whole list of possibilities each time.
In addition,we are starting to learn how to make him smile as well. He really likes getting tickles on his cheeks and toes. He now has an inflatable beach ball and he really enjoys rolling on it. He likes it when we sing made up songs to him.
Aside from learning more about who Ewan is each day, we are also settling in as a family and starting to find ways not only to meet Ewan’s needs but also meet some of our own as well. I have found ways and time to wedge in some of the creative endeavors that are oh so important to me. Aaron and I are beginning to find time to do some of the things we enjoy doing together, including playing a few board games and reading out loud to each other. The household chores and tasks, including cooking for ourselves, are getting done most days without too much of a struggle. After 100 days it seems that we have found some sort of flow in our family life. That flow is serving to keep us all happy and satisfied, at least most of the time.
With all this goodness, it seems curious that I didn’t give us an A. But I still think we have a ways to go.
We still haven’t quite figured out a bedtime routine that works for all of us. For the first couple of months we were happy to all just go to bed as a family. Usually we were just as exhausted as Ewan and ready for some shut-eye. Now that things are going more smoothly we would like for Ewan to go to bed a bit earlier than the two of us so that we can have a little bit of adult time. We have tried a variety of things with him and can’t seem to hit on the magic combination. We are only successful at getting him down to sleep, on his own, about two times a week at the moment. Obviously we want this to get better and so it is something we will continue to work on.
Also, I still find that I struggle to figure out what to do with him when he is awake. We do tummy time, we roll on the ball, we read a few books, we play hand games, we dance, we coo and talk. But sometimes I just run out of ideas and he just sits on my lap while I read or do laundry or something else. Sometimes I feel guilty about not interacting with him directly when he is awake. I’m not sure that it is reasonable to expect that we would be interacting with him directly during all of his waking times, but I still feel weird when I don’t.
Well, that just about sums up our first 100 days. Mostly it is going great. I have been amazed at how seamlessly he has fit into our lives and how, now, I simply can’t imagine life without him. As one of my good friends said, “isn’t it cool what you made with stuff you just had sitting around the house?” Cool, indeed.
