Kenzie: Forty Four Weeks Old

Kenzie is ELEVEN MONTHS OLD at 44 weeks old and as much as I want to say it gets easier, it didn’t this week. We’re just so thankful we have a happy, healthy and beautiful little girl. But one thing we can celebrate is KENZIE IS ONE MONTH CLOSER TO ONE YEAR OLD! Oh my!

So far, here is her tally:
Nappy Changes: 43
Sleep: 99 hours
Feeds: 91

It’s official, I hate Leap 7! It’s been a long time since Kenzie’s had a broken night sleep and this week, it started with the worst we’d experienced since she had reflux. I am so exhausted and after thinking that I had recovered from mental exhaustion, this week reset everything I worked towards, threw us a massive curve ball and made me feel like a complete zombie. My parents are finally back from overseas and I don’t know what made me think things were going to get easier when they got back but it hasn’t. I’m starting to think we’re going to need daycare for a day or two (for our mental health). At the cost of $150 per day, I’m willing to bite the bullet and sign up right now. It seems like the best solution so we finally get the help we so badly need. Blogging while tired and frustrated and reading what you wrote when you wake up sucks, but it’s the reality of being a parent and it’s not always sunshine and roses. I feel absolutely terrible and upset and a failure for expecting my child to sleep through the night uninterrupted. Who has ever had such an easy time as a parent? No one! And if they say they had it easy, there is no doubt in my mind they are lying. As soon as I woke up, I made a conscious effort to be a better parent. We can only live and learn. Seeing Kenzie’s face smile in the morning makes all my frustration go away. She released adrenaline in me to push through the days and forget about any frustrations and tiredness. She makes me want to be a better person, a better parent. I live for her. I’ve been so fortunate that Ramon’s been able to work from home more often to help me.

This week we went without the walker. It’s been difficult as you need to watch her every move that much more closely as she walks along walls and crawls/wriggles in the floor to get to places. We now understand why people frown on having a walker. They rely on it too much and walk forward knowing they have something supporting their balance all the way. We’ve noticed Kenzie leans forward when she walks and that’s why when she is able to take a few steps on her own, she falls flat onto her tummy. Throughout the week, we’ve noticed Kenzie work more on her balance and standing on her own. I should have really listened to my instincts when I had my reservations about introducing her to the walker but it was life changing! I felt a small piece of freedom.

By the end of the week, with Ramon’s help, I was able to finalise Kenzie’s first birthday venues, invitations, decorations and cake. On top of this, we finalised all our marketing material for our expo next month, started shooting product photos and videos, scheduled client meetings and got to work on a couple of websites. After a terrible start to the week and feeling like I’ve been terrible at juggling work and family, I finally feel accomplished. Teamwork as a couple and as parents has been essential in making everything work and really being patient and understanding with each other has helped tremendously.

We celebrated Dad’s birthday this week. Mum organised a semi-surprise birthday dinner where he thought it would be a family dinner and as he arrived not only did he see us sitting in the restaurant but we were also surrounded by his friends. He was so happy and Kenzie loved the Chinese food, especially the prawn crackers.

The week ended with Kenzie suffering from night terrors. Luckily for me, Ramon has read all about them and educated himself on how to deal with these situations. We’ve let her cry it out, made sure we didn’t wake her so that she isn’t disoriented or shocked and tried to comfort her by holding her and playing her nursery rhymes. When I started this blog at the beginning of the week, I felt defeated and ill-informed. What made it so difficult was the night terrors she suffered at the start of the week and Ramon and I not knowing what to do. Every day we are learning as parents, and hopefully to whoever is reading this blog, we’ve helped you learn a little along our journey. Although it’s been difficult at times, we’d never ever change it for anything. Our baby means the world to us and no amount of night terrors and sleepless nights will ever change that.

LOVE IS POWERFUL.