surviving colic

we always say that our first baby was cake. everything was easy with A- she loves to eat and eats well. she slept through the night at 6 weeks old and has been doing it ever since. she was potty trained, through the night and in big girl underpants 24 hours a day at 25 months. she is smiley and friendly and just goes with the flow.

so we knew in the back of our minds that no baby can compete with that:) and that our second would be more challenging. 

ha.

we never could have prepared for W. from the moment he was born, at 9 lbs 6 oz he has been full of surprises. he didnt cry for like 2 minutes, 2 of the longest minutes of my life. the nurse was on the phone with the nicu. and i couldnt see him. and all i wanted was to hear this baby i had worked so hard for cry so i could hold him. and then he did. 

the next day they told us he had to pee within 24 hours of his circumcision so that they knew everything was working properly. of course he didnt do that so they sent him to the nicu, where he promptly peed all over the nurses but since it is impossible to get out of nicu once you are there, they then decided he needed to poop before he could be released. so he was there all day and i was in tears all day because i just wanted him to be fine and be home. of course he was fine. and we went home later that night. 

then for the next 3 months he cried. and cried. and cried.
i have never been more exhausted or more frazzled in my whole life.
our little W had colic and reflux and a very stubborn personality of top of it. i didnt think we would survive. but then last night J turned to me in bed and said "do you think we've done it? have we survived colic?" and i realized we had. somehow in the past few weeks our cry baby has evolved into a generally happy little person. yes W definitely has his moments, or to be more accurate hours, where he just wants to cry for no apparent reason. But we are learning that its just his personality- he likes things the way he likes them and when he doesnt get his way he uses his strong will to make it known. He also LOVES to eat and is still nursing every two hours round the clock. which contributes to him being tired and cranky. plus he has a big sister who he needs to compete with in volume:)
all this to say i feel like we just met our son this weekend. all these months his personality has been hiding behind his colic and now... he loves to play peekaboo. he enjoys watching fish and fireworks and his big sister. he prefers to sleep on his side snuggled up to a lovey with his pacifier. he is so adorable and so squeezable and so worth all the stress and patience and hard work we have put into him.  i am so blessed to be W's mommy:)