Clark may only be 6 weeks old, but he already has a pretty distinct list of likes and dislikes. Much like his mom and dad, there is no real grey area for him when it comes to his temperament - when he is displeased, he lets it be known.
He's very particular about his preferences, and he's not afraid to let you know if you aren't obliging his wishes. Clark isn't a huge fan of being awake, so it is a bit of a struggle to keep his eyes open during the day. He will tolerate being alert for about 45 minutes immediately after eating, but only if you are bouncing him. We have biceps of steel after continuously bouncing the equivalent of a bowling ball for an hour at a time multiple times a day. And his choice of view whilst being bounced must be either staring at us or the ceiling fan. I would like to think that I am his preference to look at, but really, it's a tight race with the fan.
When our arms give out and we can't hold him any longer, Clark will accept being placed in his bouncy seat, but his first choice is to be in the carrier that is strapped to my chest. Sidebar: I am pretty sure there is security footage from Toys R Us that would win an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos starring yours truly trying to get myself and my baby into and out of various baby wearing contraptions. Thirty minutes and a sweaty, uncoordinated new mom later, we settled on the one that has a 6 point 'click' system so that I could rest assured that I probably wouldn't be dropping my baby on the floor when placing him in said carrier.
The downfall of both the carrier and the bouncy seat is that Clark uses them both as beds. This kid LOVES his sleep, and will take any opportunity he can find to catch some shuteye. Searching for something that we could use when our arms get tired from bouncing him and also wanting to promote awake time, we recently introduced Clark to his fancy schmancy baby swing.
This swing has 5 speeds, 10 noise options ranging from songs to ocean waves to crickets chirping, an adjustable volume switch, and hanging koalas for him to look at while swinging. Ryan spent an hour assembling the swing using an instruction manual entirely made of complicated diagrams, and I made a late night run to the store for the right size batteries because I couldn't wait one more minute to put him in it. He loves being swung to and fro when in his carseat and his bouncy seat, so we just knew that he would also love his swing.
The verdict? He hates it. Like, really hates it. We're talking 'scream your head off for fifteen consecutive minutes while your mom tries every noise/volume/speed setting and tries to reason with you and tell you how much you love your swing, which just seems to make you angrier' hates it.
As a mom, I do pretty well with his crying. I don't ever rush to pick him up, but instead I try to give him a few minutes to work it out on his own. Before you send me an email, I carefully watch to make sure he is okay and not in danger, and then I try talking to him or offering his pacifier or various other methods to help him practice self soothing. Then, I set a time limit of when I will pick him up if he hasn't calmed himself down. My one caveat to this rule is when he gets real tears. Real tears rolling down his cheek and that sweet bottom lip curled under, and I am rendered helpless. Such was the case this morning after his swing induced meltdown, so I caved and rescued him from the apparently terrifying koala contraption.
Five minutes of cuddling on mom's chest and staring at the ceiling fan, and all was right in Clark's world. He used his harrowing experience to his advantage and looked so peaceful and content that I gave in and let him go to sleep on me. As much as I would love to cuddle him all day long, this house doesn't clean itself and we can't afford a live in maid, so I bundled him up in one of his favorite blankets and we tried the swing again.
It turns out that as long as he is sound asleep and has no awareness of where he is, he is mostly okay with the swing. So now his list of things to use as a bed include (in extremely particular order): mom and dad's arms, the carrier, his bouncy seat, a bassinet, and a swing.
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