The velvet hammer

It has been a while since I updated my blog on Sadie so bear with me on the long post. I honestly have been in a bit of a funk and not feeling like writing too much. There are many updates to share so I will sprinkle with some Sadie pics!

The velvet hammer is a term that in all my sales management classes they use to describe saying something nice followed by a but. It allows a cushion for the negative feedback. For example, "Your opening was very effective, but your sales message was off..." the thought being that the "but" takes away from the nice thing or adds to the negative, thus a softer blow or velvet hammer. We also used a form of this my sorority during rush, called pro/con/pro, "she is really pretty, but a mean girl, has a nice smile" Somehow this made the negative ok I guess.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that I have noticed over the last few months with all the colic, reflux, poor sleeping and my own issues I have used the velvet hammer a lot to describe Sadie. Somehow feeling guilty for not having an easy transition into motherhood and wondering how this is fun and what I was doing wrong. When I admitted how exhausted and emotional I was, I felt bad and somehow inadequate. I have been comforted by the honesty from others who have gone through the same things. No one can prepare you for the lack of control and wild time the first few months can be.

Everyone kept promising that it would get better by 3 months and when 3 months rolled around, there was not much change. I kept thinking what is wrong, you promised three months! Sadie would still cry most of the day and I could not comfort her. I am so excited to say that at 16 weeks old, she finally stopped! Praise the Lord, my sweet girl is now really being sweet! Now I feel like I am getting a taste of the fun and excitement. She is cooing and smiling and playing on the floor. She rolled over the other day and was so proud of her self she just giggled! It is so weird how she just stopped fussing so much one day. Exactly like everyone promised. I feel like she actually likes me know and is happy. There is nothing more frustrating than screaming child that can't be calmed. I am writing all this so that I will remember how I felt and the emotions I went through. I also want to be honest so if anyone else is going through it they will know it is OK.

Since this is my baby book, here are her updates. She weighs 11 lbs 12 oz as of yesterday, still little for her age but after all the cluster feedings she gained 20oz in 20 days, the GI is so pleased we don't have to go back! She is following the exact growth pattern that I had as a child. I am still nursing her mostly but give her 4oz of formula in the morning and 6oz before bed. She is sleeping consistently with her arms out and swaddled around her middle. This is big progress after several nights of waking up every 30 minutes. We are using the sleep positioner to stop her from rolling over at night until we can get her weaned completely from the swaddle. She sleeps consistently from 8pm to 3:30am and then from 4:30 to 6. She isn't a big napper, but will take little cat naps throughout the day. Every so often a long one in the afternoon. Her reflux and projectile spit up is still happening, the doctor said it probably will for a year.

We had a great Thanksgiving in MP. Mike, Sadie and I drove down Thursday am. She was ok in the car, screaming about 30 minutes. She really hates the car seat for some reason. We had a delicious lunch and celebrated all our blessings. We had an engagement to celebrate too, Bubba and Courtney are getting married in January! On Friday my parents kept Sadie so Mike and I could have a date (our first since her birth). We went to the Carson house in Pittsburg for dinner and were home by 830! It was a good first outing and really nice to have some alone time. Thanks Mom and Dad! We headed back to Dallas on Saturday and went to the Stars game. Here is a pic of Sadie with the Stanley Cup. We had a suite so Sadie could come too.

Whew, that is a lot of updates for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful week.