Revenge is a Dish Best Served at 2am!

Daisy isn't sleeping very well at the moment.  Actually, that's not correct, she is sleeping brilliantly during the day.  She sleeps soundly most of the day, even if we are out or if there is lots of noise and light in the house.  She has slept soundly for most of her visitors.  When we have had a room full of people, including her young cousins, none of whom are being quiet, she is passed around and doesn't even stir from her slumber.  Her Grampy thinks she doesn't have eyes because, both times he has visited her, she has slept the entire time!

It is sleeping during the night that is the problem.  Last night, she was up for over five straight hours.  I'm not naive enough to think that Daisy is the only newborn baby not to sleep properly.  We are having the same experience as many parents have in the first few weeks of their baby's life.  However, it is difficult not to question whether it is something you have done wrong, especially when she also managed to wee and poo on me over the last 24 hours.  Maybe Daisy is getting revenge for something her mother or I have done.

Perhaps she is less than impressed with the ridiculous colour of the buggy we push her around in.  It would make sense; she does sleep whenever she is in the buggy or matching car seat.  Clearly she doesn't want to be associated with her parents' shocking taste.  Could it be some of the clothes we dress her in?  Again, I don't think I'd blame her, some of the clothes we have bought for her would definitely class as crimes against fashion.  All of the clothes that friends and family have given her are beautiful, but she is currently too small to fit in to the many wonderful outfits she has been given.  So, for now she has to put up with some of the gaudy clothes we have bought for her.  Maybe it is her father's 'poor' taste in music.  My younger brother would definitely agree with her on this one.  Daisy has to listen to my music in the car and in the night when we are trying to settle her.  Is it possible that she is so unimpressed with Mumford and Sons, Ben Howard and The Lumineers that she would decide to get her own back when we all should be sleeping?

Of course, I do realise that Daisy isn't really extracting revenge on her parents.  Although, that is harder to believe when she isn't screaming at 2am in the morning having been changed, fed and burped!  The reality is that she is just adjusting to life and can't quite figure out when she should be sleeping and when she should be awake.  As well as this, she is unsettled at the moment because her mother is currently on antibiotics which are effecting her own digestion.  It must be uncomfortable for her and it certainly can't help her with sleeping.  The course of antibiotics is almost complete and soon both of my girls should be better and we can try to get some normality into our lives.  Breastfeeding is still a challenge but it is getting better and I'm constantly amazed about my wife's ability to persevere with something which has caused her great pain and has resulted in two infections.

During the small hours of the morning it is difficult to think about anything other than Daisy's inability to sleep despite our best efforts, but I am absolutely loving fatherhood.  One of my favourite things is watching my daughter with her mother.  Despite their early challenges with breastfeeding, when Daisy would get so irate at the fact her mother wanted to do something so cruel as feed her, the connection between them is very special.  I love watching Daisy gazing admiringly at her mother and vice versa.

The list of other things I am enjoying about fatherhood is limitless.  However, I have been able to think about the things I enjoy the most.  These include nappy changing.  No, I didn't type that incorrectly.  I actually mean it.  It isn't so much changing the nappies that I enjoy.  It is the toilet humour which comes from it.  Daisy has a tendency to wee mid nappy change.  We think that it has something to do with the change of temperature.  It often results in a change of clothes for Daisy, nevertheless it is humorous trying to stem a river of urine before it flows off of the changing mat and on to our new cream carpets.  Until yesterday, I was relieved that Daisy didn't have the 'range' a boy would.  And then, she showed yesterday that she does have quite an impressive range after all, as she managed to get wee all over my foot!  She has also cannoned a less pleasant substance at me twice during nappy changes.  This was probably more funny for my wife than for me but I have managed to find the funny side too whilst scrubbing my hands with industrial strength soap!  She makes us jump with the loud noises that emanate from her when she is filling her nappy.  Of course, this then leads to more hysterics.  How could someone so small and cute make such a massive noise?  Considering the content of this paragraph, if my daughter was able to read then it would give her another reason to extract revenge on her parents by keeping them up all night!

There's also the shopping.  It's not actually the shopping I enjoy.  It is the admiring glances my daughter gets.  It is the many women of a certain age fussing and cooing over Daisy as she sits in the trolley seat looking adorable.  It fills me with immense pride.  There is something else which is positive when going shopping.  No, it isn't the huge cost at the end now that we need 3 or 4 packs of nappies each and every time we visit the supermarket.  It is the parking.  Let's face it, supermarket shopping is painful at the best of times.  The first challenge always being to find a good parking spot which isn't half a mile away from the shop.  So, thanks to Daisy I am able to use the 'Parent and Child' parking spaces.  Ironically, since Daisy was born, we have overindulged in chocolate and junk food.  Therefore, we would probably benefit from walking a bit further when we get to the shops.

The thing I most enjoy though is just holding my daughter and spending time with her.  I spend a large amount of my day now just staring at Daisy.  I am fascinated by everything she does.  When she sleeps, she seems to be experimenting with various different faces.  She smiles, she grimaces, she purses her lips.  This might seem cruel, but I also find it funny to watch Daisy when she has the hiccups or sneezes.  As there is nothing I can do to help her when this happens, I have found the time to record her on my phone!