Sweet Cry (Well Sort Of)

When Ethan was but a couple seconds old, I whispered to Kelly and told her how much I loved Ethan's sweet, melodious cries. For one, you know his lungs are working and he is going to be ok. But there is something about the vulnerable and shaky voice of a newborn - a premie at that - that seriously melts hearts. And I suppose it has not been so long that I still can recall his cries as if he was born yesterday.

Now fast forward to present day, well, night, and the little guy and his man-sized lungs give out these cries - no shreaks - that are anything but cute. But poor guy, I think Ethan has colic. Many babies have this. They have all this gas building up and I think it is quite painful and discomforting to them and he just screams and screams.

Kelly's mom, though, has this truly uncanny ability to comfort Ethan.

Parents are amazing. Thanks moms and dads. How you managed to have multiple children and worked and had successful careers I have no clue how you did it. Fatherhood has been good so far. Even though we had mom all this time, I am still exhausted. What to do? I am only looking after Ethan here and there with the majority of the time in the hands and eyes of mom.

Kelly and I are already planning on training Ethan to sleep longer through the night. Of course, this means being strong and not being quick to console him when he cries when we put him to sleep on his own. It is now, when he is young and patterns and habits of sleep are still very changeable, then later on when he is older (say closer to one year) when it will be more difficult to train him. There is a ton of different opinions and literature on this matter, and even family, siblings, parents, and in-laws, all of whom care for Ethan will likely differ in what they think is the best approach to training Ethan.

But like a wise friend who recently went through the same experience told us, everyone has a breaking point - a time when the cries simply do not elicit the same consoling reaction/response.

So, Ethan joon, we love you, but some tough sleep regimen we'll soon be implementing.