My toddler wakes up so damn early

Why? Why is life so unfair? I love him to death but his waking up habit is killing me. He has always been an early riser meaning that 5 am is his average time. We tried to change his schedule a bit by putting him to bed later and it worked for a while (waking up at 7 oh the luxury) but then I started working and he started going to daycare. 

Naturally he was so tired from a whole day full of activities and interacting with other kids that we went back to the old habits. Early bed time (around 6pm) early waking up time ( around 5 am). And that’s ok since we wake up early to go to work anyway.

Unfortunately it happens on the weekends as well.

To make it worse recently he has started to wake up even earlier. 4:30!!

What is happening? Is it the daylight? I have made the room as dark as possible. 

(Life in Sweden)

Is he growing up and need less sleep? Maybe. I will call his nurse and she if she has any advice. But I suspect we need to start putting him to bed a bit later. 

Let’s see if that works out.

In the meantime I’ll go make my second coffee for the day at 5:55 am.

How long should the title new mum be valid?

Am I still a new mum? Yes I suppose I am. My boy is soon 1 1/2 years old and the baby stage is “in theory” over – but he is and always be my baby . But that should make a not so new mum since I don’t have a new born any more, right? Wrong 😀

Everyday is a new day. Everyday I see something new in my boy and everyday I learn more things about him and about me. What I’m trying to say is that I’ll always be a new mum as I still know nothing (ok I do know how to change a diaper) and I keep learning new things everyday.

If you happen to read this blog right after you had your first baby, if you are literally a new mum, I just want to tell you that yes it’s tough as fuck, like borderline survival, but you can do it and it does get easier. Don’t read what people say like “oh wait until he/she walks” or “wait until they do this and that”. Don’t listen to them. It does get better and you will sooner or later (probably later) sleep a bit more. Even an extra hour of sleep does make a difference.

So welcome new and old new mums. Everyday is a challenge and a new adventure. Enjoy and hang in there.

( Wtf, how poetic am I today? 😀 )

 

Back to gaming

I have been making baby steps into gaming again. I used to burn hours but now since I’m a (responsible xD ) parent I can’t game as much as I want to, obviously. However I have been making a comeback to my all time favourite Diablo 3, starting a seasonal character.

IMO, it’s the best and easiest choice right now since it’s low paced, even if it’s online I can easily single play it and enjoy the lore and kill monsters while baby is napping and there is no stress whatsoever.

I have even been uploading my gamethrough on Youtube if you like to  go through the lore from the beginning one more time. I started a new seasonal character, a Wizard this time and I must say it’s not boring at all to start from the beginning. Being a parent doesn’t mean we don’t get to do what we used to do before. It’s just that the terms are a bit different nowadays. It’s the baby who decides over your (if any) free time 😀 but it’s ok. Of course it’s ok, it’s MORE than ok.

Anyway here is my latest gamethrough on Diablo3

Oh oh, I have also been scoping Steam’s sales and I bought Crypt of the Necrodancer.

If you haven’t played that already, just go and get it now!

Tech and fitness

Super mini update.
Finally the time has come for me to return to the real world.

I have been working out (at home with my sister as my PT – she is a pilates trainer – via skype) AND I’m finally getting back to my geekiness.

I’m just devouring tech articles one after another. Oh how I’ve missed it.

Google I have missed you so much but now I’m back!

 

Finally this mum can enjoy a descent cup of coffee

I never thought I would manage to see that day. A cool coffee place has opened in our little town. Don’t get me wrong, I have come to really love and appreciate little Värnamo especially after I became a parent. It’s small, compact, convenient, safe, perfect for families. Before that, I liked the quietness (it helped a lot to calm down my nerves after 30 years of living in chaotic Athens) but it was a boring city (maybe still is a bit) with a few coffee places but noone really knew how to make a coffee. I mean why do you have to burn the milk when you are trying to make microfoam? That’s right, this is not microfoam, or not even foam. This is just burned milked.

But finally one of the big franchises has opened here. Now when you hear franchise you immediately doubt the quality. But trust me, it’s nothing like the shitty Starbucks coffee, they actually do make an effort and the coffee is amazing. I have worked as a barista in a local coffee shop years ago, and my employers were (still are) what you call coffee snobs. I’m greateful cause they taught me everything about coffee.

So now that we have a nice modern coffee place in town I cannot hide my enthusiasm. I mean I am actually typing this sitting here enjoying my flat white. #happiness

 

The story so far…sunny days with a boy and a sick eye

Sooo…. My eyes vision is almost back to normal but the virus is still there and the doctor said it will take 6 months or so to fully heal. The good thing is that I feel/see almost 100% like before so that’s something.

Finally some sun! I mean at last Sweden you owed it to us. The past few days have been fantastic so I have been outside almost all day with my little one. Perfect.

Speaking of my little one, he still doesn’t eat solids. I mean that’s cool and everything, he will eat food eventually but it seems so weird. He showed lots of interest a couple of months ago but then nothing. And he is a big baby, chubby and tall and you would think that he eats two portions in each meal. Nope. Just formula and välling, which is a Swedish thing, drinkable oatmeal. That’s it. But since he is growing and developing fine then no worries.

I have bought him a feeder thingy so that he can experiment himself and eat as much as he wants and it kind of works. We’ll see how far it will take us.

How long did it take your babies to start eating solids? Any tricks or tips to share?

*this post was written on my mobile phone so apologies for any errors*

When do you start finding yourself after giving birth

No matter what people were telling me I was so optimistic before giving birth, convinced that I would be ok. I was planning on working as usual, I figured I would spend lots of hours inside the house obviously but life would go on as usual.

Ha…ha…ha…

How unbelievably naive I was.

Baby blues suck major balls.

I couldn’t manage to work at all and I was a mental and physical mess.

All new mums probably know exactly what I mean.

BUT here comes the cliché.

It does get better and ignore anyone else that tries to say otherwise (unless there are some special conditions in your case which I say hang in there ❤ ).

In my case the fog started to clear around 3 months post partum.

Now at soon 7 months things are way better.

My son sleeps better, he wakes up only once during night to eat so that gives me a bunch of hours to rest. That has made a huge difference in my mental state.

Which has even gotten me into wanting to get back to my goth style. Yes that's right. I'm a goth and I think it's time to get back to my old self.

Now, since I'm 37 (wtf?) I don't dress in fishnet or black tutu skirts…anymore (even though I still have two of those in my closet waiting for the next time I'll be in a festival) but I do try and keep my style. I have two amazing dresses that FINALLY fit after pregnancy. They are definitely goth style but not too "loud" if you know what I mean.

Dress selfie

One thing I miss though is my friends in Greece. I love my life here in Sweden and this country has become my home ❤ and I have made some amazing friends here but wouldn't it be awesome if I could find another goth mummy to hang out with? Oh yes it would.

Don't get me wrong, the mums I hang out with are amazing and I'm having a great time with them but it would be a great bonus to meet someone that's into goth, rock or whatever alternative stuff. Even though when it comes to momhood we all are pretty much the same as we all want the best for our kids.

But if you are like me don't be shy and let's get connected!
xoxo

A horrible eye infection has kept me away from screen time

That’s why I haven’t blogged in a while. Shit, it was a tough one and I’m still not seeing clearly yet so I’m going to keep this short untill I can property see again :p

This mum here mopped the floor with shampoo

And no I did not make a mistake. It was a very conscious decision.

Was I sleep deprived? Oh yes, always.

Do I know some sort of weird tip regarding shampoo and floor mopping? Nope. The only reason why I did it is because the bottle of shampoo was closer to me than the floor product. Simple as that.

I don’t have much time to spend nowadays so if I need to clean the floors, whatever soap  related product (which is safe to use) is closer to me, wins!

#newmum #housecleaning

Today is one f*ed up day

As I was hoping that my horrible neck ache that started last Thursday was fading away, it decided to greet me again this morning.

Great! Yet another day of half my upper body immobilised.

And my son, for some reason that I haven’t discovered yet (boredom maybe), is very fussy and he is crying which is not like him at all. Well, unless it’s food time but that’s expected.

Nice.
#not

Hubby is amazing with him and he jumps right into his parental duties when he is home … but right now he is not.

It’s the first time in 5 months that I’m feeling like I’m reaching my limits. And it’s not because of my adorable little boy. It’s my damn neck and shoulder. Cause if I was fine I would have taken him outside and he would be a calmer, happier and content.

Umph… Tomorrow maybe.