SLEEPLESS, UNSETTLED

That’s what we are for the past 3 nights. Things are getting tough just days before Jaz goes back to work. Coco seems to have fastidious hours he likes to call “wailing hours”, and that is from 11 pm to 2 am.

I don’t know but it seems when my colleagues at Wal-Mart asked me ‘How’s the baby doing?”, they themselves know the answer: he needs food every two hours, he cries a lot, and he does not give his parents enough sleep. Is it a universal phenomenon that from the first few months, the baby is fuzzy and pushy?

We were trying to remember (I personally) if that was the case when Zach was just a baby. But I don’t remember. All I could compare now is, Zach goes to sleep at 9:00, while Coco starts revving up.

And when things become chaotic, all you could desire to have is a life at home, with all the Yaya’s pitching for help and you having a regular and undisturbed sleep. We sometimes kid ourselves when the two seems uncontrollable, we would say, “Inday, i-hele mo nga yang si Coco at si Zach bigyan mo ng gatas.” But, it would echo back to us, of course.

Sleepless, unsettled that’s what we are. Jaz from being at home and caring the two “wonderful” boys most of the time and me from working overnights.

Can we get out from this? Can we beat this without sacrificing a bit of our insanity? Of course! They will grow and they will find their peace. Only that’s not going to be THIS TIME!.

Yap, sleepless, unsettled but joy comes in when both of them are silent, when Coco gives a rare smile and when Zach says “ Abadibadah”.

But of course, we keep Tylenol and coffee handy most of the times.

It is said that the baby’s first uttered words is the 8th wonder of the world (Brian Williams, NBC). We don’t care, so long as we hear some words. We are now in the stage of parenthood where we would always wait for the words (if you can call it) that would come out from Zach. And in this department, he seems to be slow. Perhaps it is because he has to learn two languages (not counting Hiligaynon and Bicol), English and Tagalog. His pediatrician suggested to us that since we are bilingual, one of us should speak to him in Tagalog, and one in English. For a time we followed that scheme, but, sometimes we lose our boundary and mind and kind of speak to him bilingually also.

Last summer, while we were in the park, the family of one of our classmates in birth class was there. Their daughter was on the swing. They were probably 10 minutes ahead of us there that after re-introducing ourselves and sharing our birth stories they bid goodbye. While their daughter was still on the swing, they asked her if she wants to come down. She nodded but her mother asked her to say “Please!!!.” Our eyes were all on her, and when she slowly opened her lips and uttered the sweet-crisp “Please!!!”, all I could care about was the reaction of Jaz. The minute they left, Jaz panicked and told Zach about what had happened. She pointed out to him that since he is older than her (by days), he should have spoken clearly also.

Well, we can only hope. And the hope is paying. From the simply Manamana (read: I need food) to a more difficult Dabidi-bidaaa (which we are still trying to decipher), now Zach has far more sophisticated language than we can imagine or not.

We have realized that he is more into actions than to words, he loves to dance the Sesame Street theme and when he hears the background music of Star Patrol of Phoemela Barranda (?), boy, he is drawn to it. We enjoy the moment when he acts out the song, “I love you, you love me” of Barny and Friends because he would grab our arms, give us five, and hug us just what like the scene shows. No amount of words can beat that.

Hence, we realized that it is not Zach who is drawn to our language but the other way around. We are the one who are speaking his language, and catching the meaning of every word he utters or gobbles.

Right now, we are contented with Dabidi-bida and Manamana, and that is enough, considering the sleepless and unsettled experience we are in now for being a brand new parents again.