Wow, it seems like everyone is having a crazy week. Hugs to all of you.
Alice, I really feel for you as I know how hard it is to be the only parent, and you have it much worse than me. My husband lives with us here, but he's in medical school and he's literally gone all day, when he's on call he's gone days at a time, and that's really tough. He leaves the house anywhere between 4 and 6am and doesn't return till as late as 10, if it's not a call night. If it is then he's gone from 4am one day till 10pm the next day. This is a 7 day a week thing so I feel like I never get a break. So Madison goes days without seeing him, which is really hard on all of us, so I can't imagine how hard it is for you and your kids to have to go months without daddy/husband. Joey had 3 weeks off in April, which was his 1st break since July, and it was great. He and Madison really got to spend some time together and she really loved playing with him all day, but the 1st day he went back she wouldn't go near him again. Since she sees him so infrequently she's sorta afraid of him, which makes it harder for me cause then I have to do everything whether he's here or not.
I've been sick the past 2 days though and tonight Joey got back around 5:30, which was great cause he gave Madison her bath and put her to bed. It was the 1st time she let anyone other than me put her to bed and she didn't even nurse before bed. She woke up around 11 and got her milk, but she probably would have done that anyway. But it was great to get a break from the routine, even if it was just for an hour.
DisKim, I'm really sorry about the daycare situation. I've been having trouble with that too. I was supposed to go back to school/work this month, but I can't find childcare in this city. DC is impossible, everyplace has 2 year waitlists, it's insane. I'm hoping to find something so I can go back by September, but we'll see. I have a year of school left before I get my doctorate and we'll probably be moving next May so I kinda have to do it before then but the lack of daycare makes that very hard.
About strangers all wanting to hold Tyler, something you could do that usually avoids it is to keep him in a Bjorn/sling. We took Madison to a bridal shower at 6 weeks and of course everyone wanted to hold her. Since I was in the wedding, she spent most of the time in another room with my husband, but everyone kept leaving to go see her and occasionally I'd see someone walk back in the room with her. That was around the time I started using the Bjorn. Then at the next big family event I had her in the Bjorn (for my own convenience) and people would come over and smile/coo at her and all that, but very few asked to hold her, I guess cause she was all strapped in, and sleeping most of the time. A few would say stuff like "Oh, I wish I could hold her" and I'd just smile and say "I'd love to let you hold her but I don't want to disturb her right now that she's quiet in here-we've had a long day." That usually worked very well and didn't hurt anyone's feelings. When people came to our house, my husband would insist that they wash their hands before touching Madison, and if they handed her back and wanted to hold her again later they had to wash their hands again. I was never as strict, but it really bothered him (he wouldn't let anyone visit me in the hospital!!) so I tried to adhere to it.
Tasha, I know exactly what you mean about Kylie crying. Madison was the exact same way. The problem was that she would never just stop crying on her own. She'd cry nonstop for hours until she was picked up. 3 hours was the longest I waited and that went on for 3 weeks till I gave up. (That was when she was much older though, about 8 months, I wouldn't have left her to cry for hours as a newborn.) She'd do this in long car rides, and basically anytime I wasn't holding her. Oh, and she only did it during the day too. At night she'd go into her own bed awake, fall asleep on her own, and sleep most of the night (never really slept all night). During the day though she had to be held. Even if she didn't cry when I put her down, she'd stay awake, or wake up if I put her down when she was sleeping. This may not seem that bad, but then she'd get so tired she'd be unable to go to sleep even with rocking/holding/nursing. So to handle that situation I stuck her in the Baby Bjorn and would go about my day while she napped in the Bjorn. I should have gotten a sling, but the Bjorn cost so much I couldn't really abandon it and spend more on a sling. The Bjorn worked fine anyway, she seemed comfortable as she'd sleep in it everytime I stuck her in it. I was alone with her basically everyday since she was born, so I know how exhausting it can be, and the Bjorn made life much easier. I learned how to eat, do laundry, load the dishwasher, feed the rabbits, and basically anything else you have to do while she was in the Bjorn without waking her up. (Madison was born on a Thursday night, Joey went to school Friday, had the weekend off but he studied in the library basically till it was time to take me home Saturday night, then went back to school on Monday. My mom was here from Thursday-Tuesday, but then it was me and Madison all day!)
Oh, and this lasted about 3-4 months, then after that Madison was quite content to lay on her mat and play with her toys, roll over, all that fun baby stuff. She rarely needed to be held during the day after that, just when it was time to nurse. Of course, around the same time she stopped wanting to be held all day, she started waking more during the night.... Maybe that's where my problem began!