Nate's been drooling so much that I decided to give him a bib today. The wetness on his clothes around his neck sometimes causes a rash. He decided to eat his bib!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
A Picture
Nate's been drooling so much that I decided to give him a bib today. The wetness on his clothes around his neck sometimes causes a rash. He decided to eat his bib!
Crib Update
I forgot to update on the crib situation last night. The first thing I thought when I logged on is that I'm really "Reaching and Grabbing" for post titles. Haha! Anyway, back to the crib. I slept upstairs with Nate for a full week and on the eighth day, Sunday, I slept on the couch. After he woke up for his first feeding and went back to sleep I couldn't get comfortable on the couch again so I went into our bedroom and have been there ever since. There were two nights though that Nate ended up in our bed around 1 am. We had 2-3 rough nights because of tummy trouble. He was gassier than usual and hadn't been pooping as much for a couple days, then all of a sudden he was back to normal.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Reaching and Grabbing
Nate has been reaching and grabbing for things quite a bit. He isn't grabbing at things so much that I feel like I have to move things out of his way but when he lays on his play mat he grabs the animals hanging overhead and pushes them around or into his mouth. He also grabs our shirts when we hold him or when I'm feeding him. The cutest thing is that he now rubs my side with his hand as he's eating and sometimes rubs my chest with his other hand, usually only at night though.
We had our first 9 hour stretch of sleep but it only happened once. In the last five weeks or so Nate's slept 8-9 hours about four or five times. I'm looking forward to when this will become more consistent. Unfortunately my body didn't cooperate the two times Nate slept longer than usual this week. I woke up around his "usual" time, 1:50 am, and couldn't fall back to sleep. I've also been having a difficult time getting back to sleep once Nate wakes and goes back to sleep. This had been happening off and on before he was in his crib but it's worse now that I'm going upstairs to feed him. I sure hope that this doesn't happen when I go back to work but I have a feeling the first few nights will actually be worse because my mind will be racing.
I have been relishing the mornings lately, knowing that I won't be able to enjoy them as much in about a week. I haven't quite figured out how mornings are going to work when I'm back at work. I think that I will feel most comfortable dropping Nate off at daycare on the first few days so that I can see him in the environment. I also don't want his first feeding of the day to be a bottle, at least until he gets more comfortable with the bottle. So the question is, do I wake him up so that I can feed him and drop him off? When things are "normal", he goes to bed around 7:30-7:40 pm, wakes around 1:50 am and then again at 6 or 6:30 am, and then sometimes goes back to sleep for a few hours. This would actually be a pretty perfect schedule because I'll need to leave around 7 or 7:15 am. I guess I'm just going to have to play it by ear and decide depending on what happens each night and morning.
We had our first 9 hour stretch of sleep but it only happened once. In the last five weeks or so Nate's slept 8-9 hours about four or five times. I'm looking forward to when this will become more consistent. Unfortunately my body didn't cooperate the two times Nate slept longer than usual this week. I woke up around his "usual" time, 1:50 am, and couldn't fall back to sleep. I've also been having a difficult time getting back to sleep once Nate wakes and goes back to sleep. This had been happening off and on before he was in his crib but it's worse now that I'm going upstairs to feed him. I sure hope that this doesn't happen when I go back to work but I have a feeling the first few nights will actually be worse because my mind will be racing.
I have been relishing the mornings lately, knowing that I won't be able to enjoy them as much in about a week. I haven't quite figured out how mornings are going to work when I'm back at work. I think that I will feel most comfortable dropping Nate off at daycare on the first few days so that I can see him in the environment. I also don't want his first feeding of the day to be a bottle, at least until he gets more comfortable with the bottle. So the question is, do I wake him up so that I can feed him and drop him off? When things are "normal", he goes to bed around 7:30-7:40 pm, wakes around 1:50 am and then again at 6 or 6:30 am, and then sometimes goes back to sleep for a few hours. This would actually be a pretty perfect schedule because I'll need to leave around 7 or 7:15 am. I guess I'm just going to have to play it by ear and decide depending on what happens each night and morning.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sleeping Upstairs
Nate and I have still been sleeping upstairs. Tuesday, the third night, was the worst. Nate woke up earlier than usual and only stayed asleep for 2 hours. Then he was up from 5:30-7:15 am. Finally after trying everything else, I sat in the rocking chair with him and he fell asleep. The fourth night, Wednesday, was the best. Nate slept 8 hours and 5 minutes; this is the third time he's slept 8 hours but it had been several weeks since the last time. He did well last night (not 8 hours, but still did well) so hopefully this means he's adjusted to his new environment. I'll probably stay up there another night or two and then sleep on the couch one or two nights before I move back into our room. I want to feel out how it's going to be getting further and further away slowly. Also, I actually sleep pretty well upstairs because I don't have Dan's fidgeting keeping me up in addition to waking up for Nate.
We got our first real giggles yesterday. He's been doing a mini giggle, kind of just a "Huh" with a huge smile, but yesterday we got three real giggles. I can't wait until the giggles turn into laughs and squeals!
I'm trying to relish every last second that I can. Today I realized that I'm only going to get about 3 hours a day with Nate during the week, which is kind of depressing to think about. Also, I might have to miss his 4 month appointment. We had scheduled it for 9/30 so that it happened before I go back to work but I called to change it a day earlier so that he doesn't get his shots the last day I get to spend with him. The receptionist said we actually had to move it back because it needs to happen when he's 4 months or later. So now it's scheduled for 10/5 at 8:30 am. My prep period is from 9-10 am so I think I will go to part of the appointment. The doctor is always late anyway so hopefully I'll be there when she's examining him. I'm super apprehensive about him being in daycare after getting shots. Actually, I think I'm going to call and take the Friday morning appointment that was offered if they still have it so that Nate is with my Mom afterward.
I am really tired because Nate took a little longer than usual to go back to sleep at 2 am and was up three hours earlier than usual this morning so I'm going to sign off for now. I'll try to get back on this weekend and write a little more.
Oh, one quick note - I'm no longer proofreading before I post and haven't been for a while. I hope it's not too obvious!
We got our first real giggles yesterday. He's been doing a mini giggle, kind of just a "Huh" with a huge smile, but yesterday we got three real giggles. I can't wait until the giggles turn into laughs and squeals!
I'm trying to relish every last second that I can. Today I realized that I'm only going to get about 3 hours a day with Nate during the week, which is kind of depressing to think about. Also, I might have to miss his 4 month appointment. We had scheduled it for 9/30 so that it happened before I go back to work but I called to change it a day earlier so that he doesn't get his shots the last day I get to spend with him. The receptionist said we actually had to move it back because it needs to happen when he's 4 months or later. So now it's scheduled for 10/5 at 8:30 am. My prep period is from 9-10 am so I think I will go to part of the appointment. The doctor is always late anyway so hopefully I'll be there when she's examining him. I'm super apprehensive about him being in daycare after getting shots. Actually, I think I'm going to call and take the Friday morning appointment that was offered if they still have it so that Nate is with my Mom afterward.
I am really tired because Nate took a little longer than usual to go back to sleep at 2 am and was up three hours earlier than usual this morning so I'm going to sign off for now. I'll try to get back on this weekend and write a little more.
Oh, one quick note - I'm no longer proofreading before I post and haven't been for a while. I hope it's not too obvious!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
I Didn't Forget
I swear. I didn't forget to blog on Friday. We were without an internet connection from Friday morning until yesterday. Dan got a new TV for the living room and we moved the old living room TV to the bedroom along with a new DVR box. The man from DirecTV disconnected our internet connection when he installed the new box and the rest is a long story.
So, the boy... Nate's completely out of his swaddle and I actually don't know what to put him to bed in. There have been a couple times that I've put him down in just his diaper because it was so hot. I put him down in footy pjs once and don't expect to do that again until he's sleeping through the night. Changing his diaper and getting the snaps all done up was ridiculous! For the last several nights I've put him down in the pjs that are open at the bottom with elastic to help keep his legs inside and those seem to work best even though it looks like I'm putting him in a dress. Of course I figured this all out after buying and washing several pairs of pjs.
Nate is starting to grab at things and particularly likes Al E Gator, this adorable courduroy alligator stuffed animal that we got as a gift and I wish I knew who gave it to us. He likes sucking on Al's foot and tail and he wrestles him sometimes. It's quite cute. Oh, and I know you're thinking "Wow Shannon, you are so creative in naming him."
Nate and I have slept in his room two nights now, Nate in his crib and me in the bed up there. He woke up at his usual time to eat, right around 1:50 am, and both nights I was awoken by crying (screaming the first night) right around 4 am. Nate doesn't cry so it scared me quite a bit. The first night he had his leg stuck between the slats of the crib. Of course, I don't have the padded bumpers because of the SIDS risk and I read in several places that bumpers are unnecessary. Well, I went out that day (yesterday) and bought breathable bumpers. Last night I heard a little thud right before the crying. I think that he bonked his arm on the railing. He moves around so much when he's in the crib and never moved when he was in the pack n play. When I lay him with his head on the right side of the crib, he rotates himself so that his body is lying the short way and his legs hit the railing; he's started lifting both legs and pounding them down on the mattress (he's been doing that for several days, even in his pack n play). The one time that I laid him down with his head on the left, he scootched towards the middle of the crib and close to the railing, which is why he bonked his arm. I'm hoping that he gets used to the crib and this stops happening! Poor kiddo!!! By the way, thanks to Mom for sewing the blackout curtains and Dan W for hanging them. They are installing the stained glass windows over the next two weekends and then I will post pictures of Nate's room.
This deserves it's own paragraph: yesterday Nate put himself to sleep. Usually he falls asleep while eating after his bath or Dan rocks him to sleep. Last night, he fell asleep while eating but woke up when I put him in his crib. He wasn't fussing so I let him lay there and he just sucked his fist until he fell asleep. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen again consistently but I'm excited that it has happened once. I'm still waiting for that 8 hour stretch of sleep that he teased us with a couple times but it has alluded me for a couple weeks.
I have been doing the grading for my substitute so that I'll have a better idea of how the students are doing when I go back. I've been able to do the grading at night when Nate's asleep or during the day when he entertains himself on his playmat or in his swing. I'm hoping that when I go back, I'll be able to do the bulk of the grading during my prep period and at lunch. I've been thinking more and more about going back and know that the next 2.5 weeks are going to go by so quickly. I'm sad but excited at the same time. Being on campus to pick up the quizzes to grade has reminded me how much I love my job but I'm going to miss Nate soooo much!
So, the boy... Nate's completely out of his swaddle and I actually don't know what to put him to bed in. There have been a couple times that I've put him down in just his diaper because it was so hot. I put him down in footy pjs once and don't expect to do that again until he's sleeping through the night. Changing his diaper and getting the snaps all done up was ridiculous! For the last several nights I've put him down in the pjs that are open at the bottom with elastic to help keep his legs inside and those seem to work best even though it looks like I'm putting him in a dress. Of course I figured this all out after buying and washing several pairs of pjs.
Nate is starting to grab at things and particularly likes Al E Gator, this adorable courduroy alligator stuffed animal that we got as a gift and I wish I knew who gave it to us. He likes sucking on Al's foot and tail and he wrestles him sometimes. It's quite cute. Oh, and I know you're thinking "Wow Shannon, you are so creative in naming him."
Nate and I have slept in his room two nights now, Nate in his crib and me in the bed up there. He woke up at his usual time to eat, right around 1:50 am, and both nights I was awoken by crying (screaming the first night) right around 4 am. Nate doesn't cry so it scared me quite a bit. The first night he had his leg stuck between the slats of the crib. Of course, I don't have the padded bumpers because of the SIDS risk and I read in several places that bumpers are unnecessary. Well, I went out that day (yesterday) and bought breathable bumpers. Last night I heard a little thud right before the crying. I think that he bonked his arm on the railing. He moves around so much when he's in the crib and never moved when he was in the pack n play. When I lay him with his head on the right side of the crib, he rotates himself so that his body is lying the short way and his legs hit the railing; he's started lifting both legs and pounding them down on the mattress (he's been doing that for several days, even in his pack n play). The one time that I laid him down with his head on the left, he scootched towards the middle of the crib and close to the railing, which is why he bonked his arm. I'm hoping that he gets used to the crib and this stops happening! Poor kiddo!!! By the way, thanks to Mom for sewing the blackout curtains and Dan W for hanging them. They are installing the stained glass windows over the next two weekends and then I will post pictures of Nate's room.
This deserves it's own paragraph: yesterday Nate put himself to sleep. Usually he falls asleep while eating after his bath or Dan rocks him to sleep. Last night, he fell asleep while eating but woke up when I put him in his crib. He wasn't fussing so I let him lay there and he just sucked his fist until he fell asleep. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen again consistently but I'm excited that it has happened once. I'm still waiting for that 8 hour stretch of sleep that he teased us with a couple times but it has alluded me for a couple weeks.
I have been doing the grading for my substitute so that I'll have a better idea of how the students are doing when I go back. I've been able to do the grading at night when Nate's asleep or during the day when he entertains himself on his playmat or in his swing. I'm hoping that when I go back, I'll be able to do the bulk of the grading during my prep period and at lunch. I've been thinking more and more about going back and know that the next 2.5 weeks are going to go by so quickly. I'm sad but excited at the same time. Being on campus to pick up the quizzes to grade has reminded me how much I love my job but I'm going to miss Nate soooo much!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
General Update
Nate has started noticing the world around him much more. He has also become aware that his hands and arms are part of his body and he has control of their movements. He loves to sit and stare at them and move them slowly in front of his face. He's also in control of their movement a bit more, which has resulted in us being able to swaddle him with one arm out. He prefers sleeping with his left hand above his head. So far, if he has both arms out he flails and wakes himself up but we're getting closer to being able to put him down without a swaddle.
A week ago Thursday at our last official Mom's Group meeting, Nate got a round of applause. While one of the ladies was talking, I put him down for some tummy time and he instantly rolled over. It had been about two weeks since his last roll over so I was excited to see him do it again. I did a free trial at a boot camp in Seal Beach this week and Nate was laying on his back on an exercise mat (with a blanket under him of course), and he rolled from his back to his side but I don't think he's ready to get over to his belly from his back quite yet.
For about a week or more I have been singing Soul Sister to Nate after his bath while I lotion him up and give him a little massage and he absolutely loves it. I think the first time I sang it, I chose that song because it was stuck in my head. He liked it so much that I decided to stick with it. He particularly likes the verse that starts with "Girl you can cut a rug, watching you is the only drug I need". I want to try a new song like Perfect by Pink but I don't know the lyrics very well. I've pulled them up on my phone though so I might try it tonight. It's funny that he doesn't seem to mind how terrible my voice sounds.
I don't remember if I mentioned this in my last post but Nate is getting more independent. After seeing how much Nate loved his friend Emmy's play mat, I hung some stuffed animals from his play mat to make it more like hers and he really enjoys laying there now. I also have a mirror hanging from it and he really enjoys talking to the baby. And there's a line of toys, Lamaze, that he likes a lot. He has a peacock, Jacque the Peacock, that keeps him amused for an unusual amount of time. He is also usually willing to spend more time in his swing and/or his bouncy seat. I pulled out a toy that attaches to anything and arches over and he loves that, too.
We are still a bit slow with the bottle but at least he's taking it. I think once he's in daycare and has to take 2-3 bottles per day, he'll get better at it. If he's more than just a little hungry, he won't take the bottle at all; he just cries and won't calm down until I put him on the boob.
And he's calling again... gotta run!
A week ago Thursday at our last official Mom's Group meeting, Nate got a round of applause. While one of the ladies was talking, I put him down for some tummy time and he instantly rolled over. It had been about two weeks since his last roll over so I was excited to see him do it again. I did a free trial at a boot camp in Seal Beach this week and Nate was laying on his back on an exercise mat (with a blanket under him of course), and he rolled from his back to his side but I don't think he's ready to get over to his belly from his back quite yet.
For about a week or more I have been singing Soul Sister to Nate after his bath while I lotion him up and give him a little massage and he absolutely loves it. I think the first time I sang it, I chose that song because it was stuck in my head. He liked it so much that I decided to stick with it. He particularly likes the verse that starts with "Girl you can cut a rug, watching you is the only drug I need". I want to try a new song like Perfect by Pink but I don't know the lyrics very well. I've pulled them up on my phone though so I might try it tonight. It's funny that he doesn't seem to mind how terrible my voice sounds.
I don't remember if I mentioned this in my last post but Nate is getting more independent. After seeing how much Nate loved his friend Emmy's play mat, I hung some stuffed animals from his play mat to make it more like hers and he really enjoys laying there now. I also have a mirror hanging from it and he really enjoys talking to the baby. And there's a line of toys, Lamaze, that he likes a lot. He has a peacock, Jacque the Peacock, that keeps him amused for an unusual amount of time. He is also usually willing to spend more time in his swing and/or his bouncy seat. I pulled out a toy that attaches to anything and arches over and he loves that, too.
We are still a bit slow with the bottle but at least he's taking it. I think once he's in daycare and has to take 2-3 bottles per day, he'll get better at it. If he's more than just a little hungry, he won't take the bottle at all; he just cries and won't calm down until I put him on the boob.
And he's calling again... gotta run!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Another Post, Already?!
It's 8:40 pm and Nate's asleep (although I hear him on the monitor making a little bit more noise than I'm comfortable with) and Dan's on his way to a softball game nearby. For the first time in who knows how long, I'm sitting on the couch by myself in a quiet house. Now I've probably jinxed myself so that Nate will wake up. Funny how I worry about that ALL OF THE TIME! When somebody says something good about Nate's sleep, I always ask them to knock on wood or take it back for fear that they've jinxed me, and I'm always afraid I'm going to jinx myself. I know, it's crazy! So now I'm afraid to say this but we've had three nights with long stretches of sleep. Nate has been eating for double his usual length of time right before bed, his last feeding starting between 7-7:30, and he's woken up between 2:30-3 am each day for the last three days. Everytime I go to bed, I expect to be woken up in the 12 o'clock hour and when I'm not, I'm so happy and surprised! I don't know how long this can last and know that his sleep patterns will change so many times as his brain develops and especially when he starts teething but I'm enjoying this while it lasts! Of course, the second night it happened I was up for 2 hours in between feeds again. I told myself that we would move him into his crib upstairs once he started waking up only one time per night but I'm not mentally prepared for that yet and I'm definitely not counting on this lasting forever.
Yesterday I found out that I have a breast infection, which I think is partially caused by the longer sleep. I am on antibiotics but am still able to breastfeed. The bacteria in the milk is killed by Nate's stomach acids. The doctor was impressed with how in tune I am with my body; I found it early enough that I may not need to take the whole week of antibiotics. Of course, there's a delicate balance between bacteria and yeast so now that I'm on antibiotics I have to pay especially close attention to cleaning everything (I have to boil all bottle nipples and pacifiers every time they are used) to avoid thrush, which is a yeast infection in the baby's mouth. Please keeep your fingers crossed for me!
Tuesday Nate had his first trip to Disneyland. I told him how lucky he is to have his first trip when he was a mere 11 weeks old. One of the ladies from my Mom's group is pretty hot you-know-what at Disneyland. She was an ambassador two of the four years she worked there before going on maternity leave, which apparently is a huge deal. She is on unpaid leave now and plans to quit when that is over but she will have a free pass along with three friends for the rest of her life. It was actually a funny experience for us Moms. There were a total of four of us from the Mom's group. We arrived at 12:30 pm and had lunch at Downtown Disney. We didn't get to Main St in the park until 3 pm! And we didn't get to the end of Main St until about 4 pm! A couple of us wanted to buy Micky Mouse ear hats at one of the stores on Main St and then we wanted our baby's names embroidered. Once the hats were done, Nate had a meltdown (our first public meldown). One of the very nice workers in the store suggested we go next door to the museum because it was cooler in there. I walk through the museum, screaming baby in tow, and there are people watching a video on the history of Disneyland. They all turn around and give either looks of disgust or looks of concern, I couldn't really tell because I was too focused on Nate. I got him to calm down a little bit and sat down on a bench to feed him. It was early for him to eat but usually that's the only time he cries. And boy did he eat! Minutes later, one of the other babies in our group started crying so that Mom sat next to me and started feeding her baby. By the end of about 20 minutes, all four of us were feeding our babies on a bench in the museum. It was quite comical!
Well, I think I'm going to sign off now and enjoy the last 20-30 minutes of quiet time before I go to bed. Yes, I'm going to bed around 9:30 pm.
Oh wait, I just thought of one more thing. Nate got a round of applause at my last formal Mom's Group meeting today. I put him down for tummy time while one of the Moms was sharing something and he instantly rolled over. This is the third time he has rolled over but he didn't do it for about two weeks. Everybody was so impressed that my little 11 week old boy can roll over! Grandma says he was probably trying to impress his new girlfriend. Saturday we had a brunch with all of the Dads from our group. I put Nate down on the playmat at the host's house with the host's daughter and instantly, she put her arm around his.
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