Eight Months!

As of Saturday, Baby John is 2/3 of a year old! And he's really growing up.

He has been working hard on getting into and out of the seated position. It's so cute to see him prop himself up with his chubby little arm. He can totally sit up all on his own. Sometimes he'll tip over, but all those months of doing "baby crunches" have paid off, for he simply tucks his chin to his chest as he topples. Thus he doesn't bang his head!

Another recent development is that he's starting to pull himself up. I walked into his room one recent evening to find him kneeling (in his sleep sack) at the side of the crib, clutching the rails, and gumming the top rail. Extremely cute, but also a sign that we need to lower the mattress to its lowest setting now.

Here he's rocking...

Standing Up!

Speaking of the crib, John is a mobile sleeper. He usually rolls onto his tummy now to sleep (like, immediately. I put him in on his back, he rolls right over to his side or tummy). Often he'll bang his head on the rails scooting about in his sleep. And he's never where I left him or last saw him (thankful our monitor can pan!).

John hasn't started crawling with his belly up off the floor just yet. However, he creeps quite quickly, often relying on just his upper body and left leg for power. He can get into the all-fours crawling stance and rock back and forth (as if gaining momentum), but then he ends up with his belly back on the ground when he takes off.

Eating is going quite well. He usually eats fruit and cereal for breakfast, fruit and/or veggies for lunch, and the. Veggies and cereal for dinner. He's had apples, bananas, pears, avocado, mango, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini, and peas.
He's also tried teething biscuits with varying degrees of success (but always with pleasure).

Sleep is going well (knock on wood!). Normally he only nurses once or twice (or sometimes not at all!) in the night. We do have the occasional night of nursing in the chair all night (which may be as much from Mommy falling asleep there as from him wanting/needing it). The past few nights he's woken up around eleven but has gone back to sleep after Daddy soothes him. Nice! Napping is hit or miss at times because of being the second child and subject to James's schedule...

John continues to be super happy. He smiles at everybody! It's fun. His best buddy at church is the dad of three older kids (2nd, 4th, and 6th graders). John just loooooves him and practically leaps into his arms.

I've been trying to be consistent in signing to him, and Dan and I both think we've seen him sign for "milk"! He also seems to say "maMa!" when he wants me/milk. This morning I heard "dada" for the first time, but wasn't sure if it was in context or not.

Speaking of context, John's favorite books seem to be Dear Zoo; Snuggle Puppy; and Happy Birthday, Little Pookie. He tries to operate the flaps in Dear Zoo! And he smiles at Pookie and the puppy. So sweet! There are days, though, when he's too sleepy for books, and will listen to one, but then push it away and doesn't want any more.

Apart from listening to books, one of John's favorite pastimes is playing peekaboo. He laughs and laughs and seems to most enjoy playing it with James. He also enjoys time with peers. Recently he has had a few opportunities to hang out with the neighbor girls (who are just a few months older), and he smiles and laughs with them. He gets super excited. Very cute. At te playground, he's no longer just a passive observer-- he loves the swings!

John also likes to "dance" by bouncing enthusiastically to music. And making his own music-- much like his big brother, John likes playing the keyboard.

Perhaps his most favorite activity of all is bathing!! He splashes SO much and laughs and smiles. He also sits upright in his little tub instead of leaning back. Such a big boy!

No teeth yet, which is fine by me. I'm in no rush to say goodbye to that sweet gummy smile. John weighs over twenty pounds already (!), and seems tall. Footed PJs only are long enough if they're 12mo. or bigger. He's in mostly 9 mo. or 12 mo. clothes; 6 mo. clothes are all too little (and 9 mo pants are getting rather short). We'll be switching carseats soon for certain!

BREAKING NEWS: John just pulled himself to standing at the ottoman! Completely on his own!

Snuggles

One of the best things about the second child is that you know. For instance, you know it's actually easy at first (they can't move; they just need milk and sleep). You also know that every stage, good or bad, is short.

Right now I know that it won't be long at all until John won't fall asleep in my lap, so I am going to sit here and bask in the cuddles.

Naptime

John's first nap in the crib.

It Happened

Today at naptime, James got out of his crib. I wasn't home, but Dan said he heard crying and "Ouch, I bumped my head," and found James walking down the hallway.

When I asked James about the episode later, our conversation went thusly:

Me: "James, did you bump your head today?"

James: "Yes."

Me: "When?"

James: "I popped right out of my crib. Then I ran out of my room."

So, this evening, Dan took the drop-side off James's crib and made it into a pseudo big-boy bed. I actually shed a tear-- so goofy. James is quite excited! We'll see how things go tonight.

Airing Things Out

So yesterday James put up his usual fight when it came to napping. I could hear him back there talking and playing. When I went to check on him, he'd finally fallen asleep... without any pants! He was sleeping peacefully in just a t-shirt; he'd removed even his underpants!

Last night, when Dan went to check on him at bedtime, he was half-nakey again! Dan asked him why he'd taken off his pajama pants and underwear. James responded, "Because I don't like Percy. I like Thomas." Oh. Of course. That makes complete sense. (The underpants had Percy on them; the jammies were Thomas.)

Well, this afternoon it seems he was too tired to be bothered with his wardrobe. He fell asleep rather quickly and kept his pants on.

"Nap" "Mat"

Ever since school has gotten out (well, and even on weekends during school), James has wanted to nap on a mat on the floor. Because, you know, that's how he rolls at school. Well, not so much here. I stick him in the crib. There have been a few times we've given it a try, but usually he keeps rolling/playing all around the floor, and winds up in the crib.

Today he really wanted the floor again and even set up a "mat" for himself. It is a down throw blanket from the living room. After the first potty break, I did fold the blanket to make it less lumpy & bumpy and more mat-like.

He's there now. "Napping" on his "mat." And by "napping" I mean, singing and playing. He just finished a lovely rendition of the hello song from music class. Instead of names he was saying body parts, "Hello, eyes, it's good to see you. Hello, hands, it's good to see you too." Cuteness. Now there is some heavy drama going on between Thomas and Scarloey (trains, of course). "Thomas is off the track! Scarloey, come save him!"

OK, I just heard this: "What are you doing? I'm sleeping."

Bottom line-- he's still on his mat. And these antics are par for the course in the crib, so.... I'm not interfering.

Yet.

Somebody really loves his new truck...

James has pretty much not put this truck down since he got it from Grandma (who got it at a garage sale) yesterday. This was naptime today.

Happy Birthday, America!

Let me start by saying that the festivities outlined hereafter have led to one extremely exhausted (& cranky) toddler who is currently fighting sleep and chanting "Mommy, Mommy" from his crib. It's killing me and making me feel like a terrible parent.

But on to the festivities!

Yesterday Dan was off of work and we celebrated by heading over to the county zoo to ride the train. While James does enjoy our visits to see the animals, he's often distracted/obsessed by the train that travels around the park. Not wanting Dan to miss out on James's first train ride, I'd denied James the experience until now (we'd made a few attempts in recent weekends, but had been rained out). James was quite excited! As we waited in line, he chanted, "Train! Train!" Once aboard, he seemed a bit in shock. It was fun though.



After the ride we took a quick trip through our lil' zoo, then headed home for lunch & nap. So far, so good with our daily routine. Well, after James woke up, his grandparents arrived, and we had supper before heading to the park for our town's fireworks.


This is where the routine went out the window since we were leaving the house at bedtime. James stayed awake for the half-mile stroller ride and was all too happy to get out of said stroller and partake in the party atmosphere in the park. He met some of Grandpa's friends from town, received his own American flag, checked out some real fire trucks up close, ran wild through the field, chased other children....


The sun refused to set, and the hours past bedtime continued to pass. I eventually wrangled James onto my lap (it was getting dusky and the park was becoming more crowded) and kept him there only by singing to him. Good times.

Finally, sometime after 9:30 the fireworks began. James calmed down for the first time all night and watched the show curled up in my lap. Very nice and cuddly. It was well after 10 when we finally got home! (He somehow managed to stay awake for the stroller ride home!)

Dan settled him down and he went to sleep around 11... a mere four hours past bedtime!

James only slept in an hour (getting up around 7:20), so he started the day with a 3 hour sleep deficit (which manifested itself in some clumsiness and even less patience than usual).

We headed off to the parade after breakfast. James really enjoyed the music and the many trucks & cars (especially the fifth regiment of the parade-- LOTS of firetrucks and ambulances, sirens blaring). He was thrilled to receive another flag.


We then headed up to Grandpa & Grandma's for lunch and then put James down for a nap in their Pack & Play. Since he naps much better (and longer) at home in his own crib, this was probably a mistake on our part, what with the night he'd already had. Oops.

Suffice it to say, he pretty much refused dinner after the post nap snacking he'd done. (We tried twice-- once at the grands' and once at home.) We pretty much had to flee their house as James had turned into a bit time pumpkin. We gave him a much needed bath, then hit the bed. I'm VERY pleased to report that whilst I've been typing, Dan settled him down, and now he's sleeping peacefully.

"I hear the secrets that you keep...."

So, it seems we may have a sleeptalker on our hands. Which should come as no surprise given the night terror history (frankly, talking in one's sleep is far more tolerable than screaming) and the fact that both aunts are known to chat away whilst sleeping.

During this afternoon's (lovely, lengthy) nap, I heard James say, "Truck, truck" as a truck drove past. A few minutes later I heard, "Hi. Hi. Hi." So I went in thinking he was up and ready to go for the afternoon.

Nope.

Totally zonked out, eyes shut, sleeping.

Can I Interest You in Some Pants?

So James fought off his nap for quite a while this afternoon. We'd had a busy, fun-filled morning consisting of a playdate at the farm where he saw animals and quite enjoyed walking along planks of wood. He fell asleep briefly on the way home (which allowed me, upon our arrival home, to trim his nails while he slept in the carseat), then woke up for some dancing and lunch. Well, after lunch we followed our routine of milk and books, then I popped him into the crib with his latest favorite book ("Emma!"). AN HOUR LATER he finally stopped chatting, playing music, reading, and throwing everything (blankets, Bunny, Bear) out of the crib. I walked in to find him thusly:


Yep, there he is, cuddled up with his pants, which he evidently removed.

Shocking Development!

OK, so this photo has nothing to do with this post other than it goes with the title, but it is a funny face that James is making more and more often these days.

So, this afternoon, James was showing signs of tiredness at the end of lunch-- rubbing eyes, glazed expression, etc. I took him back to his room to get him ready for a nap. We did the usual routine: change diaper, read a book, nurse,... His eyes were droopy, but he kept fighting it. Meanwhile, my phone rang. After ignoring the phone and trying to get Baby Boy to sleep for a while, I finally just put him in the crib and went to turn off the beeping phone. He cried when I left. Then he was talking and playing, so I decided not to go back in just yet. I checked my email. After a little while, he whimpered a bit, then turned on his music (left from the mobile). A little bit later there was silence (well, other than the mobile music)-- he fell asleep!!!! On his own!!!!

Sleeplessness

So, we're pretty tired around here.

In October, I finally nailed down James's nap schedule, and was working on night sleeping. He'd take a nap at 9ish and 2ish every day, usually for an hour and a half each time. For a while, he was falling asleep at 8:45 every morning like clockwork! With the help of The No Cry Sleep Solution, we established a nightly routine and found ourselves happily getting Baby Boy in bed much easier and by 7:00 each night. He was still waking a few times, but I felt we were definitely making progress.

Then we were hit with a one, two punch:

One: The marathon. And all its accompaniments: Dan offering to tend to James in the night in an effort to get me more rest (major backfire), visitors from out of town, major schedule alterations (traveling around the city, etc.)....

Two: The time change. Because of the marathon, we didn't really try to pre-empt this because it actually worked out better for us if he woke up an hour early the morning of Nov. 2nd (so I could nurse before heading to the start, and he could eat a good breakfast before trekking to Brooklyn to cheer).

In the first days after the time change, he still napped twice a day, and slowly seemed to adjust his time from DST to Standard.

Not so much anymore. He's been fighting naps like crazy and waking up lots at night. I'm really hoping it is the elusive front teeth causing all of this. (His gums are all white and swollen.)

On Tuesday night, he woke several times then was up for the day at 3:30!!!! Dan rocked him for over an hour. I nursed him. He even went for a 30 minute stroller ride around the dark house. No luck. We finally gave up at 6:00 and got ourselves up.

Guess what. He's crying now. Loudly. After his second lame, 30-minute nap of the day. This is killing me.

The End of an Era

One week ago today, James's mobile came down. A very sad day indeed. That morning James had grabbed the animals as they danced by. He's been doing this for a while. In fact, that is what prompted us to lower his mattress; it was in effort to keep them from his reach. Well, on this day I realized he was always reaching them now. When he grabs them, he pulls them toward him (and his mouth, undoubtedly), thus pulling the entire mobile as well. A lovely clicky noise happens as the mobile is prevented from turning. I decided that I didn't want him to break the mobile or damage the crib where it's attached (or hurt himself, of course), so I took off the mobile arm. The music player is still attached. I was holding James when I did this, and he was aghast. He watched me take it off and put it in the closet with a look of disbelief and awe.

When Daddy got home and saw it was gone, he was disappointed too (our baby is growing up!). He offered to lower the mattress again, to its lowest setting. I said, "no" because soon enough James would be able to sit up and reach the mobile anyway. While Dan did point out that this might be a good way to entice James to sit up, I maintained my stance (plus, I don't want to have to reach down lower to pick James up/ put him down).

In the last week, he's survived just fine. He still enjoys turning the music on and off (especially with his feet...funny), and seems to have moved on to other stuffed animals as his source of affection.

Today's Long, Dangerous Nap

So James seems to be transitioning to two decent naps a day now. Thanks to training/coaching from Nana, I can put James in his crib when he appears tired, give him a comfort item or two, turn on his mobile and leave. He's usually asleep before (or shortly after) the music stops. Sometimes I have to turn it on a second time. And now that he is such a roly-poly wiggle worm, I often am summoned (by loud cries) to "rescue" him from an uncomfortable "landing" against the railings before he finally dozes off.



This afternoon's nap lasted at least two hours! I periodically checked in, to see if he was A) still asleep, and B) still breathing. At one point he cried, but then settled himself down. When I next checked on him, I found this scene:

He was fast asleep...on his belly! He slept like this for a while. Of course, my check-ins became much more frequent as all of the SIDS-prevention "Back to Sleep" propaganda has worked its magic on me (I know, how did we ever survive?), and I was freaking out about him being face down.

Granted, I realize we could play a great round of "Can you name all the dangers in this napping photograph?"

So, can you?

Blanket, belly, bear...

Meanwhile, I got lots of cleaning done! I think he would've slept even longer had he not been awakened by the dreaded vacuum. . .

Long Overdue Update with Photos!

Well, it has been almost two weeks since my employment "ended," and I'm finally going to try to give you a good post here. Cutie Pie just went down for a nap, but I don't know how long it will last, so I'm going to try to work fast!

Big news:

• James started eating "solids" on Saturday, June 21st. He "ate" rice cereal once or twice a day that week. It was pretty runny (even when I tried to make it thicker, it would get runny by half-way through the meal), and James ended up with as much or more ON him than IN him.
• Beginning Saturday, June 28th, we started Baby Oatmeal. Now, that's Good Eats! James wolfs it down every time. It is a bit thicker and more flavorful, so who could blame him. He seriously leaves nothing in the bowl and little on his bib or elsewhere. (Note: this change in input has affected the output-- much more interesting diapers!)
• James has become VERY talented at grasping and holding things. He reaches for everything. Especially paper. I can no longer read the newspaper or do a sudoku while nursing. He gets totally distracted, and reaches for the paper, whining if it is out of reach. When/if he gets it, he goes nuts. Laughing and waving it about. Funny. He also grabs other items like his toys and teethers. He especially enjoyed the crab teether today as I chilled it in the fridge.
• Speaking of teething, the boy must be officially doing this now because he constantly is chewing: his fingers, his pacifiers (which he learned to use for napping when I went to work), his high chair tray and straps, .....
• Oh, so now that he can hold things and likes to chew, when he is given a pacifier in an effort to help him sooth himself to sleep (a skill that Nana taught him/us-- thanks, Nana!), he grabs it in his fingers, scoots it over to the side, and chews it-- it is pretty funny.
  
• James is also much better at sitting up unassisted. Even in the last week this has improved. He sat up for some of his photos last Wed., but one of us had to spot him the entire time because he kept tipping. No more! He is pretty stable now (until he starts to reach for a teether or piece o' paper...)
• He also has gotten good at rolling and rotating. I put him in his crib to watch his mobile while I showered this morning. When I came out this is what I found:
• James has gone swimming twice now! We went to the town pool on both Saturday and yesterday evenings. We haven't put his face/head underwater (wanting to avoid water inhalation and water in ears), but he sure enjoys splashing! Saturday he was pretty much in shock the entire time; he never smiled-- just serious face. Yesterday, he started smiling more. Both days he splashed like crazy! He looks super cute in his little swim trunks; I need to take his photo!

We had a wonderful time with all the family here last weekend. Unfortunately for me, most of the photographic evidence of said fun is on other peoples' cameras (hint, hint-- send me some photos!).

I Figured It Out... for now...

So, just in time for my return to school (on Monday!), I have kind of figured out James's schedule. He gets up between 7 and 8 for the day, and wants to eat. He's ready for a nap about an hour and a half later. Usually this nap takes place in the stroller whilst I run. He'll sleep for the entire run (cutely, he stays awake during my walking warm-up)-- usually 45 min.-an hour.

He wakes up and is hungry around 10 or 10:30. After he eats, he likes to play. We do tummy time, jumpy seat, activity mat, book reading, piano playing.... He's ready for another nap around noon.

That nap lasts about an hour and a half, then we repeat: eat, play, nap. He eats again around 4ish then stays awake (reading, playing, bathing) until bedtime which happens between 7:30 and 8:30.

He only sleeps in the car if he's tired now. Otherwise he's looking out the windows. Cute.

Also, this all gets screwy if he misses or is late going down for a nap. For instance, this morning he got tired (fussy) around 8:30, but didn't fall asleep until 9:30. He woke up a bit after 10. As I told Dan, "Hungry trumps sleepy every time." He ate, but now he's still tired. However, he wants to play, so he's playing fussily. We'll see how the day goes from here.

Dan has the next two weeks off for paternity leave. After that the grands take over until school gets out June 18th. Then I'm home until Sept. 2009!

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

Well, James is two months old today. Wow. He had his two month checkup on Tuesday afternoon. Here are the stats:
Length: 22 inches (25%)
Weight: 10lbs 7oz (25%)
Head: 15.5 inches (40%)

He impressed the doctor with his ability to lift his head and shoulders off the table. I tried to capture that image here, but didn't really get it at the right time. You can admire his airborne feet, however.

Unfortunately, she did hear the murmur and state that they may order another echo cardiogram when he's 6 months old (if they still hear it then) to see what's going on. Also, he has a hernia by his formerly attractive bellybutton which is causing it to now appear as an outie. Boo. It is supposed to heal on its own (I hope his belly button goes back to its cute flat self.).

We received some exercises to do to help James get over his tendency to look to the right (no political jokes, please). He defaults to looking over his right shoulder, so we have to force him to turn his head to the left to loosen up those muscles. This will also lessen any head shape issues. He isn't a huge fan of his drills, but he doesn't protest much.

The traumatic part of the check-up was when James had to receive his immunizations. He screamed rather loudly and turned a violent shade of violet. Some moms in my Thursday group told me yesterday that they immediately breastfed their babies after the shots, and that really calmed them down. Well, the advice was two days too late for this round, but I'll definitely do that next time!

Thus far, to celebrate his 2 month b'day today, James has pooped across the changing table in the wee hours of the morning (I caught it with the diaper--impressive), "eaten" a lot, taken a trip to CVS to buy his TriViSol baby vitamins, napped, and donned his cute monogrammed bib in an effort to thwart future spit-ups from causing wardrobe changes. By the bye, this is his first wearing of a bib, and I honestly cracked up when I put it on him!

Well, the cutie-pie has awoken. Must go.

Thanks for Proving Mommy Wrong!

So, yesterday James was a good napper. He napped in the morning on our way to and for the beginning of the Moms Group (aka Breastfeeding Support Group). He then napped on our way home. He napped for a while in the afternoon (before and during a 45 minute walk in the Maclaren). Then in the evening he napped again.
He even went to bed at a decent hour. Crazy.

This has continued into today. I put him down for a morning nap in his cradle, and he slept between 45 minutes and an hour. Now he's down again, this time in the Pack & Play. I'm sure that now that I've commended this development, it will end...

Baby Not-so-wise

James hates naps. Seriously. The boy doesn't like to go to bed until as late as possible with Dan & I going to bed as well. No napping.

The exception is that sometimes he'll nurse himself to sleep. However, if you try to put him in bed in such situations, he often awakens. Furthermore, today I read in Babywise that babies should follow this routine: eat-wake-sleep.

This made for a miserable day. James cried more than ever today as I tried to make him take naps. It was AWFUL. I was doubting when and how often to feed him. More crying. I wanted to cry too! I had myself believing that I'd ruined him by letting him eat-sleep-eat-wake-eat-eat...

This evening I did some internet research about Babywise and found that it is not very well respected in the scientific realm. Great. Now I feel like an even worse mom than before!

Bottom line: I am going back to following my instincts: feed him when he's hungry. Let him sleep when he wants to. I'll ask the pediatrician about his lack of napping when we go on Tuesday.