Sleeping Adventures

First of all, I'm super thankful that Nicholas is still in the crib and has not made even the slightest attempt to get out of it (ok fingers crossed I did not just jinx myself).

Second of all, I'm also thankful to have a monitor to watch his crazy antics. Number one, because I know that he is safe, and number two, it's kind of hilarious.

Lately, he likes to take all of the sheets off of the crib, throw them out, and then take off all his clothes (I should also add I'm glad he doesn't take off his diaper, again here's hoping I did not just jinx myself).

But, he often pulls the mattress protector or the sheet back in, pulls it over his head and wraps it around his feet, and then falls asleep. Of course, Mom that I am, I then creep back in to pull it off of his face. I know he won't really suffocate because he's obviously able to breathe and take it off his head but it gets awfully hot up there so I just feel better when I can see that his face is uncovered.

Here are the pics I've gotten of his antics. Enjoy!

Nicholas is 9 Months Old

Nicholas is 9 Months Old! We didn't bother to tape the sign up next to him, we just handed it to him and let him have at it.

His 9 month doctor's appointment is next Tuesday so I will post the stats when I have them. I'm guessing 22 lbs...no clue on the length, but I'm sure his head size is still up there with the best of them. :)

Likes: Crawling like a mad man. Crawling towards anything not safe, outlets, plugs, the oven (especially when it's on).

Dexter - he continues to be enamored with him

When Nick says "corn on the cob" and then proceeds to "eat him" like a corn on the cob - hard to explain, but hilarious and he giggles away

Being chased. If you chase him while he's crawling he tries to get away, belly flops, and starts laughing like crazy.

Playing peek a boo/ being scared. Nick hides on the other side of his bedroom door and Nicholas will close it in his face and then open it looking for him. He laughs away when we yell "peek a boo". Also I'll cover my face or his face with a blanket and say "Where's Nicholas?" or "Where's Mommy?" and he pulls the blanket off and laughs.

Dancing, he rocks his head back and forth and "bops" up and down. If I clap and jump up and down it really gets him going (and I don't look silly at all!)

Dislikes: Honestly...not a one I can think of, but he still protests when we're changing his diaper sometimes.

Oh yeah - and the sippy cup, he basically throws it back into my face :)

New and Noteable: He is trying to walk. Our friends bought him a push toy and he drags his feet while pushing it. He's getting better at sitting down, and not falling as much.

We have started trying "snacks" but he doesn't really get the concept of putting it in his mouth. He gets the biscuit (just shoves it in his mouth) but not the little yogurt drops - he basically picks them up and then plays with them. I try the sippy cup with that and he's just not a fan so far, I know it will come though.

He has no interest in saying Mama :( He says Dada constantly and Tami (Nick's mom) swears he said Dog...so that's awesome. (heehee)

Sleep: Well, last night he slept from 7:30 and we had to wake him up at 7 am !! I don't know what the heck happened, but it was awesome. He has slept through the night completely the last few days, but is normally waking up about 4:30-5 am which is tough. I have also told Nick from now on that i will get up every morning ( we used to alternate) because I function a lot better on less sleep than he does. And then maybe Nick will be less of a crabby ass ;)

With Auntie heading to church

Hi there!

Yo I got this biscuit!

Nicholas is 7 Months Old!

Hey, just hanging out being awesome...and also learning that I don't have to sit still and just smile...

No stats this month, he does have a second flu shot appointment on Tuesday so if they weigh him I'll let you know where he is. He actually doesn't have a real "visit" until December (9 months), so after Tuesday he'll get a nice little break from shots for awhile.

Likes: He's pretty much game for anything. Likes sitting and playing with toys, his exersaucer, a new one is he likes being turned upside down. Nick does it a lot, but I'll "swoop" down with him and he giggles like crazy. He likes tummy time, rolling around (although he doesn't do it that much) and he's been scooting backwards and sideways a bit, but not quite forward yet. I can see him thinking hard about it though :)He also loves going to the store and sitting in the carriage - he will stare anyone down until they acknowledge him and then he'll giggle like crazy.

Dislikes: Being taken out of the bathtub, same as last month, and I don't see this going away any time soon. We've been using the projector setting on the white noise machine and it puts a starry/ colorful image on the wall which distracts him a bit.

When his bottle is done he'll scream bloody murder for a few seconds and then realize "oh wait, I'm full" and stop.

Sleep: Nicholas got sick from a friend's daughter a few weeks back and he started waking himself up in the middle of the night coughing. It's been pretty rough the last couple of weeks but the last two nights were good (hey, I'll take what I can get!). He'll go down by 7 and sleep until about 4:30-5. We also think he might be teething again (lots of drool on his sleep sack and a bit more irritated than normal) and adding new fruits and veggies every few days so he'll take some time to adjust to the new "things".

Noteable:

I mentioned it in an earlier post, but he screamed "daaadaaaa" several times, it's the one syllable he's learned so far...so now I just sit with him and say "mamamamamamamaamamamam" hoping that will come out next ;)


Overall, we are blessed with a very happy, smiley, giggly, cuddly baby and I can't get enough of him. The other day he was cuddled on my hip "watching" tv and I told Nick was never again going to work, I was just going to stay there forever. Ahh..if only.

Nicholas is 5 Months Old!

Time is just flying! I feel like Nicholas changes and grows every day. He's really starting to get a personality (happy and giggley for the most part), and every day he does something that makes me laugh so hard I almost cry.

No doctor's appointment this month, so I don't have new stats. He's had little dry patches on his belly that don't seem to be going away - we talked to the doc and he didn't think it sounded serious (and it hasn't gotten worse), but we may bring him in for a quick visit just to be safe.

The big milestone this month is that on August 4th we started "solids" (just rice cereal). I originally did not want to start anything but formula until 6 months, but something weird had been happening with him in the morning. He's been sleeping great, from 7 pm-6 am for the most part. But even after all that great sleep, he was still getting tired/crabby after about an hour of being awake, and I began to think that maybe the formula wasn't enough. He does seem a bit better in the morning, and he opens up wide for the rice cereal and really seems to be enjoying this new "spoon to mouth" thing. I plan on waiting to try veggies and fruit until 6 months (which feels so close! again with the time flying!)

Another big milestone - the little guy has two teeth! The two on the bottom front are starting to poke through the gums. They noticed at day care earlier this week and last week and weekend he was a pretty crabby guy. Hopefully he will get some relief soon. He's not a fan of the pacifier, but if I pop it in the freezer for a few minutes it seems to really soothe him.

Sleeping has been pretty good - we get him down by 7 and he usually wakes up by 6. If he wakes up before 6 we try to let him "hang" in his crib until it is 6, and that's been working ok so far. As far as the naps go, we haven't really been able to schedule those, and day care has difficulty getting him to sleep by himself in the crib (I honestly think he's just too stimulated there - I don't think that's a bad thing, but I think it's why they can't get him to sleep.)

He still loves his activity mat but doesn't go on it as much - we have him in the exersaucer more and a lot of tummy time. He's not really rolling over but he enjoys being on his stomach and lifting his arms and legs. He sits well propped up but has not yet mastered sitting on his own. I bought a few fun shaped/different textured balls from Amazon and he LOVES those - passes them from hand to hand, chews on them, etc. He also likes to chew on Sophie the giraffe (a popular teether). He also really enjoys bath time now - earlier this week he was "dancing" and splashing away and I had one of those laugh so hard I cried moments. I still look at him and marvel and say to him - did you know I cooked you in my belly? I feel like I'll be saying that when he's 18 years old :)

xoxo

This guy

We got this guy home from dinner with friends and he was a cranky little boy. I changed his diaper, put him in a sleep sack, laid him down, and he started screaming bloody murder. But...about 5 minutes later, I checked on him, told him I loved him and patted his head...came downstairs, and this happened:

Honestly, he's been doing great and I couldn't be happier!

xoxo

Sleep Training the babe

I hate to jinx it, but sleep training the babe has been going pretty well so far.

Nicholas is WIPED OUT by a little after 6 pm each night, sometimes even earlier. It’s kind of a bummer because we don’t get to see him all day. He also isn’t on a schedule at day care, I think they start doing “group” naps when he is around 6 months old – which actually isn’t that far off. Whenever we are with him all day, he really seems to be more of a cat napper, sometimes sleeping 40 minutes, sometimes 2 hours, throughout the day. I’ve been tracking his sleep patterns for the last week +, and there is no rhyme or reason to it. The only set thing is that he’s in bed by 7 ish and up by 6 ish – he’s almost always up before 6 though if he doesn’t wake up for a middle of the night feeding.

Here’s what we’ve been doing at night:

A few weeks ago, we started a routine of “bath, bottle, and bed” As soon as he starts to get a bit cranky, we bring him upstairs, turn the lights down low, and start the white noise machine. The white noise machine is supposed to trigger his "calming reflex", and it really seems to do the trick. Since he’s not mobile yet, a bath really doesn’t take very long, maybe 10 minutes max. He usually starts to get upset after the bath though, so I quickly diaper him and rub some lotion on him (I’m hoping he eventually enjoys this, but right now he just becomes a crabby arse!) Then we bring him downstairs for his bottle. He typically falls asleep half way through the bottle and we rouse him awake to get him to finish it. Then we hold him for a little while, make sure that he burps, and then lay him down.

The first night was a NIGHTMARE. He had burped, but apparently needed to burp more. I could tell right away that he was uncomfortable so I picked him up, patted him for awhile, and then he burped again and we laid him back down. I gave him 5 minutes to try and settle himself and it didn’t work. I went to him, kissed him and patted his head, told him I loved him, offered him a pacifier (which he always rejects), and then left him again. I repeated this for almost an hour. He was so worked up that I re - swaddled his arms – that did the trick and he settled himself and went to sleep. It was a rough hour, but I was so thrilled when he finally settled himself on his own. I hated to let him cry even for a minute or two (because I did NOT want to do this), but I realize that it is for the best and I wasn’t “abandoning” him, just trying to get him to realize that he CAN do it on his own (and needs to learn that).

After that first night, it has gotten so much better. I had to do it twice the next night but he was settled within 10 minutes. Last night when I put him down he SCREAMED bloody murder..but only 3 minutes went by, he settled himself, and then was sleeping within 15 minutes.

I haven’t tried to schedule naps yet (because of his cat napping ways) but if he wakes up for night feedings (and he usuall does) he has also been able to settle himself within 5-10 minutes, so I take that as a good sign and a step in the right direction.

This morning was pretty cool to watch – he woke up around 4 am and had completely turned himself around in the crib. He rolls on his side, back, around, it is pretty amazing at how much he is starting to get around!

xoxo

Nicholas is 2 Months Old

Nicholas is 2 months old!

I believe he's saying "yes!! this is getting easier"

I'm not sure who this outfit was from but I love it- it's 3 months size and fits fine, and has a baseball on the bum!



His doctor's appointment is this Thursday so I will update his height/weight then, but here's what's been going on with him:

Likes:

Sleeping on Mom - this hasn't changed, but he has been GREAT at sleeping at night. We started a loose "schedule", since I don't plan on trying to get a real schedule going until his 3 months old. We let him be during the day. He doesn't really nap much, and likes to be held alot. Then at about 8 we start getting him ready for bed. Depending on when he got his last bottle, we may need to feed him another, but we have him swaddled by 9 pm ish. I've thought about giving him a bath every night to add to the routine, but his skin has been a little dry so I'm holding off on that for now. He's gotten much better with the baths too, now he just looks at me as if to say, what the heck are you doing?? No more screaming. :) He then sleeps from around 9 until 1 or 2 am, then back to bed until 6 ish. If he's not up at 6 we wake him. It isn't always easy to get him back to bed after the night feeding, so we just take it day by day.



His Activity Mat - My dad's friends bought this for us off my registry and it is awesome! I can put him on this while I make bottles, pee, etc, and he's a happy little guy. He started to kick and squeal and smile at it too, it is just awesome to watch.

Eating: He's still going strong at this. We have him up to 5 ounces (just moved up from 4.5)every 2-3 hours. If he is sleeping and it's been 3 hours, we wake him up - that seems to help and get him to be able to sleep more at night.

Dislikes:

The two major ones are really getting his diaper changed - although this is about a 50/50 thing. Half the time he's fine and the other half he's screaming bloody murder, and the other is waiting for a bottle. If he wakes up from sleeping and is hungry, he SCREAMS as if you've never fed him before. We used to get very frazzled, crazy at first, but now we just laugh. The second the bottle is in his mouth, he goes quiet and is happy.

Things have definitely gotten easier now that we're into month two. I think he is settling in and calming down better, and is starting to realize he can't get back into my stomach :)

Lastly, if you wonder how I was able to type this since he's always attached to me, here's how:

This kid...

makes more noise (including farts) in his sleep than anything I have ever seen! He's napping in the pack n play right now and you wouldn't believe the sounds coming out of him! Lots of grunting, arm flailing, farting, everything you can think of. It's pretty hilarious. Nicholas has been up a lot more and been a bit more cranky, but when he's happy and alert he is the sweetest little guy. He still goes NUTS when you change his diaper or if he is hungry, but he's already changed so much since we brought him home. It really is amazing. My friend Alisha visited yesterday and it was so great to see her. She has two children of her own so it was great to talk about mommy stuff and have some adult time. We share a lot of the same frustrations and it was nice to not feel so alone with the issues I've been having. Since becoming pregnant and now having Nicholas, I've come to realize there are very few people that genuinely care and will be there for me (us), and while it is pretty hurtful, it's been a great eye opener. I haven't taken too many pictures lately but more to follow soon! Photo taken by Alisha:

Also, I purchased The Happiest Baby on the Block months ago but didn't read it - on the recommendation of a friend I started it and really enjoy it - I am definitely able to calm Nicholas down faster when he starts screaming and I have a much better understanding about what is going on in his head when he gets so upset. I'm about half way through and plan to finish it as soon as the peanut lets me. xo

Gotta love...

this amazing weather we're having! Nicholas has been better with sleeping, although when he's awake he's a bit more of a crabby ass. He has states of "quiet alertness" as they call it, but then he gets over it, gets crabby, wants food, and wants sleep. I'm starting to learn his "signs" better and that makes me feel better, so I can kind of figure out what he wants. Last night Nick put him to bed around 11 - we now let him sleep until he wakes up wanting food (the pediatrician suggested it) so he woke up around 3:45 and then at 6:45. It was amazing to get up at 6:30 and he was still sleeping - here's a shot of that:

I went downstairs, got a bottle ready, let Dexter out and fed him, and then the "little monster" (as we affectionately call him) was up and ready to go. But it was a great night of sleep for him (and us:) in my opinion. We have a pretty quiet weekend which is nice, it seems as though the calendar is starting to fill up again and the thought just makes me exhausted. My friend Alisha is coming over Sunday and I'm looking forward to seeing her and having her meet Nicholas for the first time. My dad is here until Sunday and it's been great watching him with Nicholas as well.

At Auntie Lexi's

Sleeping for hours on Grandpa

In case you were wondering, this is what a formula coma looks like.

Happy Greaster!

Happy First Greek Easter to Nicholas :)

Nick and I had a great non stressful weekend. He came home early Friday and I got some good quality naps in. He also got up with Nicholas on Friday and Saturday night so I was able to sleep quite a bit and I think it made me a much nicer person in general...

Today was Greek Easter and we went over to Nick's parents house. It was low key with tons of good eats and we had a really nice time. Nicholas slept for most of the day - my more relaxed persona must be rubbing off on him. It was also a GORGEOUS day out, very warm and felt almost like summer - loved it. I took Dexter for a walk in the early morning, it was so quiet and peaceful, very enjoyable. Here are some pics of the day.