The Soother Game

My son can't fall asleep without his soother... and he can't sleep without moving. It's not uncommon for him to wake up on the complete other side of the crib than where he was put down.

It's also kind of interesting to guess and see where his soother will end up in relation to him.

He sometimes knocks it out of his mouth, and then out of the crib (those ones are always fun to find in the middle of the night... without turning the light on, of course). Sometimes they end up at his feet, or even at the foot of his crib. And sometimes they end up underneath him.

The best one was not even one I saw, but one my mother discovered. He had knocked it out of his mouth. But amazingly enough, he managed to find it again... but it was backwards. He had the part the goes in his mouth in his little fist, and he was sucking away on the handle, fast asleep.

It's good to know he's not picky, at least!

Daily Schedule; 2month

It's two months in, (give or take a few days) and H. is pretty much on a schedule now. Some days are a little different (like sundays), but for the most part, this is how the day goes.

7am: H. wakes up, gets his diaper changed, and eats.

8am: around this time, H. and I have momma time, during which we play "who's got your chin?" and "who let the tickle monsters in?". And I usually read to him.

9:30am: this is usually when he gets tired of playing, and falls asleep in my arms for his morning nap.

12pm: H. wakes up from his nap, gets another diaper change, eats again, and we play some more. This time he usually plays in his swing or on his play mat, with a little momma play time towards the end.

1pm: H. goes down for his afternoon nap.

4pm: H. wakes up, gets his diaper changed, eats, and plays some more with Momma.

7pm: H. goes back to sleep.

1am: H. wakes up to get his diaper changed and eat.

4:30am: H. gets up to eat again.

7am: H. wakes up, gets his diaper changed, and eats.

This is our daily schedule, and it's been working well for us for about 3 weeks now.

10 weeks in...

It's now been 10 weeks, plus a few days, since H. was born, and surprisingly, everything is going a heck of a lot better than I anticipated... except one thing. He still isn't sleeping through the night on a regular basis. He seriously taunts me by going 6 or 7 hours between feedings one night, then needing 4 hour feedings the next night. Last night was 8 magnificent hours between feedings, so I'm sure tonight will have at least 3 feedings.

But, he was awake for quite a bit of the day today, so hopefully he's going to sleep for most of the night.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The things we do

Lately I've been contemplating all the things that moms do for their babies, before and after birth.

I know a lot of women who are either pregnant for the first time, or have recently had their first baby, and the one thing all of them have said is, it's life-changing... literally.

Every newly pregnant woman learns new things about what their body can, and is, doing. It's truly a miracle when you learn exactly what your body knows instinctively to do. And as your baby grows, its amazing to feel them kick, and to start learning about your new child.

As pregnant women we give up so many thing to make sure our babies grow healthy and strong. Some women give up their favourite foods, some their favourite activities, and the majority of first time moms give up their lifestyle.

All of a sudden, even for the most selfless women, their life suddenly shifts to be all about the little person growing in their belly. What they need becomes more important than what you want. I know that I felt like an alien was taking over my body (and in a way, it kind of was).

For me, everything changed when I became pregnant... I couldn't watch TV without crying, I couldn't ride in any moving vehicle without being nauseous, I became self-conscious about my body... but on the plus side, I became a different person altogether... I became more outgoing (when you're pregnant, or a new mom, suddenly everyone has questions and advice for you) and less selfish, and as my pregnancy wore on, I became more happy with my body, and the biggest change was, for once, I was truly happy.

And as women, we go through so much to bring our babies safely into this world. For some it means hours, even days, of painful contractions... for others, it means major surgery. In regards to labour and birth, I had it pretty easy, but I know some other women did not. And still, we know that it's what is needed. For almost 10 months we read and hear horror story after horror story from everyone, including strangers, about what can, and (according to them) will, go wrong.

But when it's all over and done with, and you're holding you're beautiful new baby in your arms, everything changes. 2 new lives are born in that delivery room... your child, and you.

Sleepy Boy

H. has been sleeping for approximately 18 hours now. Except for a few minutes to feed every few hours. So, in total, about 2 hours.

What a sick, tired little boy.

Sir Grumps-alot

H. has bee very grumpy since his shots almost 2 days ago. He's usually very happy and easy to please, but the last little while has been pretty terrible. He's cranky and cries for about an hour at a time. And getting him to sleep has been even more of a challenge. Usually he spits his soother out once or twice and then falls fast asleep, withing half an hour... lately it's taken half a dozen soother replacements, and upwards of an hour. Not fun. At least I get exercise walking from the living room to his crib. Silver lining.

And, to top it off, he developed a nasty cold. Stuffed up nose, slight fever, cough... the works. So, when he sleeps on his tummy (which is the only way he sleeps), he can't breathe. So, last night, around 4:30am when he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, I brought him to bed with me. I tried sitting him up, sort of leaning on the pillow next to me, but he kept falling over. I tried just snuggling him, but he wouldn't fall asleep lying down... so, my ingenuity kicked in. I rolled onto my back (my least favourite way to lie) and leaned him up against my side. When he started to fall to either side, he either got stuck on my hip, or on my ribs. And we slept like that until almost 8.

Oh, the things I do for my son.

First Immunizations Today

Yes, we took H. for his first round of immunizations today. Which means, 2 giant needles stuck into each of his thighs, one at a time.

First, I had to strip him down to his diaper to check his weight. He's up to 11pounds exactly... which is up almost 4pounds since birth. Which is excellent. Then, they checked his height. He's now 23in. long, which is up 4.5in. from birth. He's in the 90th percentile for height, and the 50th for weight.

Then came the fun part. The needles. I held him in my lap, and the nurse gave him his first one. He cried as soon as the nurse put the needle in his leg. I had just calmed him down when the nurse told me to rotate him so she could give him the next one in his other leg. It was at this point that she told me this was the more painful needle.

So, I rotated him, and she gave him another needle. And he cried. Louder than I have ever heard him cry before. So, I calmed him down once again. And I got him dressed. And we waited in the waiting room for the required 15mins. And I fed him, hoping he'd go to sleep in the car, and be full enough that he'd stay asleep when we got home. He didn't.

So, we got home, I tried snuggling him to sleep, which didn't work. So, I put him in his swing, and he giggled and laughed and talked in it for about half an hour. When he got fussy, I held him. He felt a little bit warm, so I checked his temperature to see if he had a fever (the doctor warned me that he could get one). He was fine. I tried to feed him a little bit more, but he wouldn't take anything but his soother. So, I held him, and he cried himself to sleep.

I put him down, and he was quiet for an hour or so, and now he's awake again.