Day 121 - Small World

At our local coffeehouse, Small World Coffee:

We took some super cute video today that I'm hoping to post tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Day 120 - Farm day

Today we took Augie to see farm life. We saw sheep and lambs, horses, baby pigs, chickens and chicks. I don't think Augie really noticed any of them, though he at least deigned to glance at the chick:

 

I don't think he looks anything like me:

Day 119 - What a day!

Let me repeat that: what a day!

After the best night's sleep we've had in a month, I woke up to this face:

Then we went to the pediatrician for our 4-month checkup and immunizations. Once again we got a big, "Wow!" from the doctor when she checked Augie's height and weight: he's now 26.5 inches long and weighs 16lbs 6oz. That's 90th percentile height, 75th percentile weight. Which is amazing, because two months ago he was in the 75 percentile for weight but the 50th percentile for height/length, so he's really shot up in the last two months. Go mama's milk!

And, once again he didn't even flinch when he got his immunization.

And if those two things weren't enough (a good night's sleep and a healthy, strapping boy), he amazed me this afternoon with his first solo rollover! I left him on the floor on his back while I went into the bedroom to get some socks, and I came back to see him on his side and then plunking down onto his tummy! (In the video the other day, he used my finger to pull himself over). And I tell you, he already seems very eager to crawl.

Can someone push pause?

By the way, the winner of the picture of a cat doing yoga is no one, because not a single person wagered a guess about Augie's height and weight. That might be because you haven't ever met him, or only saw him when he was a few weeks old - but not having any information has never stopped me from making wild assertions and having opinions. Please, leave comments!

Day 118 - 4 months!

The little bear monkey (see pictures below) made four months today. Look, he's not crying! Look, he's not in focus! -

We went on our morning walk for the first time in ages:

Tomorrow we have his 4-month pediatrician appointment, so I'll let you know his height and weight. Any guesses? I'm going for 17 lbs 6oz and 23.75 inches. James is going for 18 lbs, 24 inches. What do you think? If you guess it, I'll send you a picture of a cat doing yoga.

And look at that little fatty arm. Sigh, I'm in love.

Day 117 - Purple beret

I'm going to quit updating you on the progress of our nights. Suffice it to say, you win some, you lose some. Lately I've been losing a lot. I'll let you know when we emerge on the other side of what I hope is a phase.

This is a shot from our evening walk yesterday:

Day 116 - We're going places

I'm happy to report that last night was the best we've had in a week. (Thank goodness, because yesterday was the worst I've had as a mother, ever). We still got up every 3-4 hours, but that's better than every hour.

At one of his wake-ups last night, after feeding him, he wouldn't go back to sleep. So he just played around in the bassinet - and then I realized that he was rolling from side to side, practicing turning over! Eventually he stopped moving and I looked over to see what was going on - he had fallen asleep on his side! This guy is so into developing his skill set that he practices in his sleep.

I am thrilled to report that today was a great day in Augieland, and all that practice is paying off. Look what Augie can do (note: I was the camerawoman and the playmate, so the video isn't great) -

I suspect he'll still be up practicing tonight, going for the unassisted rollover. And then he has to learn the front-to-back maneuver. So we likely still have some low-sleep nights ahead, but now we're getting somewhere.

Day 114 - Be the albatross

For those of you curious, the last few nights have been better than the previous two; but do understand that by better I do not mean good. I just mean not awful.

I read that when babies are approaching a new developmental stage they often regress in their sleep habits. Further, that one reason (or effect?) for this is that, when they do wake at night (we all wake many times in the night, it's just that adults have figured out how to link the sleep cycles and not fully wake up, while babies are still trying to learn to do so), they often begin practicing their new skills in the crib. Two nights ago, we noticed during Augie's first, early awakening that he was rolling from side to side before he was even fully awake. Aha! I thought - so he's approaching this developmental stage of being able to turn over, so every time he has a little awakening at night, he's practicing - and waking himself and all the rest of us up as he does it.

At least, this is what I'm telling myself to maintain sanity during this difficult sleep regression phase. (Notice that I call it a "phase" - still trying to talk myself into better nights ahead!)

All right, all right - I know you didn't come here to read about Augie's sleep problems and my desperate attempts to talk myself (and thus him), out of them. You came for this stuff:

James told me to "be the albatross." What the *&#@ does that mean?

Day 115 - Poor Sophie

I'll update you tomorrow on how the sleep thing is going - I'm too tired to write about it now (hint, hint).

Instead, here's a lovely snapshot of Augie and his best friend, Sophie:

Day 114 - Running on empty

I'm sorry, my dear readers, but there will be no photos today. No videos. No sound recordings. If you aren't interested in the plaints of an exhausted mother, you can go now. But in place of my venting you could read this, which is fantastic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/una-lamarche/how-to-be-a-perfect-parent_b_2888253.html

So here's the story:

Within a week after turning 2 months, Augie started sleeping very well - 6-7 hours for the first sleep, followed by 4-6 hours for the second (that's 10-13 hours per night!). He did this on his own without any sort of sleep training from us. It was fantastic.

About 3 weeks ago now, when he was just over 3 months old, he started waking every 3 hours. As you can guess, this was difficult to adjust to. I would try to soothe him when I felt he didn't need to eat, and I would nurse him when it seemed he did. We guessed this had to do with some combination of teething (even if they aren't about to break the skin, they're always pushing upward and can cause this kind of disturbance well before they cut through, is what I've learned) and developmental leaps: he has gotten very, very close to rolling over (easily rolls to his side now, it seems that he'll flip all the way over soon), and he has also become quite social and aware of the world, especially his parents. So we assumed that his sleep would settle as he became accustomed to these things.

Beginning 2 nights ago, he's been waking much, much, much more frequently at night: usually either every 45 minutes or 1.5 hours or so (though he may have slept for 2.5 hours at one point last night). It's awful. It's worse than when he was fresh from the womb - he slept better than this as a newborn! We don't think we've changed anything: in fact, weeks ago we started trying to get a bedtime routine in place so that we could avoid just this circumstance. Too, when he wakes at night, it is fairly sudden and with a new urgency, often as though he is in a panic. He is sometimes inconsolable for a few minutes. I try to shush and rock/walk him back to sleep, but offer the breast when it seems he needs it.

We can't figure out how he went from being able to link his sleep cycles on his own and sleep most of the night to not being able to at all and waking so frequently. Is it teething? Is it a growth spurt? Did we f&*k up something? I know sleep regression is normal around this time, but this seems far beyond regression. Last night he was up for a full hour between 5am and 6am - he has NEVER been awake that long overnight. (Though he was mostly happy all that time, so that's something). Other parents, have you ever seen a regression this bad? What the heck can we do to help him get back on the right track?

Day 113 - Not much new

Not much new today - someone decided to get up last night at 10pm, 11pm, 12:30am, 2:20am, 3:40am, 4:30am, 5:15am, 7:15am, and 8am, and where there's a crying baby, there's a mama trying to soothe him. (And in the living room there's a peacefully sleeping baba). So today I'm not really inspired to go all out with a post. Here's a picture from a few days ago.

Day 112 - My baba dresses me

James was in charge of dressing Augie today. This is what happened:

 

Yes, those are leg warmers on his arms. And yes, his pants reach his chest. 

In the afternoon we played a game where I ran a scarf over his face and then, when I removed it and he was looking at me, I said, "There he is!" He was thrilled to find himself again and again:

Day 111 - Attack dog

As I mentioned yesterday, Augie is gaining mobility - mostly on his playmat. Some of the movement is inspired by a desire to reach something on the mat just out of reach, as here:

Wait, what is it that he's doing to the pole, you ask? This:

Yeah, that's right: chewing on it. Eventually he decided something on the other side was more interesting (or we repositioned him), and he practiced his rolling skills:

And yes, our baby is developing the back-of-the-head bald spot that's all too common with little ones who sleep on their backs. We were hoping to avoid it, but no luck.

Day 110 -

You know, if I could ever post something before 9 or 10 at night, it might be witty and charming. But I can't, so it isn't.

Augie seems about to explode, developmentally. Yesterday morning he turned himself a full 270 degrees around his playmat by arching his back and launching himself forward. Today he turned onto his side about a dozen times. It seems like turning all the way over is just around the corner. He is also becoming more and more social - which also means distractable. A few nights ago, during his nighttime nursing, as soon as I began to sing lullabies to him, he stopped nursing and turned his head (with my nipple still in his mouth, thanks dude) to look up at me - and smiled. The next night, he broke off (thanks for the forethought) and turned to look up at me, and then talked for several minutes with a smile on his face. I'm not entirely sure what he said, but I think it was something like, "this milk sure is delicious, and I appreciate you giving it to me every day, and I'm having a fantastic time with you, and Baba's really funny, and please stop putting me in that stupid pink onesie, and it's nice and warm when you hold me at night, and I'm sorry I wake up so much at night but I just can't help it and I love you very very very very much." And then he turned to my boob and latched himself back on.

James and Augie have some time together each night, when Augie sits on his Baba's chest and they have a little chat. This is what it looks like to me:

And this is the lovely face that smiles up at me every night:

Day 109 - Name that face

Dear readers, I like it when you leave comments. So please, leave a comment today. Let me know what you think a good caption for today's picture would be.

Days 107 & 108 - Sleeping bearduck and fun at the shore

I didn't post anything last night because I was too tired. This is what the post would have been if it had been:

We really needed to get out of the apartment today, but it was snowing. A lot. But we needed to get out of the apartment. A lot. Not to be deterred by the snow, we packed ourselves up and headed for the Jersey Shore. Where we found near-blizzard conditions, and our destination destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. But Augie wasn't having any more of his car seat, so we did the only thing we could - had playtime in the front seat. That's about as fun as it sounds.

Next time, we'll let the snow deter us.

Day 106 - Crazy toy tummy time

We've noticed Augie making huge strides with tummy time lately: he's now using his arms to try to push and hold himself up, rather than just flailing them around about an inch off the ground. He's even able to reach for toys in front of him - which inevitably end up in his mouth. Check out this serious chomping:

Here he's going all in:

Day 105 - Feet!

Today was a good day in Augieland. And it was a day I very much needed, as he's been a bit fussy the last week or so and I've been wondering what happened to my angel baby. Highlights of the day included a beautiful outdoor nursing in the afternoon, Augie napping on my chest for the first time in weeks and weeks (which meant I got a nap too!) and limitless giggles and coos in the evening. He hardly cried all day, just a whimper here and there.

And I'm pretty sure this is a developmental leap forward: he grabbed his toy with his feet! Scroll to the bottom for a picture. (He was getting "baby butt time" while he was playing, so the picture only shows his decent parts).

He seemed to enjoy the day too, exhibited here by his zeal in attacking his firefly friend:

 

And here's what was going on at the other end:

Day 104 - Blow in my face

James discovered a funny reaction when blowing into Augie's face (email subscribers, you'll have to click through to see the video - try to click here). It's best at the 19-second mark:

Day 103 - Facing forward

I watched a video on YouTube and learned how to put Augie in the Baby K'tan in a forward-facing position. Spring, here we come.

Day 102 - Spring flowers

Another beautiful spring day in Princeton, another lovely walk. And a lay in the grass.

Day 101 - Enjoying the weekend

I think Augie might be teething. It's quite early for him to be teething, however, so maybe I'm entirely wrong. But here are my supporting reasons, all of which have appeared within 3-4 days of each other:

1. he has started sucking on his bottom lip, running it over his gums
2. he has begun what they call "biting behaviors" on my nipple while eating
3. when I turn him sideways to eat, he often gets very upset and refuses the nipple if he doesn't immediately latch on
4. he used to wake up only once per night; recently he's been waking up 2-4 times per night, and when he does, it's with a particular urgency
5. he has started chewing on his tongue
6. he's sometimes crabby, which is not normal for him

Other parents: if that's not teething, what is it??

Onto the good stuff. We awoke to blue skies and warm temperatures, and Augie surely knew it was a harbinger of spring. He's very excited to start getting dirty outside when it's warm enough.

Please forgive me, as not all the pictures are in focus because this guy is constantly moving.

We went walking in the afternoon. I think James mixed up whose hat belonged to whom (don't worry, after the photo op we figured it out):

Day 100 - Mornings together

Augie has started waking up around 7am, a habit of which I am not a fan. 8am was great. 7am is early. At least he's happy, which makes it much easier to get up with him.

On good days (for mom), after a quick nurse when he first wakes, he'll take a little nap. This morning, he napped with this little smile on his face. Ahhhh.

Day 99 - Social hour

We continue our experiments of putting babies together: