Sleep Problems

Then...

Now...


We all had a very tiring, sleep deprived weekend. I should start by acknowledging that we are very lucky when it comes to Jack and sleep. He is a great sleeper. From very early on, he slept through the night. And, he is usually on a very good schedule, sleeping from 7:30pm to 6am. (Most nights, anyway.) And, since I quit work, we even have some fairly good napping going on each day. This last weekend, however, was a challenge.

I should start by providing some background: I talk in my sleep; mumble is more like it, according to Stuart, which frustrates him because he can't really understand me. Since Jack was born, it has apparently gotten worse. I have been known to sing lullabies in my sleep (not cute as I am not a good singer.) Apparently, I also ask Stuart to check on Jack in the middle of the night (I think he might be exaggerating this one, but whatever.)

Anyway, we bought this great baby monitor that includes a motion sensor to ensure your baby is breathing. If it doesn't detect any movement for 20 seconds, it sounds an alarm. Very reassuring to parents who worry about their baby breathing. Well, Jack is a restless sleeper and rolls all around his crib at night. He often ends up tangled in his blanket, crammed into a corner, or sleeping with his feet up against the walls of the crib. This usually isn't a problem since the monitor is very sensitive and picks up the movement anywhere in the crib. On Friday night, however, he was so far in the corner of his crib that the sensor couldn't detect his movements and the alarm went off just after midnight, sending both Stuart and I into instant panic mode. Jack was just fine. In fact, the alarm startled him and he moved right back into position where the sensor could monitor him and he didn't even wake up. I, however, was a mess after that, waking every 30 minutes to check on him. Once I finally fell asleep, I had quite the nightmare. You know the one where you try to scream, but nothing comes out? And you panic and try harder and harder to scream with no luck? It's terrifying. Well, I guess at some point I actually did scream, because I woke up to being slapped in the face. Not once, mind you, but twice. Now, Stuart claims he was sleeping soundly, when I started screaming. He said he tried to wake me gently and only resorted to a gentle slap when I wouldn't wake up. (I'm not sure I buy this and I really don't understand why a second slap was necessary.)

So, our weekend got off to a lousy start. Jack, was all off his routine, not really napping until very late in the afternoon and then not going down to sleep until very late in the evening. So, we are a bit tired. I am now all hopped up on caffeine this morning just to try and function!

8 months old

Now that Jack is more independent, these monthly photo shoots are getting much more difficult to orchestrate. Jack wanted to "crawl" away every chance he got. I tried to take pics with his favorite blanket as a back drop. Boy, was that a bad idea! He loves his blanket so much he couldn't focus on anything else; he kept trying to grab it, roll around in it, pull it down, and eat it. The whole experience was painful this time!

Baby in the Mirror

Jack, like most babies, loves mirrors. Sorry for all the background chatter. Stuart keeps pointing out that all of our videos feature my very loud voice...I just can't help myself.

LOST

This is a short break from my postings about Jack to share this great video summary of our favorite TV show. For those who love LOST, this is great. For those who don't watch, this is a quick way to catch up on the show.

Crawling?

Well, I am excited to announce that Jack is beginning to crawl. He doesn't get up on his knees yet, but is definitely able to scoot across the room to get whatever he wants. We were so excited! Stuart started screaming at me from the other room yesterday to tell me what he was doing. We kept making him repeat it until he got fed up with both his parents. Boy are we in trouble now!

Swimming

While I still think the pool is too cold, Jack apparently is just fine with it! He loves the water and gets so excited everytime Stuart takes him in the backyard because he thinks he is going in the water. Just short dunks for now as he is just icy cold when we take him out of the water. He loves this much more than the bath.

Jack in the Box

Who needs toys? I'm content to play in a box.

Or with a magazine.

Eating Like a Big Kid

I have attempted to transition from pureed baby food to mashed table food with no luck. Jack may love pureed bananas and sweet potatoes, but doesn't like it when I serve fresh versions that are mashed. So, we are trying to go straight to some other big kid items. He loves whole wheat bagels and teething biscuits, although they are a bit messy. This week I added chunks of melon. He loves it! Just sucks on it and scrapes what he can off with his new little teeth. He is so grown up!

Jack's the Boss

Baby Jack is into everything he can get his hands on these days. Although he is still struggling with sitting up and not yet crawling, that hasn't stopped him. He will roll to where he wants to go or scoot backwards on his tummy to get what he wants. He can also direct himself very well with the walker. I don't know what I am going to do when he starts crawling. I tried filming some of his recent mobile activities, but every time I turn the camera on, he goes straight for it, so this is the best I could do. It's frustrating, but he is so cute!

Hallelujah!

I thought it would never happen, but finally, my prayers have been answered! My baby falls to sleep by himself! And he sleeps all night in his own crib! I thought I would be breast feeding this boy to sleep forever. It all started with a blanket. Stuart bought me this great super-soft robe from Victoria's Secret for Christmas. It is bright blue with white dots and I love it; so does Jack. He tries to eat the sleeves, or the sash, all the time. Anyway, I was looking through the VS catalog last month and I saw that they had blankets made to match the robes, and they were on clearance. I immediately ordered 2 of them. So, after a couple of missed attempts, Jack now goes down to sleep at 7pm with his blanket and quietly fusses and plays until he is asleep. No crying. It has been going on for 2 weeks straight now and I am thrilled! (I know you aren't supposed to put a baby to sleep with a blanket, but we do have the nice motion sensor baby monitor that sets off an alarm if no movement is detected, so I feel comfortable knowing he is breathing all night.) Doesn't he look peaceful?

Also had to post a quick bath shot. We had originally used a nice plastic baby tub for bath times (a nice gift from my friend Silvia.) As he got bigger, we moved him to the bathtub, with the help of a mat and a baby ramp (thanks again Silvia!) We realized he hadn't ever taken a bath in the kitchen sink. Such a classic photo option (and easier than leaning over a bathtub.) So, we thought now that he is sitting up a little (with help) we ought to give this a try. Well, the first time he cried. Surprising for a kid who loves the bath. We tried a week later and he seemed to like it better, but didn't want to sit up for it. It cracked me up because he really is too big to kick back in the sink, but I guess he wanted to do it his way.

Jack's First Post

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Beautiful Eyes

I haven't posted anything for awhile because our cable isn't working and I can't download pics from our camera right now. Hopefully, we will get it fixed soon. So, in the meantime, here is another of Jack's 7 month pics that I love. When he flashes those big blue eyes at me I just melt. Right now he is in bed with Stuart. He has his dad wrapped around his finger! I hear him growling in the other room now so he must be happy.