Shhhhhh...Baby's Sleeping

UPDATE:  Ok I'm a fool to think it would be that easy.  We are still working on it.  :)  There has been good times and bad times.  He sleeps through the night once he falls asleep BUT it's the getting-to-sleep part that has been a struggle the past few days.  Lots of tears.  (mostly mine)  I re-read what I wrote below and I think I sound kind of pompous.  I DON'T know what I'm doing.  But we will keep trying....mostly because I don't want to feel like we made him cry for a week for nothing.

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A big change has taken place in our house in the past week.  JAKE NOW SLEEPS IN HIS CRIB.  Yes, friends and family, what I previously thought would never happen has happened.  HE CAN FALL ASLEEP WITHOUT ME HOLDING HIM ALL NIGHT AND ALL DAY!  Now, I know there will be many nights ahead where I will be up with him multiple times or even all night long.  But for now I am enjoying the fact that I can once again sleep on my stomach.  Or my side.  Or with the covers pulled up to my face.  I can even go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!!  (exciting!)  Before last weekend I had held him every time he was asleep.  All night long.  Every nap.  I actually really loved it (soooo easy to get him to sleep!  cuddles all night long!) but it was exhausting for me as you can probably imagine.  And I had pretty much no time to spend with Doug at night to hang out like we previously did.  It was Jake and I...and then Doug.  

But things are so different now.  I was VERY hesitant to do any kind of sleep training with him because he would cry and cry and cry if we put him in his crib.  I could sneak him in there after he was dead weight in my arms, but he is a very light sleeper and so if he woke up a little bit he would realize I wasn't holding him anymore and would scream bloody murder.

And let's be honest, I'm a wimp.  I cannot handle the crying.  (I know, Mom, I know, it's normal and healthy.)  But my throat closes up and my heart starts pounding whenever he cries like that.  So I put off the "big transition" until I felt he could handle it...until he was at least 4 months old.  Honestly, if it were just up to me, he would probably sleep in my arms until he was about 13 and then it would be weird.  Luckily I have a very caring but firm husband who thought it was time.  And he was right. (He loves that I admit that.) :)

Research.

We decided to "Ferberize" him over the weekend.  Basically you set up a bedtime routine that you do at roughly the same time every night before bed (ours includes diaper change if necessary, reading a book, cuddling and swaying, turning on some white noise on the iPod player, and putting him in the crib).  The baby cries but you leave.  You are allowed to go back in and check on him at certain intervals to calm him down but you cannot stay for more than a minute or two and you cannot pick him up out of the crib.  The idea is to give him time to fall asleep on his own so that when he wakes up in the middle of the night he will be able to put himself back to sleep and won't need mommy to rock him again.  There's a lot of discussion about this and lots of people don't agree with it.  But we decided to try it because we read the book by Dr. Ferber and it made sense to us.  We had to do the hard thing (listen to him cry) to help him in the long run.  

AND IT WAS SOOOO HARD.  The first night he cried for 3 1/2 hours.  I cleaned the entire house during that time and kept praying for the timer to go off so I could go check on him again.  It was brutal.  I feel really horrible about that first night because we wouldn't give him the pacifier (we thought it would be a good time to break him of it).  Plus, I didn't want to be getting up at all hours of the night to put it back in his mouth when he woke up.  He eventually exhausted himself and fell asleep.  AND SLEPT 8 HOURS.  He has never gone more than 5 hours without eating at night so this was big.  He was exhausted the next day.  Unbelievably exhausted.  But we pressed on.

The second night we gave him his pacifier.  It was too cruel to make him try to sleep without it.  We can break him of it later.  He fell asleep VERY quickly, due to the exhaustion of the night before.  He woke up about 30 minutes later and cried for about 45 minutes before finally falling asleep again.  He woke up again another 30 minutes later and then cried for about 10 minutes before falling asleep.  AND SLEPT 8 HOURS.

Basically since then he has cried every night before falling sleep.  Last night was night #4 and he cried for an hour and a half.  I also cried for an hour and a half as I was frustrated that he still cries himself to sleep.  I thought he would go to sleep with a smile on his face by now and that thought was the only thing getting me through the hours of crying the previous nights.  But my mom reminded me that it's normal for some babies to cry EVERY NIGHT to get to sleep.  The goal is to get the crying down to a minimum and to get them sleeping through the night on their own.  

So I'm trying to stay positive.  We're not there yet, and honestly bedtime might always be a challenge with him.  I already miss the cuddling and am still anxious and wonder if we're doing the right thing.  BUT I can say that I do have a baby who sleeps WAY better than he did before.  He slept 10 hours last night.  And woke up happy.

I did too.  :)

over the river and through the woods

We're going to Nana and Poppa's!

We went to visit Nana and Poppa's house a few weeks ago.  We originally only planned to stay for a few days, but decided to stay the whole week because it just didn't seem like we had been there long enough.  The car ride there was tough due to us having the only baby in the world who hates his carseat (ok, he's one of two, Jackie : )).  BUT it was a vast improvement over our drive in December!  Only about 1 hour of crying and only 2 stops for food! Our little boy is growing up (sniff, sniff).

It was a fun weekend of playing board games with my siblings, enjoying my mom's food, hanging out with my BFF from high school, and seeing my grandparents.  And I loved seeing Jake with his Nana and Poppa!

Uncle Jon in the background!

Poppa in the HOUSE.

Since he is such a mama's boy when he's tired, there was some crying at first if he wasn't in my arms when he became sleepy.  But I think he grew a lot that week and by the end my mom was able to get him to fall asleep a few times!  It was nice to see him get to spend time with them while he's still little.  Next time we see them he will be 5 1/2 months old and I'm sure he will have gone through A LOT of changes!

Oh, and I broke down and bought him a little toy at Babies R Us.  He loves this thing.

We call him Artie the Seahorse.

Smore pictures:

Trying to rolllllllll.

Aunt Jackie Jormp Jomp

There are all kinds of places to hide from Mom at Nana's house!

Hmmmmm.

Our driver.

But I don't want to leave!

Can't wait until our next visit!

4 Months Old

Little buddy, you turned 4 months old yesterday!  Whaaaaaattttt??? How is that possible?  Sometimes when I look at you I think I see a glimpse of you as a toddler...you seem to look more like a little boy than a baby.  Slow down, son!  I'm not ready to give up all of our cuddle time together.  I love it too much.

This month you:
-are much better at holding up your head.  You were always strong, but now when you are held you spend more time straightening your spine and looking around than looking around at the ground.  You are still kind of a bobblehead, though. : )  You can also hold your head up during tummy time!  As a result, you enjoy being on your tummy more and I actually saw you smile once or twice last week while you were pushing off the ground and looking around.  It's still not your favorite, but I see progress.

-ROLLED OVER.  Daddy was kind of helping you at first, but then you did it on your own!  We were so excited that we all cheered for you, and I guess the sudden explosion of noise startled you because you started crying.  Ha ha : )  It was so cute.

-are doing better in the carseat.  You've actually fallen asleep in it while I've been driving (amazing!).  We went to Nana and Poppa's house last week and out of the 15 hours it took to get there and back, you probably only cried for 2 or 3 of them.  YES.

"Do I like this?"

No.

-have gained a lot of control over your hands.  You love to grasp anything within reach.  Sometimes this is my skin or hair and OW!  you have little pinchers.  : )

-put EVERYTHING in your mouth.  Including my face.

-are super smiley and giggly when you're not tired.  You like any kind of physical play (being pulled to a standing position, being rolled around, being tickled) and ALWAYS smile when your daddy and I say "hi" to you.  Sometimes this makes us laugh because you will be crying, we will say "hi", you will smile, and then go right back to crying.  : )

-are much more aware of your surroundings.  Anytime we are anywhere new, you love to look around and take it all in.  This can kind of hinder your naps, however, as you are much more interested in what's going on around you than in closing your eyes and falling asleep.

-DROOL.

-have become a bit of a mama's boy.  You now think that the only way you can really fall asleep is in my arms.  Not that I'm really complaining.  But I think for your sake, we will have to teach you to fall asleep on your own, in your crib, in the next month or so.  Gulp.  Not looking forward to that!

- love to "talk".  It's so funny to hear your squeals.

We love you.  You are the bomb.

4 Month Check Up

He must have known what was in store for him.

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for Jake's 4 month check up.  (No, he's not 4 months yet, but the pediatrician's office didn't have anything available in March.  I'm guessing that's because of Spring Break?  So it was either 2 weeks early or 1 month late....I'm no mathematician, but 2 weeks early sounded better to me.)

Loves the mysterious baby in the mirror.

The aftermath.

Everything's ok once you're in mama's arms.

The results:

Jake weighs 14 lbs 15.25 oz (69th percentile) and is 27 in long (off the charts).  YES he is super long...no wonder he's already in 6-9 month sleepers!  I'm now thinking NBA.  : )

He did pretty well with his shots...cried briefly, but was fine by the time we left.  Honestly I think he cried more getting his head measured!  Doug's response:  "We have a weird kid."  Amen.  (Right now he is playing on the floor having an animated conversation with a plastic bird.)  But we love him all the more for it!

"You think you have it tough being plastic?  I have my mom taking pictures of me all day long!"

I'm so glad he's healthy.  AND now we don't have to go to the doctor again until May!  Jake's thighs and  our bank account can breathe a sigh of relief.

Happy 3 Months, Little Buddy!

Dear cutest baby alive,

I can't believe you are 3 months old today!  (Actually, what I can't believe is that your dad and I kept you alive for 3 months without any major problems.  THANK YOU for being an easy baby!)

THINGS YOU LIKE:
* Number one thing you like:  CUDDLING!!  You are such a social little thing that you love being around people and you ESPECIALLY love being held by people.  Throughout the day I try to put you in your swing or your crib or on a blanket on the floor and let you explore your world a little bit.  You tolerate this for about 10 minutes and then you definitely let me know that you are feeling lonely and unstimulated and would like to be picked up rightnowthankyouverymuch.
*Along with being cuddled, you have a certain way that you like to sleep.  You like to bury your face into my elbow or chest so that I have no idea how you get any air at all!  I'm always checking to make sure that you are breathing : )  Lately you have also started sticking your hand in your dad's or my shirt so that you can touch our skin.  It's hilarious to feel your little fingers (lovingly) scratching my arm as you sleep.  Ha.

Breathe, son, breathe!

*Your pacifier.  Sometimes if it falls out and is resting on your chest you lower your head and root around to try to find it with your mouth.  Other times you grab the string that attaches it to your shirt and try to pull it up to your mouth again.  One day soon little bud!

*Sucking on your fist.  Your entire fist.  We have tried to introduce you to your thumb but you prefer the company of your entire hand.

Tastes like chicken.

*You are happiest in the morning after you wake up and are on your changing table.  You usually try to talk to me then and are smiling and laughing and kicking your legs up until you look like a sumo wrestler.  It's the cutest.

*Your bath.  It surprises you when you first get in and you kind of gasp, but then you really seem to enjoy it, especially having warm water poured over you.  I showed you how to splash and I think that will be a mistake one day soon.  : )

*You are SO ACTIVE!  You kick and kick and kick and kick.  And wave your arms around.  I'm not sure why I bother to put socks on you most days as you like to push them off when you kick.  Baby's gonna be a soccer playa!
*You are able to put your weight on your legs and you love being pulled to a standing position and looking around.  You are so tall for a baby but it's so funny to see little you trying to stand up.  You look like a munchkin out of the Wizard of Oz.

Andddd...
*You can fart with the best of them.  (Of course if your future wife is reading this, that's not true.  For everyone else, it's hilarious.)

THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE:
*Being awakened before you're ready.  I bought you an Oscar the Grouch shirt because you are a crank pot unless you wake up naturally.
*Your carseat.  We're working on this because mama's got places to go and people to see!  (Ok, not really.  But sometimes we have to get out of the house so we stop watching stupid TV shows like 16 & Pregnant.  And how am I going to take you to the library every day if you don't like to ride in the car?)  You are doing better and now you really only CRY when I'm backing into the garage.  I always brace myself and, sure enough, when I switch into reverse, you protest quite vigorously.  (Sidenote: I think that backing a family vehicle into a teensy garage while a baby wails in the backseat should be part of an obstacle course for the military or a TV game show.  It will weed out the weak-hearted.)  I have also learned how to drive one-handed while reaching behind me to hold your pacifier in your mouth.  They don't teach you that skill in driver's ed!

Doing better.  But not loving it.

Meh.

We love you little Jugbug!  Can't wait to see what the next 3 months brings.

Love, Mommy and Daddy (Weird!)

Happy Monday!

We had a great weekend.  On Friday my dear friend Megan braved the barren wasteland called southern Illinois and drove down from Wheaton to spend the weekend with us.  We watched movies, ate junk food (including ginormous shakes and BLTs loaded with about 4.5 pounds of bacon at Crown Candy Kitchen... I mean WOW that was a lot of pork...but so delicious), read magazines, played with the cutest baby ever (personal opinion), and spent time just talking and catching up.  It was glorious.  I just wish my friends Libby and Joey could have come as well to make it a true daily double reunion.

Unfortunately I was a dum-dum and didn't take any pics with Megs.  Here's a pic of the little dude to make up for it: 

Just a boy on his lion blankie.

Then on Sunday we had our friends Joey, Emily, Craig and Katie over to watch the Superbowl.  Little dude charmed the ladies during the first quarter, but then got bored with the game and went to sleep for the rest of it.  He was so bored he kept sleeping until 10 this morning, only waking up long enough to eat.  It's 3 hours later and he's already on his second nap of the day...can you say growth spurt??

Watching the Superbowl!

He loves the ladies...and chewing on his fist.

In other news, we got life insurance.  I feel old, but at least baby is taken care of financially should anything happen to us.  Shhhhh...just don't tell him that...I don't want to be watching my back in his nursery.  :)

More Like SnowFLOPalypse

So we definitely didn't get the blizzard that was predicted here.  A coating of ice and sleet topped by a few inches of snow was all.  But apparently they shut down some of the interstates and highways, which was enough to keep the hubs home yesterday.  Gotta love adult snow days!

We spent the day watching old 30 Rock and Cash Cab episodes, playing Trivial Pursuit Steal, and snuggling on the couch with little buddy.

If I could be promised another day like yesterday, I would be ok with a later spring.


Maybe.