14 posts tagged “sleep”

Jillian is three months old today. She will share the 3rd as the birth day of the month with Miss Adelaide, born this morning to our good friends. Congrats Kit and Jessie and Owen! They also share their middle name!

I looked back to see where Will was with his weight about this time in his life. He weighed in at 11lb, 5oz at two months. Now at three months old, Jillian tips the scales at a whopping 10lb, 5oz. Jillian is a very happy, layed back baby. She smiles when she is fresh from a nap and loves eye contact and interaction. I think she'll be quite the social butterfly. Often I have to convince her that we can chat after she nurses, though exchanging smiles with me is mostly her preference. Jillian smiles at her Fisher Price Rainforest in her cradle and it lulls her to sleep at night. Different in this regard from her brother, she usually drops off to sleep on her own when she's laying in her cradle staring up at her mobile, or out the window.

Jillian began Occupational Therapy at home last week. At her young age, occupational, physical and speech therapy closely overlap. The county Early Intervention Services identified that Jillian could benefit from OT to help her reach some of her developmental goals. So Tracy came to our house to meet Miss Jilli for the first time last week. She gave us homework aimed at helping Jillian: build her neck muscles and develop better head control, start to use her hands intentionally, strengthen her eye muscles to track objects around the room, and get ready to roll. Children with congenital cardiac defects are at a risk of reaching their milestones on a bit of a delay. One reason is very simply that the time she spent in the hospital was time she wasn't doing normal interaction with us at home. Even during the times at home, we were so focused on helping her keep her feeds down and getting her fed etc, that we didn't make times for simple play and tummy time. She spent a lot of time in the swing and her cradle. We are thankful for the free Early Intervention Services to help us help Jillian catch up. Already after one week I am thrilled to see a lot of improvement with her eye tracking and her hand grasps. She still just hangs out on her tummy sucking her thumb, but at least she's happy doing it, rather than showing frustration. She really can't put weight on her hands to push up for another 3-5 weeks anyway, due to healing time for her sternotomy.

And a side note related to her sternotomy is how we can and can't pick her up. Because of the healing process, we were instructed not to pick her up with hands around rib cage under her arms. Think about the way you pick up a baby. It is the natural way to pull them out of a car seat or up into your lap. Fortunately, we were pre-warned by the NICU staff way back when Jillian was initially diagnosed, so we began practicing this habit early.

These days Will is loving his little sister with enthusiasm and gentleness. She seems to like it, too because she rewards him with big smiles. He kisses her forehead and lays his head on her stomach. Last week he ran to fetch some toys for her and came back with some little books which he sat and told her to look at as he told her about the pictures. He seems to want to pick her up though, and needs frequent reminding that this is a big no-no. We had another talk about it this morning.

Jillian's feeding continues to progress very slowly. I'm having a hard time not getting frustrated that her nursing is not picking up in length of time or volume. Out of the 22 ounces she should be taking daily (as directed by her cardiac nutritionist) she really only takes 2 ounces, at best. Everyone tells me to give it time. So that's what I'm trying to do. But it's a struggle. If you're one of our faithful friends and family members who check in here to see how you can pray for us, the feeding is definitely at the top of my list. Please pray for Jillian to gain strength and stamina and desire to nurse - and for me to have the patience needed to persist, and wisdom needed to know how to help her and when to ask for help.

Next challenge to tackle: Jillian gets her Synagis shot this week, and I return to work for a 4 hour training session tomorrow, then next week for two 8-hour shifts. His grace is sufficient.

Will still goes to sleep on the floor inside his door. When we go to bed we move him to his bed. Because of stairs and safety, we keep the gate outside his door and often in the morning he comes out his door and lays down on the floor behind the gate waiting for us to wake up. Yesterday morning we woke up to a pleasant serenade of "Tinkle-Tinkle LITTLE Staaah... Wondeh what you aaaah... up-up-UP above... so HIGH... like a diamond in the sky... Tinkle-Tinkle-Tinkle-Tinkle-TINKLE LITTLE stah... Wondeh what you aaaah."

Now that's one way to wake up with a smile. He's only just beginning to sing on his own and I am eating up every minute of it!

Sleep is going better in our house. It was a rough couple of weeks and I think the lack of sleep began catching up with us about a week ago. Today Will was trying to lay on the floor with his monkey in Old Navy as I searched for maternity shorts. (side bar-- why is it so hard to find affordable maternity clothes that fit?) In the car on the way to meet Dada for lunch he announced through a yawn: "I'm tired." Two firsts there: 1. actually admitting he's tired, and 2. talking about himself in the first person.

We gave up on the crib after the second night of him climbing out and a near miss with a fall and a bruised ankle. The crib mattress moved to the floor and we took to sitting against his door for a while until he gave up trying to open it to come out. Quite a few nights we found him in all sorts of new sleeping places. The picture below on the right is him asleep in the doorway. The others are a result of rolling around in his sleep.

I bought a special night light that can be set to red, blue, white or a changing combination of the three. I thought it would make the transition to the mattress fun. I'm not sure it really made much of a difference, though he regularly asks for it to be set to red at bedtime.

Sleep adjustment- big boy bed 002

June 7 was his second birthday, and we decided to celebrate by moving him into a big boy bed. For a special birthday surprise I purchased a set of sheets decorated with all sorts of construction vehicles. After sleeping on the mattress on the floor for two weeks the transition was pretty smooth. He likes climbing into bed and snuggling on his pillow with his monkey. He still doesn't stay in bed, and the ritual at nap and bedtime still requires someone to camp outside his door for 10 minutes to keep him from coming out of his room. He seems to want to try the door knob once or twice and if he finds the door won't open, he gives up and climbs back into bed. Even when I leave toys where he can see them, he climbs into bed and goes to sleep.

Now that he's able to get up himself, he us routinely up before 7 am. I am wondering if he was always up that early in his crib but content to lay there and talk to himself and we were ignorant of his wakefulness. We keep a gate outside his door in a spot where he can open his door and squeeze out into a little space, but venture no further. This is our way of setting a boundary and keeping him off the stairs at night. When he wakes before 7 he will come out of the door and lay down on the wood floor and wait for us to get up. I feel bad about him sleeping on the hard floor but it's not like he can't go back to bed if he's uncomfortable.

Once again I am reminded that though transitions are rocky, the stress will fade and drama will pass. I'm glad we've settled back into a good sleep routine - and just in time as baby is due in 7 weeks. I'm finding I need that extra sleep these days.

Last night was a night that will be seared into our memories for years. I am sure we'll recount this night family and friends and eventually, to Will when he becomes a parent himself. Truly, this kid has me on my knees asking our good Lord for wisdom.

Will has been a very good sleeper. He's easy to put to bed, makes no fuss, goes to sleep quickly. Naps have historically been a breeze. Of course, there were the times around 5 months when we had to let him cry for a while at nap time until he got into the routine. Then at night we had to stop getting up to give him back the pacifier when he woke up at 3 am. That took two nights of 45 minutes of crying for him to learn to go back to sleep. On the whole however, he was always a great napper compared to stories I hear from friends and coworkers.

Then over Easter weekend he learned to climb out of his crib. We disciplined him with a spanking at that point and he hadn't climbed out since. Then came Saturday when he cried bitterly at nap time and climbed out of his crib. He was so inconsolable at that point that we didn't even approach a spanking. Sunday he climbed out again, and this time we did spank him. He napped well after that. Fast forward to bed time. Sean put Will to bed and we were sitting in the living room, which is located directly below his room. With a window fan and the TV and a mild thunder storm, it was difficult to tell whether we heard a noise above us or not. A few minutes later, this little boy appeared in the doorway to the living room, monkey dragging behind. Spank. Back to bed. Repeat. Spank again. Back to bed. Repeat. This time he had pants in his hands so we wondered if the shorts-no-shirt attire was too chilly in his air conditioned room. So after a spank, we changed him to something warmer and put him back to bed. Repeat. This time he was crying and begging to be rocked. We're scratching our heads and asking ourselves what on earth could be wrong. The afore mentioned thunder storm was little more than a distant rumble, one close boom with rain, then distant rumble, and by now had died out. So we didn't consider that part of the equation, particularly given the noise of his air conditioner, noise machine and CD player playing music in his room. These are all part of his bedtime routine.

So now it's 10, he has climbed out about 5 times and begs to be rocked. I rocked him and sang a few familiar hymns, put him back down. He climbed out again. We adopted Super Nanny tactics and put him back to bed with no attention, no words, no nothing. His door opens into our room and 3 feet away is the top of the stairs. We began to worry about him falling down the stairs at night and schemed to wedge a gate just outside his door in a space where his door couldn't open all the way, and if he tries to climb over the gate, he wouldn't fall down the stairs. He continued climbing out of the crib every few minutes and crying for almost an hour. I remember seeing 11:45 on my clock. I stopped looking after that. He finally gave up or fell asleep...

Until 4:30 am. The process started all over again and we had to put him back to bed at least 6 times before he went back to sleep. Then again at 6:30am. We have finally put a pillow on the floor in his room and said that if he wakes up, he can lay on the pillow and sleep.

Let me just say that because of space limitations, a big boy bed is not an option. It's not really a solution because we're concerned about the safety of him climbing out, and then falling down the stairs if he climbs out safely. If we can't keep him in a crib, how can we keep him in a bed. But even deeper, he's slept in this crib for almost two years. He plays sleep during the day, he asks for nap time at lunch time. He has always slept well. There has been no major change or trauma in his life. Short of a possible night terror, WHAT IS GOING ON with this child? By just putting him back to bed, are we just addressing symptoms of a deeper issue?

Our pastor has been preaching through the book of James and we had a great sermon on prayer last night. So I am reminded that it is promised that if anyone lacks wisdom he should pray. Believe me, I have been whispering a prayer all night. I'm also clinging to promises found in Isaiah 40 that God will "gently lead those with young". I would still be grateful for any insight that anyone could offer, and I look forward laughing about this in the years to come and sharing the answers and solutions we found.

When a certain someone is supposed to be taking a nap in his crib on a rainy afternoon, it's rather confusing to hear little feet padding across his floor above then his door knob turn and the door open. Saturday was Will's second day of nap refusal and he punctuated this decision by learning a new, daring skill. I feel like life as I have known it is over. I didn't realize how highly I treasure that afternoon block of time to do whatever. It usually ends up being the dishes and laundry and maybe a chapter in a book, sometimes a nap. It's not just the time for me, but when he doesn't nap, he's a real pill by evening and supper usualy ends up being a battle with him dissolving into a fit about something. Sunday Will finally napped again, but then climbed out of his crib when he woke up. This morning he climbed out at 6am when he decided it was time for everyone to get up. He's napping now, but that was accomplished after he climbed out once, then I sternly warned him, put him back in his crib and camped outside of his door. I caught him mid-climb and we had "words". I'm surprised it only took one discipline session. Maybe the desperation in my voice let him know that I meant business.

One thing that makes this feel so strange is that up until last Thursday he was sleeping until at least 8am, often later and taking two hour naps each day. Bed time and nap time were easy times. It's like a switch flipped on Friday, and now the afternoon nap is threatening to join the list of "Cute-Things-Will-Used-To-Do".

This new developmental climb has been joined by some other big things: like three-word sentences and some big words, obsession with tunnels and better independent play. On the up side, he's become a more affectionate boy. He gives me many unbidden, surprise kisses and hugs and has become very snuggly. He has also stepped up his defiance and I often feel like I am blue in the face as he just doesn't listen. Running away from me is a favorite of his. Whether in the parking lot, or in the living room it's a serious offenses. I'd rather teach him to listen in the safe surrounding of the living room than a dangerous parking lot. I will have less time, patience, energy and hands come August and it will be better for everyone's sanity and safety if we work hard on "listen and obey" now.

So back to the crib climbing thing. I've gotten a lot of light-hearted comments that it's time for a big boy bed. But I'm not convinced that's the answer. Firstly, we don't really have the space for that right now. Our first floor tenants are moing out in June and then we'll be able to expand into the middle floor bedrooms as bedrooms rather than livingroom/dining room. (it's a complicated set up) We were planning on keeping Will in the crib until September ish when the baby would need to move out of the cradle, at which point we would move him to a bed in a new room. We don't really have space to store the crib until then, so taking it apart to put a bed in his room isn't an easy option-- plus it's not super easy to assemble. So I'd rather not have to do it again. Then there's the dilemma of teaching him to stay in his bed. If he's not staying in a crib, how will taking away the rails solve the problem?

Sean and I discussed how to teach him not to climb out of the crib. I sometimes feel like I'm disciplinning him all day long. We do spank Will, though limit the "spankable offenses" to a short list of things and I don't really want to keep adding to this list of things - but sometimes it seems like this is the only way he really stops and changes his actions. And Sean raised the good point that climbing out of the crib isn't inherently wrong. I agree. So I hesitate to spank him for it. But it's dangerous. There's a brick chiminey close by where he could hit his head, not to mention landing on his head or other fragile body part. And there's the obedience issue. When I sternly tell him mommy says no, and he does it anyway, that is defiance, and that is one of the things that we have deemed a spankable offense.

If you're still with me after this long, rambling post, I'd love to hear your thoughts or experiences. So maybe you don't agree with spaking, but I'd love to hear if you have ideas about how to approach this situation. I think tomorrow I'll try to post about all the "Cute-Things-Will-Used-To-Do" and compose a list of the great things he's doing now. It's a huge paradox how much I love this kid and how much he exasperates me at the same time.

We're just back from a weekend with my siblings in the mountains. We had a nice time and I think my sister especially enjoyed spending quality time with the babies. We did a miniature hike, and by mini I mean more of a two minute walk in the woods before turning around for home because the toddler (not baby!), Will was tired and hungry. We walked to the lake expecting a chilly day and were pleasantly surprised by glorious sunshine, sandy beach and calm water. Unprepared for water fun, we let the kiddos wade to their knees trying to avoid the inevitable soaking and swelling of a non-swimmer diaper. They both plopped down on their bums and lots of splashing, smiling and diaper-swelling ensued. Will was obsessed with the foam football which the daddies were tossing in the water. It must've been the perfect chewing consistency because that's all he wanted to do. He didn't try to eat the sand, and that was a miracle in itself.

In the week preceding the vacation I was nervous, anticipating sleepless nights in a new place and nonexistent naps. On the contrary, he slept fine at night, and though he missed naps, the drama I expected presented itself in only muted colors. Though I did need a day of napping yesterday to recover from the weekend of chasing a toddler around a new place at early morning hours trying to keep him safe.

When naps fail to happen and the day falls apart, there is truth in this: nothing lasts forever, and tomorrow will be a better day. I keep telling this to dada who continues to fight this awful flu that had him sacked on the couch for 4 days straight and now plagues him with a terrible, relentless, hacking cough. He was sad after his doctor's visit yesterday not to receive a scrip for codeine.

Now we're looking forward to the next vacation. This one will be a camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa. We're bracing ourselves for camping witha  one-year-old. Any tips? We've got ourselves a "family-sized" tent, and plan to sleep him in the port-a-crib in the tent with us. We've never coslept, so I don't think this camping trip is the time to start. I'm glad we'll have two extra set of hands to keep track of our curious and exuberant one.

Yesterday was a day packed full of going and doing and exciting things for our little man. Knowing he would have a busy day, I nursed him at 7 and tried to convince him to go back to sleep for a little while. No luck there. We began our business with swimming at the Y. He smiled through the whole lesson! He's been cranky with swimming lately, fighting and squirming and complaining loudly. But yesterday he smiled and splashed and squealed. It was nice to have the little "fishie-Will" back.

After swimming I nursed him in the parking lot and then tucked him into the car seat for a nap and a longish drive to a play date with some of my coworkers babies. Will slept the hour drive there and woke a happy boy. He played with the toys nicely, didn't grab any faces, albeit he did buldoze right over one of the little boys one month his junior. He ate his lunch quietly and neatly in the highchair and then got down to play while I ate the lovely lunch prepared by Tracy. Brayden and Jack are both one month younger than Will and they're all in that stage of parallel play. Jack and Will enjoyed Brayden's toys and I enjoyed Tracy's beautiful home which is so spacious and baby proof. I couldn't help feeling a little claustrophobic upon return to our old and narrow, cluttered home. I was proud of Will for being such a good boy and entertained to see him ham-it-up with his new adult pals.

We left for home about time for afternoon nap. He waited to fall asleep, of course, until 15 minutes from home. Lucky for us both, we hit traffic which delayed us by another 15 minutes. Funny how napping and precious sleep can make me thankful for something I usually loathe.

Will woke up the minute we pulled into the driveway, but was happy to play quietly in his crib after nursing so I could regroup and prepare for round three. I had time to do a quick dusting of our living room in preparation for guests tonight. Then I packed dinner for our family of three, jammies and a bottle for Will and it was out the door and off again, this time to Grammy's house. Dada met us there and we slammed down our leftovers, left Will smiling with Grammy and Grampy and we were off for the dreaded meeting with our financial advisor.

I say "dreaded" just because I prefer to be blissfully ignorant of stocks and portfolios and retirement etc. I used to handle the bills until Will was born. I like that. But when it comes to the future thinking stuff, I'd prefer not to have someone tell me I have to worry about it. I'd prefer to save and be responsible and trust God to do the rest. That said, we were meeting with a new guy and he turned out to be very nice and I left with a surprisingly small amount of stress.

We returned to find Will still raring to go and bouncing around the living room floor at Grammy's house, one hour past his bedtime. She tried to calm him with a bath to no avail. Silly Grammy, don't you know our little fishie draws his energy from floating around and splashing in the bath? The car ride home soothed him a little and once in the rocker with mommy he quickly nuzzled in for the night.

Today he's been a sleepy boy: down for morning nap a half hour early, down for afternoon nap a whole hour early. Hopefully we'll get to go soak in some sunshine when this second nap is done. I'm looking forward to a vigorous walk with lot of hills around our neighborhood. Until then, I'd better get to that long to-do list and sweep up some more dust bunnies.

William will soon be 6 months old. SIX MONTHS! WOW! I periodically look back at all his newborn pictures and sigh. I remember when his knees and elbows were wrinkly because of extra skin and no chub. His ear lobes were flat the day he was born. Sean and I remarked about how much they resembled Sean's lobes. They very quickly curled and now they are more like mine. His hands and feet looked so huge in comparison to his body. Many said of his long fingers: "you'll play the violin!" Now they're smaller (by comparison) and chubbier. He has knuckle dimples. Love the knuckle dimples! He hasn't lost his serious face. One of the nurses in the hospital told him that he was too young to have the cares of the world on his shoulders when he was only a few hours old. He had deep wrinkles that traversed his whole forehead from temple to temple as he surveyed the cold, light world into which he had been born. Now he surveys his world with a scowl that can't hold up against mommy's funny faces. It's not hard to get this child laugh. Lately he is highly amused by my lip-smacking. This morning we laid together on his bedroom floor smacking our lips at each other. Cheap entertainment, and yet, so very priceless. His neck is his ticklish spot, I only have to lightly tap it with my fingers - like I'm typing and he dissolves into hearty, guttural giggles. His changing table is still his favorite spot. If he's crabby, all I have to do is to take him up to change his diaper. He smiles and the arms and legs start flapping - much like a baby penguin. I'm rather worried that he might crack his heals as he lays on the floor and kicks his legs. We have hardwood floors and not much padding under the few area rugs. He lays looking at the ceiling and kicks-kicks-kicks. He never seems bothered too much though.

Sitting up by myself!

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Will is also sitting up now. I won't dare leave him sitting up and walk away because he's still rather wobbly and top heavy. (Sean says "rather?" It is nice now to be able to sit on the floor with him sitting up and read a book together. It frees up my hands to hold things when I don't have to hold him too.

All the developmental charts list "regarding of the hand" as one of the developmental events. I never did see him regard his own hand, as in looking at it. We have noticed him regarding his boyhood with his hands quite a bit. Whenever he is naked his hands go exploring. I don't know if this is a boy thing or a baby thing. It becomes tricky to change a messy diaper and get him clean while keeping his hands away. I wonder if he gets itchy because in the bath he doesn't splash, he just scratches his tummy and groin area to the point where he gets very red. Last night I tried, with partial success, to distract those busy hands with a rubber duck. Maybe I make his diaper too tight so his waist area gets itchy? I don't know. But Sean always reassures him that he's still a boy and his parts will still be there in the morning.

This week naps are going much more easily and have been more regular. Bed time has been a breeze. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself. He likes rice cereal, bananas and pears. We tried avocado and much retching and spitting ensued. He's still uncertain about peas. As long as they're warm he isn't bothered too much by them. Despite the promises that once solids start the spitting up will decrease, he still seems to loose entire meals all over me. He doesn't like nursing much these days. I'm hoping that's just a phase.

He's beginning to notice our dog. He looks at Libby and smiles. Last week he got a handful of hair and yanked. The good news is that he still has his hand. The bad news is that she quickly turned around with teeth barred - but when she realized it was him, she only "gummed" his hand. If it had been Sean or me, she might not have let us off so easily.

Will has begun to explore all sorts of things with his hands. When I rock him to sleep he usually sits in my lap facing outward - otherwise he just tries to climb me rather than going to sleep. He likes it when I cradle the side of his face in my hand and gently stroke his eyebrows and forehead until he is asleep. I love this tender ritual. Lately he has taken to stroking my hand and feeling my fingers as I cup his face. I dug out a very soft, fleecy blanked that is about 10 inches square made by a friend of mine and hold it near his fingers so he can feel different textures.

Will has also begun to explore our faces. He likes to sit or stand on our lap facing us. He stares at our eyes and our mouths as we make all sorts of crazy sounds and he GRABS our chin, mouth, cheek, ears; not always gently, I might add. I am loving this new stage where he really visible pays attention to us. We talk back and forth in our quiet, multisyllabic non-english and make funny faces. Sometimes this game goes on for a while.

This morning Will interacted with book-reading for the first time.He really was grabbing for the book and holding it and turning pages. I don't think he was interested in whether Jane actually found the elephant or not, but he did seem interested in holding the page. That was a fun development. We read books for an extra 10 minutes this morning before first morning nap.

Raspberries: Will is now trying to blow raspberries. He doesn't seem to understand that it doesn't work as well if there are two fingers in his mouth. We frequently blow raspberries in his face because it elicits a giggle from our happy little fellow. So I am wondering if this new trick of his is just a baby thing, or an imitation thing?

Bath time has been relocated to the big tub now, as Will has learned the wonders of splashing. I still put him in his little tubby but we sit it in the big tub so he can splash to his heart's content. Tonight he was really amused by the water and the freedom of being naked and playing.

I really should be keeping up with this blog more regularly as its purpose is to keep a record of all Will's changing habits and developments. Every day he does something and I think I should blog about that. We went through a really rocky patch with nursing and I thought all along I should blog about it and pick some fellow mommy brains about the problem. Things are better with that now, after 3 weeks on Zantac and a change in nursing positions. Maybe I'll try to recap in a future post. Basically I don't update more often because I just can't seem to tear myself away from my happy, pudgy, blushing little snuggly boy. He is so sweet, and such a blessing. I can't even express how much I love my son and how I love to see him growing and happy.

This morning Will got zapped by the insomnia fairy. After a day of long naps and peaceful, happy play times yesterday, he just didn't quite want to fall asleep or stay asleep for more than 30 minutes today. Maybe he reached his weekly sleep quota and now he has to stay awake until next weekend. We seem to be following the same pattern as last week: great weekend with long naps each day and good, long stretches of sleep at night - then come Tuesday short naps and fussiness in the evening.

Today was a beautiful day in the greater Philadelphia area. Will happened to be in one of his short naps when Sean came home for lunch. So we sat on the porch to eat and read a chapter of Bridge to Terebithia out loud. Sean left and Will woke up. I fed him an hour early to help soothe his fussy, tense little self and he drifted back to sleep. So I got some reading done in the Breast Feeding book. He woke up after a little while, so this time I rocked him a little in his bouncy chair. Once he drifted back to sleep I changed into grubby clothes and played in the dirt for a while. I had some zinnia volunteers from last year to be moved and some New Gineau Impatients to be planted. I got just enough gardening done to have thoroughly dirty fingernails and he was awake again. So we moved back inside and sat and suffered through some Oprah while Will fussed through a feeding. It was late in the afternoon by now, and knowing that we'd have a fussy evening if he didn't sleep for an uninturupted hour, I popped him in the car seat and we headed out for a drive. That usually works but 20 minutes later as we arrived at my mom's house he was still wide-eyed and squirmy. Grammy was all too happy to hold him and walk around her yard teaching him about her flowers. He seemed happy to listen while squirming, but no sleep. We arrived back home for dinner and he still hadn't slept. He tolerated a little swing session so I could put dinner together and Sean and I could eat together. Then it was time for his dinner. Still no sleep.

Sean and I have been trying to make the most of this lovely, cooler, less humid weather. We walked in a nearby state park last evening as Will slept in the stroller. We planned to do the same this evening. We took a long walk around the neighborhood - and Will didn't miss a second of it with his wide eyes. You'd think I popped speed with my vitamins this morning. The only thing I can think that was different was the banana bread - a fairly benign substance and the blueberries on my cheerios. I'll be sad if it turns out to be the blueberries that are bugging him. Bluets and peaches are the hilight of my year!

He's finally asleep now. He fought me through one more feeding... sucking a few, looking around and being distracted for a while, crying because he can't seems to find his way to latch back on, then sucking a little more after I guide him to his target and pulling away to look back at the ceiling... I sit him up to burp and re-focus and he squalks a little more... then I lay him back down and we start the cycle all over again. Sean took over after he was done eating and swaddled and rocked and prayed with the fussy boy. He's peacefully asleep in his cradle now. Finally. Hopefully it will last more than 30 minutes and I can get some much needed shut eye.

Didn't I post a few days ago about how my days are all so different? Yet again, here is an example of how each day is so very different. This is teaching me creativity as I try to figure out how to schedule my days and plan to go out anywhere. I want to maximize his nap time - but I never know when to expect him to nap.

Sweet sleep