The Sleep Saga, Part 4

I know! You didn’t think there was anymore to the sleep saga, did you?

I didn’t either. But there is more.

Phooey.

The good news is that up until 2 1/2 weeks ago, Nathan was actually sleeping really well, give or take the occasional crazy night or bad nap day.

Then he turned 8 months. And his nocturnal alter ego kicked in. Actually, it’s called the “8 month sleep regression”. I’m not making this up. It’s a thing. Google it. I did, and it even auto-finished my search for me. Wasn’t that nice?

Anyway, this sleep regression can actually happen at 8, 9 or 10 months (So should I be thankful we’re getting it over with now??) and is *generally* caused by the brain development and growth spurts typical for this age. So the little people just have a hard time sleeping at this age.

Um, WHY did no one warn me about this?! It was most definitely not in my favorite sleep book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Oh well. I guess I’m prepared for the next child.

(Note: That next child is not happening any time soon. And said next child had better be a good sleeper.)

But I suppose that this sleep regression thing is partially our fault. Since we had no idea what was going to be happening, we started weaning the Little Man off the woombie. I was really sad about this. I love love love the baby straight jacket woombie. But Little Man was rolling over onto his tummy more (though not in his sleep yet), and quite honestly, he was already in the biggest size available and would soon outgrow it. Little chunkers. It was time.

That first night we decided to go cold turkey and stuck him in his crib with both arms free. It was a disaster. It was a the-baby-has-been-screaming-for-over-an-hour-and-mom-is-a-complete-basketcase-we-are-never-doing-this-again type disaster. We have tried swaddling just one arm, but if you know why we got the woombie in the first place, you’ll know that that wasn’t working.

So back into the woombie he went, and we brainstormed another plan. I found a sewing pattern for a wearable blanket HERE. And I thought that I could close off one arm hole and create my own one-armed woombie for this transition. So that’s what I did. We have gone from the ‘baby blue giraffe’ to the ‘one-armed bandit’.

It is actually working really well for the transition. Though he will probably stay one-armed for several more weeks before we try to brave both arms free.

He didn’t want any more photos. He wanted out of the crib already, Mom!

So for the most part, the transition to one arm has gone really well. But mix that in with the 8 month sleep regression and it’s not so great. For 2 1/2 weeks Nathan screamed for at least an hour before going to sleep for the night. Sometimes it would happen right away, sometimes it would happen after he’d been asleep for 30-45 minutes (that was the worst – you think you’re home free and then 30 minutes later…it begins…) I couldn’t go in most of the time, as that would actually make it worse. He really just wanted to hang out with me the whole time. We tried all sorts of things. John would put him down for bed (that actually worked a few nights). I put him down to bed (usually didn’t work). We gave him a bottle right before putting him down (that helped somewhat). And then we’d let him cry (hated it, but most effective). But that usually took a good two hours before he’d go to sleep. Oof.

But we might be finally getting out of that phase. For the past three nights Nathan has gone to sleep without freaking out. And it’s been soooooooo wonderful. But then he decided to cry for an hour and a half before going to sleep for his morning nap today. And then only slept for 40 minutes. I’m going to lose my mind.

But before I do that, here are some cute pictures of Little Man and his phone while I was supposed to be folding the laundry.

"Wait, who are you texting?” “Taylor.” “Oh, okay…wait, is Taylor a boy or a girl?” “Does it matter?” “No, no, of course n- unless it’s a girl! ;)
He had been totally kicking back with his phone on the pillow but he started wiggling around by the time I got my camera out. This one is pretty good too though. ;)

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Wish me luck!

Snow Day!

Yay for snow! And actually getting a substantial amount!! Yippee!!!

So snow days don’t actually apply to me anymore, but John did get to come home early from work, so it was definitely a snow day for us! (or, half a snow day?) John got home around lunch time and we got out in to the snow this afternoon.

Nathan has seen snow before, but this was his first time out while it was falling. He wasn’t too sure about it, especially when it got on his face, but I think we still had a good time ;)

Getting all bundled up!
Hey, marshmallow boy! Look at that double chin! And those cheeks!! Ah!!
I think he’s aspiring to be a model and just hasn’t told us yet.

Then we headed out in to the snow!
Boy, am I lucky to have these two. Love them.

Then we got cold and headed back inside for some hot cocoa. Well, John and I had hot cocoa anyway. Nathan had apple juice. In his new water bottle – that’s just like Mommy’s! ;)

Then John and Nathan collapsed on the floor, tired out from all the fun.
Twinners, yes? ;) (this picture cracks me up. Love it!)

And now we’re hoping that the office is closed again tomorrow. Unlikely, but think of all the snow fun we’d have! ;)

8 Months!

Sorry I’m late, but seriously, where does the time go?!(You might have noticed that there are no “months” letters in this picture. That’s because the Little Man mutilated my letter ‘M’ and was well on his way to destroying the others. I guess we’re done with them…)

Here are the ever popular outtakes! I apologize for the less than awesome picture quality. Having a fancy camera doesn’t do me much good when I haven’t figured out how to take pictures in awful lighting situations. As in, we haven’t seen the sun for a week. But I did my best ;)

“OoOoo, there’s a new line of Pampers out, you say? Well, if my stint in Parenting doesn’t work out, maybe we can get my picture on the box.”
“Hey Girl. Mind if I sit my high chair next to yours?”
“It’s quite simple, dear Watson. I simply deduced that by crying, my parents come to me. Therefore, I can stay up all night, and I make them stay up all night too! It’s really quite fun.”
“And then by the time I am ready to fall asleep, they are barely functioning zombies and will cave into my every whim! Mwa ha ha haaa!”
“Mom! Did you see the TAG on that thing?! It was ‘this big’!! I really want to eat it. And did you see all the words on it?! I need one.”
“And I call this one the ‘roly poly pose’ – it’s the newest thing in baby yoga. But it’s done best when you have a big belly like mine. I know, try not to be jealous. I’ve worked really hard on it.”
“Oh Dad! Can I have that bowl of ice cream? Mom says that you can start giving me dairy at 9 months and we’re close enough, right? Right? That looks sooooo good!”
“You ate it all?! Already?! How could you?! I didn’t even get a taste!”
“Oh. Hello number. Fancy meeting you here.”
“You are looking nice today. Why don’t you come hang out with me…”
(He then proceeded to push the number away in his efforts to grab it. And then rolled right over to the end of the blanket!)
“Don’t even think about it. I know this number isn’t edible”
“But I was sooooo hungry all those other times! Can you blame me?!”
“So stop giving me these stupid numbers!!”
He loves to be held upside down. Crazy boy.
I think this one is a new favorite. It totally captures his playful personality :)
Love you little man!