Hey!

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Originally uploaded by dbussert

So, one thing I think we caught ahead of the curve is the playpen. He actually likes being in there! I've heard from a lot of people that if you don't start it early enough, they won't like it. He just learned to sit up so he enjoys 10-15 min playtimes in his playpen by himself. He was having quite the conversation with his piggy toy yesterday.
Last night he passed out in the car on the way home from a friend's house and I held him for awhlie until 9pm and we went to bed. It was a good night overall. No crying.

Sleep Update

We were so fried by the end of this week that I took Benj to the pediatrician just to make sure nothing was wrong. Basically, we can get him very calm and sleepy with his routine but the minute his eyes close and he is about to fall asleep, he'd start angry screaming!
The doctor said that he is fighting sleep because he wants to hang out with us. So, he doesnt hate us. He loves us :) She also suggested lettiing him cry himself to sleep and learn to self- soothe. How is crying soothing? I understand he'll reach the point where he is too tired and will just give up and go to sleep, but I'm not convinced that is the right approach for Benj. He is very strong willed and will cry for over an hour in our arms, so I dont think he'll fall asleep in his crib after 30 mins like the doctor said would happen.

We are going to take gradual approach (from the No-Cry Sleep Solution book). Its gonna take a few weeks, but honestly, we can't take a week of crying (the dr said itd take about a week). It involves gradual tactics like not letting him nurse to sleep, giving him a favorite teddy bear to associate with sleep, having key sounds (shh, or the words go to sleep), a bedtime routine, consistent naps and eating enough during the day. We started a log of his naps and night wakings on thursday and will do it again after 10 days to note progress. Then, you adjust your tactics and do it another 10 days.

As far as the not wanting to fall asleep in the first place, its probably because we are away at work all day and he wants to hang out, so we will probably let him stay up until 9pm when he normally gets sleepy and bring him bedtime earlier in the next few weeks.

Peek a boo!

I was hiding at the bottom of the chair and playing peek a boo. You can see his eyes follow me down and then he thinks its so funny when he sees me again!

Go to sleep!

Our child hates either us or going to bed at night. I have almost exhausted the universe of baby sleep literature and can give opinions on those books later. For now, he doesn't want to sleep before 9 and hasn't responded to sleeptime routines no matter how peaceful. Hmmm.

Sleeping Training FAIL

If you can read the time on the clock, you will see that Benj is WIDE awake at 11pm. These past few weeks have been very very difficult. For awhile, he was going to bed at 8:30 pretty faithfully and without fight. Then the past week or so, he'd wake up 30 minutes later and scream, it'd take 30 minutes to put him back to sleep and then he'd wake every 2 hours and demand to nurse. Then at 4am he would open his eyes, be awake and cry at us for an hour. He used to only nurse every 3-4 hrs - so patterns change and we don't know why.

I will spare you the details, but I was scouring sleep technique books over the weekend and kept getting frustrated at all the stories where moms left their babies to cry for 45mins and they themselves wept in the living room. Then their baby slept all night without a peep and continues to sleep 8-10hrs a night the following nights. I can't do it! He already cries when we hold him and it is truly heartwrenching. What I did learn is that all that crying he is doing it because he is tired and we aren't catching his natural sleepy time and putting him to bed then. I can do that in the future.

So, come Sunday night, Dillon and I are weary and frustrated and on the edge. I go to church and get a little reassurance from some other moms. Using knowledge from those moms and a suggestion to swaddle him (which worked really well when he was up to 3 months) we put him in his own room so he would smell mommy and swaddled him. He slept 4 hrs, nursed 2 times and feel back asleep immediately both times. PHEW! Praise God :)

The second picture is Benj riding around in the basket as I switch out his 3-6 month clothes for 6-9 outfits! The little guy just turned 5 months on Friday and he is wearing big boy clothes now.

Pick Pocket

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Originally uploaded by dbussert

Benjamin is quite the little grabber these days. Here he is "drinking milk" and trying to look for candy in Grandpa's pocket.

This morning I tried to give him baby applesauce but he kinda just squinched up his face and didnt eat much. So, I fed him rice cereal instead. We'll try foods more later.

Also, I am in the middle of reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. I wish I'd read it a few months ago because it explains how missed or disjointed sleep affects the baby and how to catch them at the right time. We all have sleep cycles and times when we get drowsy. I think this weekend we'll be able to help Benjamin settle in his sleep cycles, but I hope Grandpa can learn too! Or else all will be in vain...

Whats up doc?

Playtime!

Benjamin got to play with his friend Colin last night. Although Benjamin can't really do much, they gazed suspiciously at each other and shook hands :) He also has a little girl at church that has a crush on him and hugs him all the time. Can't wait to see how his personality develops!

Playing in the crib

Benjamin is getting really good at grasping things so we have to be more careful about what is lying around. He even grabs our dinner plates!
This morning I put him on his belly facing the top of his crib and 2 minutes later he had rotated around 180 degrees and was facing the bottom ofthe crib. Little lazy susan :)

Nom, Nom, Nom

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Originally uploaded by dbussert

Here he is munching on a dog toy. Poor dog. Although I am excited about him learning to use a spoon and eat solids, I don't think I'm excited about the diaper changes that will ensue!