You are 8 weeks old today. It sounds cliche, but I can’t believe how quickly the weeks have flown by & how much you change every day.
I have loved spending each day with you. We play on your mat, sing silly songs, laugh, & nap. Well, you nap & I use the time to shower, eat, and do housework. Usually only one of those gets done. Guess which one usually wins out?
In the last week or so, things have settled down into a pseudo-routine. Most days include periods of awake, play, & naps. You’re finally sleeping in your crib. I say this and the implication is it’s your doing that it hadn’t already happened. Totally not the case. You’re a wonderful baby & will sleep just about anywhere we set you. The reason you’re just now getting to sleep in your own room is entirely my fault. Well, partially.
See, Nate, the issue is that you’re a noisy sleeper with a pacifier addiction. You really like falling asleep with it in your mouth. But because you’re noisy (and a bit fitfull), you’ve developed a recent habit of rubbing your hands across your face as you’re falling into a deeper sleep. You grunt, groan, stretch, and forcefully rub your hands in your face. That, however, rips the pacifier from your mouth. Which you do not appreciate and seem to take it as a personal affront. As if your hands & the pacifier are in cahoots.
What, you might ask, does this have to do with you sleeping in your crib? Well, when your hands & the pacifier conspire and the pacificer falls out, you get mad. So mad you wake up, often screaming. When you’re in the pack-n-play next to the bed, I just reach over, pop it back in your mouth, and go back to sleep. We do that once or twice before your hands give up & you’re truly asleep. When you’re in your crib, I have to wake up enough to stumble across the hall to your room, find it in the crib, then give it back to you. By this time, you’ve worked yourself into a screaming fit that requires being removed from the crib & rocked back to sleep. Rinse & repeat two or three times.
The trick, I’ve discovered is to get you into that deep sleep first, then put you in the crib. If you’re already asleep enough that you’re not worried about the pacifier, then you don’t rip it from your mouth and wake up. I’ve had about a 60% success rate in getting you in the crib the first time. I wake you up putting you down & then have to give you the pacifier (which we’ve just established doesn’t really work) or pick you back up & rock you again until you’re asleep. I don’t usually have to pick you up more than twice before you’re settled.
I think all that rocking is what pushed me over the edge in weight loss. I’m finally back down to my pre-pregnancy weight & I think the rocking/swaying we’ve been doing at night & during the day with you in your new sling is helping with that.
You LOVE that new sling. You help me cook, we go for walks. We even went to Target this week & you slept the entire time. If you’re fussy, I just pop you in, sway a little bit, & you’re asleep in 3 minutes or less. Thank goodness.
The only time the sling doesn’t work is when I eat beans or broccoli. Those hurt your tummy, apparently, and cause you to scream in agony for a half hour. Even though I adore bean dishes, I’ve cut them out because watching you in so much pain and knowing I caused it breaks my heart. We cry together.
Daddy & I love you more than we ever realized was possible and are so blessed that you are our son.
Love,
Mama
