Housekeeping...and blood.

I realize that, while I've been good about posting pictures of Jack here, I've been pretty bad at documenting milestones and schedules and specific development.  And I know 99% of you don't care about that... but I think I may want to look back and know when Jack's nap schedule changed or when he started drinking this or that or when he got his teeth.  I think the ship has sailed on a lot of this stuff but I'm going to try to just jot down some notes here so I can remember.  So, basically, this post is for no one but myself.  Enjoy!

Naps:
Jack is now down to one nap and has been for about a month I suppose.  He wakes up around 6 and then goes down for a nap any time between 11:30 and 1:00pm.  Then he usually sleeps a good 90 minutes to 2 hours.  Bedtime is still around 7:30 or 8.
(Truthfully I can't even remember when he went down to two naps but I think it was a long long time ago).

Drinking:
He's been on milk since he turned a year old.  When we switched from formula to milk we almost immediately ditched the bottles.  Well, upon waking he has milk from a soft spout sippy cup.  Then the same thing after his nap.  Then at bedtime he gets a bottle because, hey, why rock the boat?  He's going to bed so nicely nowadays and I don't think there's anything wrong with a bottle at bedtime.
He also drinks water and in the past couple of weeks, toddler juice boxes.  Or I fill his cup with water and put a splash of apple juice in it.  He can use a straw sippy cup but still doesn't like the hard spout cups.

Books:
He still loves books.  And still loves his old favorites like Elmer, Dr. Seuss (especially the Eye Book and Mr. Brown Can Moo), and animal picture books.  Now he also likes to feel the fuzzy, texture books too.  But he's also started to read some books with more words and less pictures.  I'm particularly delighted that he now likes the Big Red Barn, Goodnight Moon, all the Curious George books, and It's Time to Sleep My Love (a really lovely bedtime book with beautiful illustrations that he got as a gift from his cousin Christy).  He will sit and read them for an hour.

Sleeping:
Oh man.  It's been, on the whole, blissful.  I think around 12 or 13 months he finally started sleeping through the night.  And let me tell you, it's glorious.  Before that he used to need a bottle around 3 or 4, but for the past two months he's moved past that.  I have never been so happy in my life.

Teething:
This brings us finally to the blood portion of the blog.  The night before last Jack uncharacteristically woke at 3am with a lot of crying and we couldn't get him back to sleep for 2 hours.  We took turns rocking him in his dark room until he finally went back down.  Then yesterday morning I pulled Jack out of his crib to discover that his sheet was covered in what I would call a good bit of blood.  One spot the size of an apple and the rest of the sheet covered in lighter spots where the little guy had obviously smeared it around.  Combine that with bloody finger prints on the side of a white crib rail and you have yourself a scene from CSI.  I freaked out and examined him thoroughly but saw zero sign of where it came from.  No cuts, no dried blood on his face or anything.  I called the doctor and we figured out that it must be from his molars breaking through.  I had read that the toddler could bleed a bit when they finally broke through but I didn't think it meant it would be a giant gush of blood.  But, sure enough, he has all his molars.  Well, I think 3 of the 4 have officially poked through and the 4th is almost there.  Poor little guy.  It must have hurt so bad.

To make it up to him, I let him run around naked most of the day and he seemed to enjoy it.  :-)

 

 

Today Jack is...37 weeks old.

Another cast week down and he was mostly all smiles. We've decided that he's so happy nowadays because of his new-found crawling freedom. He LOVES being able to get around. he crawls and chases around his ball. He crawls to the curtains to play with them. He'll follow me around rooms too. He came dangerously close to crawling into the garage a few times but he didn't know how to negotiate the steps.

(Excuse the mad man hair...he had just woken up for a nap.)

I guess the best part of the crawling is that it means he's happier to play on his own for a few minutes. Sometimes as many as 15! Amazing. It's so cute to watch him entertain himself.

His eating is still going pretty well. He loves his fruit purees and has started eating the little pieces of fruit that I put in his mouth. He loves kiwi, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberry, and watermelon. He got a hold of the watermelon rind this week and went to town.

My milk supply seems to be dwindling more than ever and I've started giving him a bottle a day because he seems like he needs it. I can see breastfeeding slowly coming to an end (though hopefully not in the immediate future) and it's a bummer. For bonding, sappy reasons but also because it's how I calm him down and put him to sleep. So, without nursing, I'm not sure what I'll do.

I also feel like I'd be remiss in not mentioning sleep...even if it's just for me to document it. He was sleeping pretty well but this past week he had some bad nights. Unusually bad nights. I'm wondering if this is the 8/9/10 month sleep regression that I've been reading about. He'll wake up around 11:30 or 12:30 and just be wide awake. Nothing can get him back to sleep. Not bouncing, not nursing, nothing. It's just terrible. He stays awake for about 2 hours. I'm really hoping these bad nights are few and far between because they make for a very tired mom and dad.

He still loves mirrors so we have a good time making funny faces. He also watches me try to high five him and practice waving and I think he's finally starting to get it! Maybe.

And now, more pics from the week!

Smiling at Aunt Leslie's dogs, off camera.

Not that you can tell, but rooting on the Steelers with Daddy's hat

Asleep because he was completely bored with my wandering through the Christmas decoration aisles. I don't know why he didn't find it fascinating.

Plum and grape puree...yum!

And this is one of John's favorite pictures of all time. He thinks he looks like a Disney character. I think it's pretty cute too. I just wish he wasn't sitting in front of a toilet. But, hey, I have to brush my teeth at least once a day. :)

Greatest Day Ever

I'm happy to announce that the little guy slept 7 1/2 hours last night, his longest stretch ever! This translated to 6 whole hours of uninterrupted sleep for his parents. What bliss. Of course, I did the same thing I always do yesterday as far as his schedule. I guess sometimes he just feels like sleeping 3 hours and sometimes 7 hours. I'll take it!

Other milestones? He took a bottle from daddy and continues to enjoy his Baby Bjorn. Success! (at least for now.) :)

First Mother's Day

Yesterday our little family celebrated our first mother's day. Well, more accurately I suppose MY first mother's day. It was a great day. I'd like to say that the little guy slept 8 hours in a row for me but, no, he slept his usual 3 hours and then another 2 or so. But, my awesome husband made breakfast for me bright and early to start the day off right. A little later, father and son surprised me with a great present. I saw John push the stroller around the corner with this surprise.

Jack was a little dubious about being covered in flowers but he held it together. He even managed to present me with this cool frame full of pics.

And, because it was Mother's Day, I figured why not have a few firsts? Crazily enough, Jack took his first bottle. Sure, he would only take it from me (not helpful) and only take it while I soothed him while bouncing on a ball (guess we have to take the ball EVERYWHERE) but, still! What a milestone. He finally took it. The kid certainly is picky and stubborn.

The other first was a putting Jack forward-facing in the Baby Bjorn!

He loved this. He was fussy and mad we were taking him to Vons and once he got in there and could see the whole store and all the pretty aisles of food, he was great. What a champ. (and, no, he didn't seem scarred or anxious). ;-)

Thanks to my amazing husband for making my first mother's day very special. I can't believe this time last year I had NO idea that mother's day would have a new meaning for me in 2011.

Jack - 1 point. Us - big fat ZERO.

Well, so far, Jack is winning the bottle war. As instructed, the first day I stayed in a different room while John tried to feed him a bottle. I heard crying for an hour and fifteen minutes and it was painful. But I'm sure nothing compared to what John had to go through. After struggling for that long time, he finally gave up. Jack won. That stubborn, stubborn baby. I haven't seen that kind of stubbornness since...well, since me and my husband. He's fought the bottle every morning since. Though at this point he'll at least let it go in his mouth without screaming. But he still refuses to suck on it. Just sort of plays with it with his tongue and gums. He knows there's milk in there because it drips in his mouth, but no sucking still. Every bottle, every nipple, same outcome. So, the fight continues...

He seems pretty proud of himself....