Dad's Corner: Making Daddy Proud

There are times in every Dad's life when his son will make him proud.  Like each time we went to the ultrasound and the nurse showed us his wawawoo because it was so "noticeable".  Or when he hits his first home run, scores his first goal, or captures his first rook (whatever he's into).  Or when he dates his first super model, Victoria's Secret or Giorgio Armani (whatever he's into).  Today, however, was the first day anyone has made Conor laugh!  And that anyone was me.  It took several raspberries, but eventually he cracked, and it was such a good feeling to hear that sound.  I've been trying all kinds of jokes (have you heard the one about the interrupting cow?), but it seems he's more into the physical humor.  We think he's ticklish now too.  Unfortunately for him, I love to tease and harass, so now begins the endless tickling and raspberries to satisfy my own need to hear his laughter.

The 4 month check-up

While Conor technically won't be 4 months old until Friday, we had his check-up with the doctor today.  He again hated the shots, but other than that, everything was great.  He weighed 14 lbs, 12 oz, which is the 50th percentile.  He's had a big growth spurt in terms of length.  He's gone from the 13th percentile to the 50th, measuring  in at 25 inches.  His head has also gone through a bit of a growth spurt, moving from the 31st percentile to the 60th, at 14.75 inches.  It's amazing to think that he's more than doubled his size since he was born.  It's almost hard to even remember how tiny he was just four short months ago!

We also checked in about his development.  To help with his sleeping, Dr. Hyde suggested moving his crib into his nursery.  She said he'll probably sleep better, and I won't be tempted to get up with every little noise he makes.  So, Mike's planning to tackle that project this weekend.   The crib doesn't fit through the doorway, so there's some dissembling and reassembling involved.  Should be interesting!  The other big thing on the horizon is solids.  Dr. Hyde said to watch for signs that he's ready to start eating solids.  The two biggest signs are him watching us eat with interest and new night wakings because he's hungry.  It feels weird to think  about feeding him real food.  It adds another whole new layer to parenting.  So  far, feeding him has been so easy.  I can feed him anywhere, anytime.  Soon, we'll have to begin thinking about preparing food, bringing food with us when we are on the go, and all sorts of other things that don't ever even cross our minds now!

All in all, it was a good check up, and our little boy is growing right on track!

Evidence of the bath time rolling efforts

Check out all the waves and splashes he's creating with all that effort to face plant into the water!

Keep on rollin'

Conor has been rolling from his tummy to his back for quite a while now.  Most recently, he's decided that he really would like to be able to roll from his back to his tummy as well.  Therefore, he's begun vigorous attemps to throw himself over onto his tummy any time we lay him down on his back.  This includes when he is in the bath (as Mike explained in his Dad's Corner), when he's on his changing table, or when he's simply lying on the floor.  He's putting in tremendous effort and has so far figured out how to get himself onto his side but hasn't yet made it from his side onto his tummy.  It's bound to happen before long, though!

Rockin' the new shades

Note: Photo taken with my *new* camera!!  No more being unable to capture the most precious moments when my camera decides to go on the fritz!

Mike: Unfortunately, I got home too late to tell Danielle she had them on so tight his lower lids were smooshed up to his forehead.  Fashion can be painful.

Danielle:  :-(  Indeed... I won't be putting them on when he's facing away from me and I can't see his face anymore.  But alas, he tolerated my incompetence and came through without any permanent scarring!

Dad's Corner: Baby Malfunction

Where have I been, you ask?  Taking care of a baby of course!  All of this breast feeding, bottle feeding, diaper changing, bathing, rocking, playing, pacifying, etc., leaves little time for blog posting.  Breast feeding, you say?  Stop interrupting, I say.  Yes, but after Conor choked on my chest hair, we decided to let Danielle do all of the breast feeding.  She has less hair and more breast.

It's been a lot of fun so far.  We couldn't have asked for a better baby than Conor.  He has been relatively easy to take care of.  He rarely cries for no reason and is easy to calm down.  He eats very well and poops even better.  The period we are in right now is a lot of fun because he smiles all of the time, looks at us, and reacts to my antics.  He's more than happy to carry on a conversation with anyone in his own little language too.

The reason for the title "Baby Malfunction" is because today was the first time I've noticed him do something out of the ordinary.  We try to give Conor a bath every night.  He's only soaped up every third night, but to keep in a routine, he gets in his little tub each night.  He's usually very active and squirmy, but pretty much stuck in one spot.  He likes to try and swim and splash and eat his hands.  Tonight though, he stopped, flung his head back so he was looking back and to the left, arched his back and tried desparately to roll over.  Even though it was strange, I assumed he would stop after a second of trying, but he kept on going, trying with all his might to fling himself over.  I reached behind his head to try and straighten him out, but he kept trying.  Danielle pushed him down from the front and he luckily stopped and lay flat again.  Two seconds later, he flings himself again, with just as much gusto as the last time.  That was it for me.  I got his towel and his bath time was over.  This was the first time he tried to do something he shouldn't have been doing and it was unexpected too.  It was a baby malfunction.  I think he needs an upgrade.

Conor's words of wisdom: "Upgrade?  How about I format your boot sector, thrash your swap, and segfault your kernel!  Nerd smackdown!"

The sleep saga

As with any baby, our greatest challenge with Conor is getting him to learn to sleep.  I'm just so thankful that I'm only working part time and don't go into work until 11:00am.  If I had to be in at 7:00am, I have no idea how I'd survive.  I'd be chronically sleep deprived because I would have to wake up at 4:00am in order to get myself and Conor ready and out of the house on time to go by daycare first and then make it to work.  

Conor goes to bed around 7:00pm each night.  We've reached the point where on Conor's best nights, he sleeps until 2:00 - 2:30am, at which point he eats, and then again until about 5:30am, when he eats again.  He then goes back to sleep until about 6:30 - 7:00am.  This has happened a small handful of times.  On his good nights, he does the same thing but also wakes about two more times during the night not to eat but because he wants his pacifier.  Because he doesn't yet have the manual dexterity to pick up his pacifier and put it in his mouth (and even if he did, his hands are locked inside his swaddler), this means I have to get up and pop his pacifier into his mouth and then he quickly drifts right back to sleep.  On his not-so-good nights, he's up more often, sometimes up to 7 or 8 times a night, eating three times rather than two and waking for his pacifier multiple times.  These nights are not much fun, but to be honest, it doesn't really bother me that much either.  (I guess just another one of those things that seems terrible pre-mommyhood, but once you become a mommy just goes hand-in-hand with the job.)   Thankfully, no matter how many times he wakes up, he always goes back to sleep very easily.  I never pick him up out of his crib unless it's time to eat.  All it takes is 2 seconds to pop the pacifier in his mouth, and he's usually good.

I'd say that now, most nights are good nights, but it's not really all that consistent yet.  Three nights ago was a not-so-good night.  The next night was one of his best, only waking twice, and then last night was a good night, waking up four times - twice to eat and twice for his pacifier.  

We're hoping that the not-so-good nights fade away and the best nights increase.  He's definitely better rested on the days after nights that he's woken up less, and I want to do what I can to help him get the best night's sleep he can.  They say that around four months you can begin sleep training.  The book I've been reading says that you should only go to them when it's time to eat.  At the other times, if you go to them, you're interfering with their ability to learn how to soothe themselves back to sleep.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Supposedly, after a few nights of us not going to him except when it's time to eat, he'll learn not to wake up at the other times.  I'm not sure, though.  The thought of not going to him when he's crying is scary.  It goes against human nature.  So, right now it's just in the thinking stages.  We'll see.  

As for his daytime sleep, he's doing great with his naps.  He takes a solid 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hour nap each morning at home.  This is his best nap of the day, and he's always so happy and rested afterwards.  The way I know he's awake is because I can hear him talking to the animals on the bumper in his crib.  Too cute!  :-)  He then usually takes about a 1 - 1 1/2 hour nap in the early afternoon (longer at home usually, less long at daycare).  Then in the mid-afternoon, he takes about a 45 minute - 1 hour nap.  Sometimes, if this nap is early, he'll need another short nap in the early evening.  However, on most days he's up from the time we leave daycare until bedtime, so we get in some good playtime in the evenings.  

Overall, I know we're incredibly lucky.  As I read my sleep book, there are all these stories of babies even older than him who cry much of the night and parents who spend the night walking, rocking, bouncing, and dancing to pacify their babies.  Even though Conor isn't one of those star babies who sleeps through the night yet, I know we've got it good.  Funny how waking up 4 times a night is now "having it good!"  

The Jumperoo: Conor's new favorite toy

You truly can't appreciate how funny it is to watch him jump around without a video... Hopefully coming soon!

Mimi and Popi come for a visit

Last weekend, Mom and Dad came to visit.  They flew in late Friday night (Mike went to pick them up.  Conor and I didn't see them until Saturday morning.) and returned home Monday afternoon.  Dad had not seen Conor since he was one week old, and Mom had not seen him since he was two weeks old.  Therefore, they were quite appropriately in awe of all the ways that he's grown and changed in the past three months.  He's gone from being a curled up, sleepy little ball who barely opens his eyes, to a bouncing, chatty, smiley little boy.  We had a great weekend together, and Conor had a blast hanging out with Mimi and Popi.

"I changed him on Friday!"

In the first two days of Conor's life, I think Mike changed almost all of his diapers.  He was an immediate diaper changing pro.  Conor rewarded him by pooping and peeing on him with nearly every diaper change.  Perhaps because of that, it didn't take very long at all for Mike to become less than excited about changing diapers.  As a result, he has changed probably about 10 diapers total from the time Conor was two weeks old until now.  (No, I'm really not exaggerating.) (Mike: Yes you are.  I've changed him waaay more than that.)  And, truly, I'm not complaining.  I don't mind changing diapers in the least.  It's one of those things that might seem gross/unappealing/repulsive pre-motherhood, but once you become a Mommy, it's just part of the package deal.  In fact, it's a good time to interact with your baby and have a little play time together.  So it truly doesn't bother me that I'm the designated diaper changer in our family.  

That said, I simply had to share this story because the absurdity is absolutely laughable.  Yesterday (Sunday), I passed Conor off to Mike and said his diaper needed to be changed.  Mike looked at me in all seriousness and said, with awe on his face, "But I changed him on Friday!" (Mike: I was joking!  And, by the way missy, who ended up changing him?  Me!)  I immediately burst out laughing and asked him to think about what he was saying.  His first reaction was, "Well, I only change him once a week!" though as he said this, a smile spread across his face.  He couldn't help but laugh at himself as well.  He knew he'd just dug himself into a hole and was better off just not talking any more!  

All I have to say is thank goodness I'm the diaper changer in the family, or the poor kid would be miserable, languishing in a scary-full diaper for days on end!