It’s very interesting to see how Mads interacts with other children. He seems much more curious about them in general than adults, which I suppose makes sense. Of course he interacts every day with two 2 year old twins at daycare, but we never get to see that. He still kind of does his own thing, but if another child starts playing with something interesting he’ll run over and check it out.

One of the funniest moments of the weekend was when Maddox became absolutely enthralled by these huge tubs of ice filled with soda at a get-together we had on Saturday. He spent literally thirty minutes moving pieces of ice, one by one, from one bucket to another. Then he spent the next thirty minutes stirring them with a stick. By the end of it, three other children were all stirring the ice with sticks. Who knew a one year old could be such a little leader.

Earlier in the day we also discovered the wonderful Cashman Park, which is right on the water in Newburyport. It has three sections for each age group, has lots of shade for when it’s sunny, and is surrounded by huge fields. It’s also really nice to have Maddox be skilled enough at moving around that we can plop him down and off he goes. We still have to be very careful around steps though as about 15% of the time he isn’t aware of them, and another 15% of the time he figures he’ll just try walking right down them and see what happens.

It certainly is a learning experience though, as a parent, figuring out the dynamics of interacting with other parents and their children on the playground. Again, Mads mostly found his own thing to do (he’s really into moving woodchips around), but he did have one cute moment where another girl his age came up and hugged him. I don’t think he noticed though, he seemed very focused on the woodchips at the moment.

Sure, I’ve heard about those babies who sleep through the first night home from the hospital. I’ve decided these are mythological beasts, or else that their parents were so sleep-deprived that they think 20 minutes of sleep is 8 hours.

But 5 hours is pretty great, especially for the past two nights because he’s stayed up until 9, so I don’t have to get up until 2. Per my Mom’s suggestion I’ve started changing him after he eats, instead of before. He used to wake up and demand playtime when I did this, but now he’s got enough in his tummy to keep him pretty content through the changing and re-swaddling. This is also great because he doesn’t scream his head off for food and wake up Dad.

The other day, when Mads was crazier than usual and didn’t nap, it made me realize what a difference 2 months has made. The first month, I was constantly exhausted because I just held him all the time and never had a break. I wasn’t sure if his crying meant hunger or needing to be changed or something else. (It’s still a guessing game sometimes, but it’s considerably easier.) And, he woke up every 2 hours at night, so there was no rest then as well.

On fussy weekends, Jon will praise me for my patience with Mads, and it’s funny because while it can be difficult, this requires so much less patience than a month ago. Maddox naps for at least an hour during the day, even on fussy days. On good days, he’ll nap for 3 or 4 hours, spread out throughout the day. And 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep makes all the difference.

It’s going to be tough when I go back to work. There’s a lot to coordinate, but when I think of people who do parenting solo, I just feel lucky that Jon will be around to help. Also, I think it’s a good thing that Jon will be with me when we drop Maddox off at Jeanne’s – I think I would just keep driving and hope no one at work noticed that the baby was outside instead of still inside. I mean, if I wore the Bjorn under my shirt, who could tell, right? =P

Mads usually gets up around when Dad leaves for work, between 6 and 8. He has breakfast and then we have playtime and I take care of the little things, like trimming his nails or restocking his wipes.

After playtime, I bring Mads out to his Pack n Play and wrap him up for his morning nap. This morning, he’s not really into napping, so he’s making noises and watching things while Mom blasts Norah Jones and hopes that he’ll fall asleep. Today he’s going over to Grammy & Papa’s for lunch (I have a meeting) and I’ll probably have to get him up in the middle of his nap, since he’s late going down.

It is so, so wrong to wake up a sleeping baby after all the effort to get him to sleep.

On an ordinary day, Mads has lunch after his nap, and then we play some more and go out. We’ll visit Dad or Grammy & Papa, or my work. Yesterday, Auntie Kate came up and we went for a walk, which was terrific because all that good fresh air was soporific and he slept for 90 minutes.

I’m hoping that the afternoon nap will become a fixture. Usually, it’s only 30 minutes, but yesterday it cut “crazy time” down by about an hour.

What is “crazy time?” Well, between the afternoon nap and bedtime around 8, Mads likes to either move constantly or eat insatiably. After Mom and Dad are ready for the nuthouse, he then proceeds to pass out for a 4 or 5 hour stretch. I go to bed as soon as he does, since he’s up 2 or 3 times during the night. This is a vast improvement – it used to be every 2 hours.

All in all, this is a pretty good schedule. Any sort of schedule appeals to me, since I live to plan and even having a loose plan helps. Having crazy time is tough, but it’s more than balanced out with Maddox going longer between feedings and with his increasingly adorable awake times. He smiles all the time – sometimes he’ll be having a screaming fussy fit and then he’ll pause, grin at you, and then continue. It is impossible to be mad or even frustrated with someone so cute.

Here’s Mads with his new toy, courtesy of Auntie Kristy. The beginning of the video is pretty cute, but then he kind of just stares at me like, what the heck am I supposed to do with that, Mom, I’m just learning how to use my thumbs.

Basic Stats

Our “little guy” is not so little anymore. He will be 6 weeks old on Saturday and he’s already wearing 3-6 month clothing. He met cousin Aoife (Auntie Kristy’s daughter) for the first time last weekend. Here’s Aoife holding Maddox, taken by Dad:

And a video:

Note how she’s about twice his size.

She’s 2 1/2.

Now, being his Mom, I’m ridiculously proud of him for growing. It’s great – he’ll be able to intimidate all the mean kids on the playground if they try to steal his ice cream.

Health

I’ve been sick for the past week – temp fluctuating between 102 and 104, muscle aches, chills, you name it. I’ve been worried about Maddox getting sick, and Jon stayed home on Tuesday to take care of him.

The OB GYN, pediatrician and lactation consultants had conflicting opinions about whether I should feed Mads formula or not, so after much debate, we kept him on formula while the fever was up and then switched back to regular feeding when it returned to normal.

On a positive note, we realized how loved Maddox is and how great it is to live near a support network of family and friends. On Wednesday, Papa (my Dad) and Auntie Kate came up for shifts to help out, and Nonni (Jon’s Mom) even volunteered to fly in. Also, it’s great to know that he’ll take formula – now there’s just a little bit less pressure on Mom in case of emergencies.

Updates From This Morning

Here are some quick images, before he wakes up and computer time is over:

This last photo isn’t from this morning, but it’s still cute:

We’ve tried the white noise and the prenatal sounds, which are kind of strange. Last night, we got all crazy and put it on the dolphins setting. I wasn’t sure what this would sound like – I guess I was kind of imagining humpback whale sounds. You know, like these.

But, it was surprisingly pleasant. Lots of splashing and gurgling, although no whale sounds, sadly. Maddox seems to like the noises, and they sure put Jon and me to sleep pretty quickly.

The only one I can’t use is the driving setting, because the random acceleration stresses Jon out (he’s been driving in Salem too much) and because it makes me get that hot-tired-groggy feeling that you get when you fall asleep in the backseat of a car for too long.

All in all, I’d vote yes for this product, and thanks for getting it for us, Auntie Kristy!

More pictures here.

It’s amazing how much more you can get done when you’ve had sleep.

Last night, Maddox slept for a 4 hour stretch, then for 4 more hours, then for 2 more.  He’s been doing 1-2 hour stretches lately, with one longer one, so this was great.  I actually woke him up the first time (at 2) because I wasn’t sure what was going on.  Where was the hungry monster?

This morning, I was able to eat breakfast, spray the plants with lemon oil for fruit flies, repack his diaper bag (I carry it around the house in case he needs to nurse), and get out the swing from Auntie Kristy for Mads to try.  He’s been enjoying it, but unfortunately, hungry monster has returned, and it’s time for a break from blogging and back to my status of Mommy Moo Cow.