Jon’s parents came in to visit yesterday, and of course, they are thrilled to see Maddox. This morning, when Maddox decided that 7am was happy fun time (i.e. talking up a storm and repeatedly thwacking Mom and Dad in the face) Jon scooped him up and dropped him on Nonni’s lap.
This was a win situation all around. Nonni got some more baby time, and Jon & I got a whole extra hour of sleep.
You can call in the FBI, because this is now officially a hostage situation. I don’t think I’m going to let them go home.
Based on this picture of Nonni reading to Mads last night, I don’t think she’ll mind very much. =)
This morning, Mads had bath time after we got up. You can see he’s slightly confused by this change in schedule, because we usually do baths in the evenings to alleviate crazy time.
After the bath, he didn’t want to be put down in his Pack ‘n Play, but he did consent to sit in a chair. He’s not sitting up on his own yet, but soon!
You can see that he finds my company somewhat less than stimulating!
After about 5 minutes, he started looking around for food (i.e. Mom) expectantly. So, the party was over, and the chair no longer cut it. After making this clear, he had a 35 minute breakfast and now he’s snoozin’ away in his baby burrito.
I’ve been informed by my sister, who is my constant source of baby-wisdom, that 5 continuous hours of sleep at 2 months is incredible. I agree. It’s funny how 5 hours of sleep is suddenly a lot. Before having Mads, I would sometimes sleep around the clock and then a few more hours, just for fun. (I don’t really miss this, but it’s mind-boggling to remember.)
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
I don’t know if all babies love motion (probably yes, as there are lots of rocking chairs in the world), but it is one of the best ways to calm Maddox down.
This morning, Mads and I slept late (7:30) so he didn’t want to go right down for his nap. I tried cuddling and bouncing and changing him just in case it was cold wet diapers keeping him awake. No dice. So, I put Maddox in his Baby Bjorn (I love the Bjorn) and we went for a 15 minute walk around our apartment complex. By the time we did the last loop, Maddox was fast asleep.
Transferring him to the Pack n Play went fine, and soon he was happily swaddled and listening to iTunes (Stanford Mixed Company a Capella group). Unfortunately, our cats decided that now was a great time to fight each other, so he’s up again. But it’s still amazing how taking a walk will help a sleepy fussy baby make that final transition to sleep.
Although there are always those days when it’s anyone’s bet as to what will happen, Maddox has started to follow a schedule.
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.
