What a Day...

Today was a pretty eventful day.

First, Alexander slept pretty well in his crib last night. He slept from 8p to 1:30am and then after nursing on one side, Mommy & Alexander fell back asleep. Once I woke up, I nursed him on the other side which I'm surprised he stayed awake for because he was in that sleepy zone. Then, I put him back into his crib to see what he would do and he stayed there without much fuss. So he slept in there from 3a-6:30am! And he may have slept longer but I heard him make noises so I went to get him because I was still half-asleep.

Then we got out of bed after a small catnap & nursing @ 8:30am. We finished 'breakfast' downstairs with Dragon Tales and Clifford. A bit later on, I noticed that Alexander was rubbing his eyes, and really didn't seem into nursing or much of anything else. So I decided to go for it.

What you ask is "it"? Well, putting him down for a nap and letting him cry to sleep. I rocked him a bit in the rocking chair and he was in fact tired, as he closed his eyes. So I moved him to his crib, crossed my fingers, and stepped back.

At first, he didn't make that much of a peep and I thought it was too easy. I went downstairs and turned on the monitor. Then all Hell broke loose. He started to cry. I stood at the bottom of the stairs. He started to cry harder. I shifted at the bottom of the stairs. He started to wail and produce his ear-piercing cries. I went upstairs and stood outside his door. He would cry very hard and then whimper. This continued for 8-10 minutes. And for the last 4 minutes, my eyes were welling up. I felt so bad as a Mommy - what was I doing to this poor child? However, I knew nothing was wrong. So I didn't go get him. I let him cry it out and he did.

Finally, he stopped crying so I went into his room and, low & behold, he was asleep. I felt such a sense of accomplishment seeing as how we knew we had to bite the bullet and do it sooner or later. It was exactly what the little guy needed - some sleep and he needs to learn to put himself to sleep, so it's one step in that direction.

I figured while he was asleep I'd make a few phone calls. First I called town hall where he was born to see if his birth certificate was there. Then I called his doctor (story in next post), and lastly daycare to get ready for next week.

He slept for almost three hours which is fantastic. He woke up, nursed, and then it was time to go to see Dr. M. He was in such a good mood ever since he woke up from his nap, but once we started to head home - the cries started. He couldn't be hungry already - he just ate 2 1/2 hours ago. But alas, he was. He sucked down a bottle. When we got home, he pretty much stayed fussy but I didn't want to put him down for a nap at 4:30pm because then it would mess up bedtime. It was getting closer to bedtime and seeing as how he was extra fussy, we started bedtime earlier than usual tonight. I knew he was tired because he would stop eating and close his eyes. But he was extra fussy during this feeding which is unlike him. He usually eats no problem until he's full. So once I knew I wasn't getting more milk in him, I decided to put him down in his crib and see what happens. Same as earlier. He was fine for a moment or two and then *bam* CRIES!

Although the crying was louder and more painful for me to listen to, thankfully it was shorter. Only 4 minutes. Hopefully, he learns sleeping sooner rather than later, because I hate to listen to my little guy miserable. Another step in the sleep direction - fingers crossed that it continues.

Doctor Appointment

I called Dr. M this morning for two reasons. One I wanted to get his take on Alexander's feeding schedule and what we should be feeding him once he goes into daycare next week because I'm nursing and giving him bottles randomly throughout the day, it's hard to know how much he takes per feeding. And the second reason is that I noticed a red mark/imprint on the bottom of his foot yesterday and I didn't know what it was.

The red mark came out of nowhere. We woke up yesterday morning and all was well. Alexander was in a good mood and nursing on schedule. We took a bath in the morning and I got him dressed. He was cuddled up on me as I was sitting on the chair. I noticed he was so quiet and the little guy was tuckered out from the bath and was napping. ahhhh.

He woke up a bit later on and I noticed there was a mark on his foot. I thought that it was an imprint from my clothing or my rings because it didn't hurt him when I touched it. I looked at it about an hour later and it was still there. I figured I'd keep an eye on it and see if it goes away later on and since it wasn't hurting him I wasn't going to rush to the ER on a Sunday. (We don't do Emergency Rooms on Sundays - it's a long story) I told Dan that if it was still there in the morning, I'd call the doctor.

We woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check his foot and the mark was still there. It still didn't appear to hurt him but I still wanted to call the doctor. I spoke to Dr. M's wife (who's an RN & works with him) and we talked about his feeding, etc and she said it would be great if I could come in today because Dr M should take a look at his foot.

Dr. M has no idea what the mark is on his foot but is not that concerned about it. He wants to keep an eye on it to see if it goes down or away. We're not sure what it is, but I'm glad Dr. M saw the mark and he's not concerned. We'll just keep our eyes on it.

Then we talked about the feedings etc. Honestly, the whole thing is confusing and very overwhelming because as a Mom you want to make sure you're giving your child everything they need and there are so many options that we spoke about. One's thing for sure is that Alexander is definitely getting plenty of food right now - whether it's breastmilk or the formula because Dr. M weighed him again and he gained almost a full pound in almost 2 weeks! He's now 10 lbs 3 oz, which puts him in the 5th percentile so he's still little for his age.

I told Dr. M that I want to make sure Alexander's getting enough to eat but I don't want to overfeed him as I don't want him to be a porker. And if he's gained almost a pound in 2 weeks, the little guy needs to slow down or he won't be so little anymore.

We're going to try an experiment for the next 24 hours to see what patterns surface and then make some decisions from there

Week Eleven

Here's a look back at Week Eleven (June 4th through June 10th), & some of my favorite pictures from the week.

• Fitting into 0-3 or 3 Months clothes much better of which Auntie Alyson supplied him with the coolest clothes for summer - he's a lucky little boy to have her as a godmother!
• His christening has been confirmed for August 4th @ my church!
• Bedtime was going well and we switched from his Pack & Play to his crib beginning on Tuesday
• He wouldn't sleep the entire night in his crib nor would he sleep through the night, just yet.
• His longest stretch of sleeping was Tuesday night - 9:30pm to 3:30am (first night in crib)
• Still wakes up around 5-5:30am.
• During the random times he falls asleep during the day, he cries very hard as if he's having a bad dream and still is sleeping, but doesn't do this when he wakes up at night or first hing in the morning

• Went with Daddy for a walk in my snugli & liked being in there
• Rolled over twice (tummy to back) and will crawl when he's on his tummy if you put your hands to his feet as a "wall"
  

  

• Auntie Alyson came over & we went shopping to which Alyson got to witness his 'freak-out' moments.
• Had his first real "ouch" moment at home when Mommy was clipping his nails and got a bit of skin. That hurt me just as much - I felt so bad!
• Still loves bathtime and loves being in the water. I can't wait until he's big enough to play with bath toys.
• Ran errands with Mommy & went for a 2 mile walk

• Oscar & Elmo from Sesame Street make Alexander laugh
• Had a good giggle after rolling over which made his body shake along with him
• Still loves to eat & would eat all day if you let him
• Is getting a much better sense of his hands and puts them in his mouth
• Not a big fan of his binky anymore
• Starting to grab onto objects (blankets) and has a good hold
• Noticed his feet for the first time

Put on his NY Yankees pjs for Daddy and for Aunt Kathy who spent her money on them. This was ONLY for Daddy and not something Mommy will do often.

A Day in the Life...

A Day in the Life

As anyone who knows me, they know I take an obscene amount of pictures. So there's no surprising anyone that I would continue the tradition on with my child. I sent out an email recently with the Daily Picture Slideshow to show how Alexander changes over time.

I figured I would post the link here in case any of you have lost the email - you can check it from this link because I will continue to add pictures to the album for each day. Now don't yell at me if I don't add them each day because I haven't figured out how life will be once I go back to work, but I will do my best.

Enjoy, I know I do.

All in a Baby Day...

We are now going on the 5th night in a row of Alexander sleeping in his crib! It's just such a nice feeling. It would be an even better feeling if after he wakes up for his nighttime feeding that he would go back to sleep in his crib. Doesn't he look so little in his crib?

Actually, it would be a fantastic feeling if he would sleep through the night!

Last night, Alexander was exhausted after a day of errands with Mommy & Auntie Alyson. He went to sleep @ 6p, but only to wake up at 10:30pm. He fell asleep in his crib for another hour, but then he was done. He wanted no part of his crib. In fact, all he wanted to do was nurse. Made for a long evening.

Today the weather has been rainy & chilly all day so it's made for a drab day. I think that's affected Alexander because he was a fuss-budget ALL day. Daddy is away kayaking/fishing so it was a Mommy & Alexander day. It made it a bit difficult to do anything because Alexander's attention span was 10 minutes max on anything.

However on a happy note, this morning Alexander rolled over (tummy to back) twice! I put him on his tummy and he immediately grabbed the blanket and rolled over. I put him on his tummy again and he did it again. And after the second time, he was all giggles. The kind of giggles that were loud and had his body was moving. It was absolutely adorable.

I tried to press my luck and go for a third time. He wanted no part of rolling over. This time, he would grab the blanket and inch his way forward. I put my hands against his feet for support and he was a rocket across the floor! Once he actually figures out how to crawl - we're in trouble!

While he's sleeping, I'm not going to press my luck again - I'm going to take a shower!

Eleven Weeks...

Wow, time really does fly. I can't believe that Eleven weeks today Alexander was born. It really feels like he's still only two weeks old. However, he certainly feels bigger than he did when he was two weeks old.

We had some quiet time today before our afternoon nap. He took a nearly 3 hour nap this afternoon. Probably the longest nap he's taken in weeks!

Milestone Week...

We've achieved two more "milestones" this week. Okay, they're not the tried & true milestones but they're things we've tried in the past with no success but they worked this week.

The first, and most important one, is that Alexander has now slept in his crib two nights in a row!! WHOOO HOOO! Previously, Alexander has been going to bed either in his bassinet, with Mommy & Daddy and most recently & effectively in his pack & play. However, we tried starting bedtime upstairs and putting him down in his crib. And it worked! Tuesday night he slept for 6 hours, and then last night he was down for 4 hours before he woke up.

We're still working & hoping for the all-nighter but for the meantime, at least he's in his crib and he will sleep there!

Then the other item is that he went into the snugli with Daddy and didn't mind it. He went for a small walk with Daddy and just enjoyed looking around and drooling all over the snugli! He went to visit our neighbor in it yesterday who thinks he's adorable!

This second picture is to show his love for blowing bubbles - which he does all the time!