Friday, May 25, 2012

Happy Baby

I wish that my baby could be trained to wake up from naps like THIS:


This video makes me so ridiculously happy!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

11 hours and 20 minutes of heaven

Just one month ago, I was a miserable momma of a miserable baby who was over tired, completely reliant on me, and frustrated at every nap and ALL.THROUGH.THE.NIGHT. My young, sweet boy made it a full year without ever getting more than 3-5 hours of sleep. Granted, for months and months and months, he was a happy, snuggly sleeper who I enjoyed sharing my bed with. He slept pretty steadily minus nursing breaks, and I did too. We got so good at it that we could both sleep. Then, he turned a year and was eating more and more and he didn't need as much milk. But he still woke up. He wasn't thirsty or hungry, but since he was up, he figured we should play.

On April 29th, I made the following post (plea?) on the Baby Whisperer Forums. NW= NIght Waking, EW = Early Waking, BT = Bedtime, A time = Activity Time,

31 SLEEP / Sleeping For Toddlers / 13mo never STTNon: April 29, 2012, 03:22:08 AM
BACKGROUND: I successfully BW him to a good EASY around 7 months and stopped nursing to sleep but still had to stand over his crib for him to fall asleep. With teething and weaning, things are just out of hand.

On a good day (very rare lately), here is how our schedule goes:
6:30: Wake. Nurse in my bed. We usually play in my bed till seven.
7:30: Breakfast
10: Nap 1.25-1.5 hours (He usually seems very tired by 9 but that seems really early. A time = 3.5hr)
12: Lunch
3:30: Nap (maybe catnap) 45 min - 1 hour. (A time = 4hr)
7:00: Dinner followed by bath which he screams through.
7:30: Start winding down. We say good night to things
8: Bedtime
1am: NW I try to nurse him but the ... (20 min to get him down)
3am: NW (10 minutes to put him down)
5am:NW Attempt nursing (20 min to get him down)

OK, but today (and many days lately) went like this:
6am: Up
10: Nap (45 minutes - my husband tried to resettle him but no luck. I think I could have. A time:4hr)
2:45: Nap. He fell asleep in the car and I moved him into bed. 1 hr total. A time:4hr
7:30 started wind down.
8: Tried to put him down, couldn't. My husband took over and let him play for 20 minutes on the floor. He tried PD for about 10 minutes but LO kept looking over his shoulder to make sure DH was in the room.)
8:45 I went back in and it took about 15 minutes of PD for him to fall asleep. I shushed him over his crib for about 6 minutes and he is asleep now.
I am anticipating NW of every 1-2 hours after the BT we had.

I just don't know where to start. I am not sure which problem to tackle - resettling, EW, NW, weaning issues, SA. Help!

That was less than a month ago. Here is what I posted today.

1 SLEEP / Sleeping For Toddlers / Re: 13mo sttn at Gma, not at home. help!on: Today at 12:40:42 AM
Alrighty ladies, I think this baby is officially sleep trained. I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I AM. His last four sleeptimes (BT today, 2 naps today, BT last night) I AND the nanny were able to do our routine and walk out. We have never had to go back. It is just beyond my comprehension, to be honest.

Tonight I thought it wasn't going to work. He was pretty uninterested in nursing. He drank half a bottle but never closed his eyes. He was crying when I put him in bed. I laid him down an extra time because he jumped up as soon as I put him down. THen, I just walked out. I paused in the door but just kept going. And, you know what, he was silent the minute I left. I actually think this baby is so confident and comfortable putting himself to sleep that he actually just wants me to leave. Now, I have the next 11 hours and 20 minutes to myself. This is such an amazing feeling. I can't thank you enough Sammysmammy! I have tried to do this for almost seven months and I have never gone the full distance and I think your support made all of the difference. Thank you thank you thank you.

These posts are from the Baby Whisperer Forum and I cannot express to you what a wonderful wonderful resource these boards and particularly one experienced Aussie momma "Sammysmammy" have been for us. (Granted, the four nights Zayd spent with Nani are what made all of the training possible.) I have been posting after every nap and BT and even after nightwakings all month and getting support and ideas from the momma's on the board. And look at us now! We are getting sleep, we know so much about sleep (did you know that a 13mo should get 2 - 2.5 hours of day sleep and 11-12 hours of night sleep?), and we are happy!

Now I am going to go enjoy my time off.

In case you are wondering here is what our schedule looks like nowadays:
5:30:  Wake up
7:00:  Breakfast
9 or 9:30:  Naptime - usually 45 minutes
12:00: Lunch
1:45 or 2:15: Naptime - 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. (usually 1 hour or more)
5:00 or 5:30: dinner
6:00: Start the BT routine
6:30: Bed! He sleeps for 11 hours and 20 minutes without needing momma for ANYTHING!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Fun in the Sun

Zayd and I went to the Sesame Street Bay of Play at SeaWorld today. We now have a season pass since when we met my cousin up there two weeks ago, it turned out that it was the same price for an unlimited visit fun pass as it was for a one day ticket - so not a hard decision.

Zayd enjoys Mommy's rendition of George of the Jungle:


He really couldn't care less about the awesome water park behind him, he wanted to climb the fence. He was trying his little heart out and then spotted a four year old boy scampering to the top. As soon as the boy jumped down, Zaydie ran over and took the little boys spot. It seems he thought the problem wasn't his upper body strength but rather the particular spot in the fence that he was trying to ascend.


My little adventurer took off into the tubes with little fear. I had to follow behind him though to unstick his foot from the ropes. He was just the right size to get caught every few steps.


And in the tube, he made a friend!




Head, shoulders, knees, and toes. (We pretty much only do head and toes, right now.)


And, who knew, my baby has leg hair!?! I sprayed sunblock on him and look at what I found. Also, that black toe nail is from when he dropped a wooden toddler chair on his foot a few weeks ago.


So, if you are ever in San Antonio, and eager to see Shamu, just let us know. We randomly head over there to beat the heat!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Incoming!

The cliche that moms don't get any privacy, not even a chance to use the restroom alone, is 100% true. Until you have a kid, you don't realize how true it will be. You just can't wrap your head around it because you never realize how many things you do alone until you aren't alone anymore. In fact, I think Sam has no idea that for 90% of the showers I have taken in the last year, Zayd has been right outside that sliding glass door.

As an infant, he would sleep or scream while in his carseat. I thought in the carseat he was a little elevated so maybe he could see me. I tried taking him with me in a shower sling a few times and that was just a mistake.

As a sitter, I could plop him down on the shaggy rug and give him a toy or two. He would reach for me, but couldn't get to me, so it wasn't impossible to make work.

Once he could cruise or just barely walk, he was so interested in what was in the cabinets (cleaned out to be baby-proofed) and especially what was in my makeup bag that this was my easiest showering period. Ah, months 10-12, how I miss you!

Now, it is a full on war during MY showertime. He doesn't want ME to be showering when we could obviously be playing. He wants to see what happens when he gets things wet but will scream if he gets splashed. Worst of all, he knows how to open the sliding glass doors.

Nowadays, we usually do songs that require a lot of movements while I try to shower. During a lovely rendition of head, shoulders, knees and toes this week I got a crazy surprise. While simultaneously scrubbing my scalp and touching my toes I came up to find Zaydie with the shower doors open and armed with a weapon. And then it came flying at me. I screamed and ducked out of the way. The toilet brush that is usually nestled so carefully in its (disgusting) little toilet brush holder had been wriggled free by the lentil and was coming my way. It missed me, thank goodness, but I did have to share my shower with the brush until I was finished - no way I was putting it back out there with him.

I have no photos to go along with these shenanigans so here are a few of Zaydie during and post his bath this weekend. The cutest. :)




Sunday, May 13, 2012

Meals with my Monster

Despite Zayd very seldom eating all/most/some of what I have put in front of him, he seems to have put on a little weight and has a teeny potbelly! Go Zayd! Make that pediatrician stop looking at Mommy like I'm starving you!

If you come over for a meal, you are likely to be offered food from Zayd's tray:


He will occasionally smile at you, but will also yell A LOT:


When you dine with Zayd, he expects you to clap after every third bite or so. Oh, and he hates to wear his shirt while he eats.


He will be happy to show you his spoon and fork skills:


He might get distracted from the task at hand and set off making elephant noises. You are, again, expected to clap:


He likes to have a multi-sensory dining experience. (It helps to not have a shirt on so you can feel the cold yogurt on your chest and shoulders.)


When he is done, he will tell you so with his rendition of the "all done" sign. Until then, he will sign more as shown below (and above).


On the go, he loves these little pouches of pureed fruit, veggies, and yogurt. Here he is enjoying the Shamu show at SeaWorld.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Kiddie Park with my fave Kiddo

Last week Zayd and I made a duo-trip to Kiddie Park before the place got too hoppin with summer tots and the weather got so hot you'd rather die than sit on a hot metal toddler boat. He is still only big enough to ride the carousel but this time I let him ride on the horse instead of sitting on a bench seat with mom. Granted, I think he hated the freedom, and I was technically holding him on the horse the whole time, but it's still a sign that he is growing up. Before you know it, he'll pick his own carousel horse and ride without fear - one of Kiddie Park's famous 100 year old carved wooden horsies, that is.









PS Follow the Kiddie Park link to find out more about this awesome little spot of history right in Mahncke Park!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Take time to smell the roses

Somehow, it has been a very very long time since I updated you all on the little lentil.

After he turned one, we just had a snowball of events - work trips to Maryland (me) and Colorado (Sam) and soon Minnesota (both!), illness, three new teeth, weaning, a sleep regression that is kicking my butt. I have thought up blog posts nearly every day but haven't committed myself to coming here and getting them out. I don't think I can catch up, but I will give a quick run down of what's new with Baby Zayd since he is now 13 months old.

New "tricks" and the things we've learned

  • "Zayd, whats an elephant say?" He raises an arm and squeals - adorable. He likes to do this first thing in the morning because he knows I find it extremely impressive!
  • He minds me (sometimes!). "Zayd can you sit on your bottom?" And he does. I always feared having a child who would ignore my every request since I believe in a much softer version of parenting but it seems you can teach with love just as well, thank you very much.
  • He actually smells the flowers that I buy every week. We smell them all at the market before we pick some out. (I think he is technically just sticking his face in them, but whatever.)
  • He is getting pretty handy with a spoon and fork. :)
  • His sign language is going fantastic. He signs "more" when he wants to eat, "milk" when he's thirsty, "doggie" when we see the neighborhood dogs, "all done" when he is finished with his meals. We are working on "home" and "diaper". Its amazing how fast he (toddlers) pick stuff up!
  • He gives the cutest hugs and kisses. Really he just bends his head down and put the crown of his head to your lips, but he thinks it counts and I'll take it. "Can I have a kiss?" He never says no!
  • He is still a skinny mini but we are working on it with lots of whole milk and its fat-full relatives - greek yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese - you name it!