It is amazing to me that I could be so excited about the little firsts of my fourth child. I assumed that by the time we got to this point and had seen three other babies bat at toys for the first time that I wouldn't be as thrilled. I was so wrong. Drew batted at and grabbed a toy hanging from his play gym for the first time this week (and many times after,) and I was almost as excited as I was when Hannah scored her first goal. So let the record show that Drew's developmental milestones have a special place in my heart just like Hannah's, Genna's, and Isaac's do.
He almost laughed at his daddy and myself on many occasions this week. I say "almost" because it is more like a chuckle than a true belly laugh that I normally count for first laughs. I did get one real giggle on Monday night before bed though. He was laying on the twin bed and I put my hands on either side of him and bounced the bed, saying, "Bouncy bouncy, bouncy." This used to crack Hannah up when Daddy did this when she was a baby. I remember exactly what each of the children laughed at for the first time. Hannah laughed at me when I was talking to her and being silly before my mom's group started in College Station, TX. Genna laughed at Hannah and I imitating Little Einsteins patting to start the rocket on our screened in porch in NY. Isaac laughed at me sneezing while I dressed him for bed on his changing table in his room in Germany.
He is finally starting to go through some nights without pooping which means we are moving in the right direction for sleeping through the night sometime in the future. He is still nursing 8 times in a 24 hour period which seems a bit much to me, but he is doing well. I am not quite willing to cut one out yet. On our scale, he is 14.6 lbs, and around 25 inches. His 2 month check up and shots are not until next week.
His evenings are going better. His evening schedule:
5:30pm wakes from last nap and nurses
get ready for bed
7:00/7:30pm nurses again and keep awake just a little longer
7:30/7:45pm bedtime routine and in bed (in Woombie)
cries less than 10 minutes
10pm dreamfeed (i.e. nurse and straight back to bed in his Miracle Blanket)
I do not like that he stays awake so long after his last nap. He is exhausted and wants to go to sleep earlier than we put him in bed, but he will not fall asleep if I do not nurse him again before bed at this time of day. I am not nursing him to sleep, but just doing it before we start getting ready for bed. I don't want to put him to bed at 7pm because I think he will wake earlier in the evening for his dreamfeed, and I think his morning waketime will be too early as well. So even though this is not the ideal Babywise schedule, I am happy with the fact that he isn't crying a ton in the evenings anymore and he is still falling asleep on his own without nursing to sleep. I try to keep the last nursing as separate from his bedtime routine as possible and keep him awake a tad longer afterwards so he doesn't get dependent on this nursing.
He is tolerating his siblings getting in his face and being loud around him much much better now. They still adore him. I am completely wrapped around his finger. I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I love this tiny baby. This is a great stage because he is more aware, can be calmed many times by my mere presence or words, he is starting to discover things around him and he is still smallish and adorable and QUIET! I know a lot of people who look forward to the talking, but I have enough talking in my life right now and can definitely enjoy the quiet while it lasts. The things that are not so great about this stage is the babies are still wobbly headed, they are still unpredictable from time to time, they nurse a lot still, and the interruptions in sleep is building up to make one tired Mommy. He is getting heavy now. Gone are the days when I can carry him around one-handed like a football. He wears me out now.
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