Sleepless Nights...Why are we doing this again?

As many of you know, Nicklas has been "sleeping through the night" since about age 10 weeks. Occasionally, he will get up once to feed, but will go right back to sleep, or at least is quiet enough in his crib that I go back to sleep. However, we are making a transitional period where he has cut back to two naps a day instead of three. This means that he's now awake from his afternoon nap around 3 or 3:30 and by 7pm he is wiped out for the night. It's tough putting him to bed this early, because it makes it hard to go anywhere late in evening and Robert and I often have to work late.

However, since he got his six-month vaccinations last Friday, he's stopped wanting to sleep at all! His morning naps are almost non-existant (45 minutes, max) and his afternoon naps have creeped earlier and earlier, so making it to bedtime is a pain. And now, we're waking up every night, sometimes more than once. Dr. Hogan advised me that it's OK to still breastfeed him at night, but I feel like I'm giving him positive reinforcement by feeding him at every night waking. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can handle this? I would like my baby to "sleep through the night" without making it this big traumatic thing. Even if I have to go several days of torture by weaning him off of night-feedings, in the long run I think it would be helpful. I'm just so frazzled...I love my son so much, but his clingy, whiney-ness during the last week or so is really starting to wear me down. We were just doing so well, now I feel like I have a newborn all over again.

On a brighter note, he has started to "army crawl" and "inch worm"; basically, he can move forward on his elbows, or get up on his hands and knees and launch himself forward towards a toy (or something he's not supposed to get into). Yesterday, I wasn't watching and he took apart my Wii system console...I still can't figure that one out. He also pulled himself up into a standing position in his crib, but I had put him down sitting up first. I got some cute pictures of that...I'll post them when I'm not at work (I'm very busy, if you can't tell...)

What a stinker!

Our Six (but really Seven) Month Check-Up

We went yesterday for our six-month check up and vaccines, even though the baby is getting close to seven and a half months now. Nicklas now weighs a healthy 17 lbs and 15 ozs...I could have sworn it was more! He's 26.75 inches long and in the 50th percentile for height and weight. He has two teeth in the bottom front and a healthy appetite for solid foods. His favorites are sweet potatoes (that I make myself) and peas. He's kind of losing interest in the breastfeeding (well, bottle feeding, too) because it requires that he sit still for an extended period of time. It's hard to nurse an 18 pound squirmy baby when all he wants to do is play! The only time he really wants me is in the middle of the night when he wakes up hungry (about once every two or three nights). I asked Dr. Hogan if I was doing him wrong by always feeding him at night, but she said that since he's mainly BF that he might really be hungry at 2AM. I just don't want to spoil him, but we're talking about screaming for hours if I don't feed him versus going right back to sleep in 30 minutes if I do. See what I mean? I don't mind doing it...

I've been getting a lot of work lately, so Nicklas has been spending alot of time with Nana and Robert. It's a blessing really, but I sure do miss him when I'm at work all night and he's asleep when I get home. We've settled into a good routine of naps and bedtimes, finally. And this summer, I'll be filling in full-time for a few months while one of my coworkers is on maternity leave, so Robert will be a stay-at-home dad during much of his summer break. Ha!

Belly Laughs

There's a Hefty garbage bag commercial that has a silly voice going "Stinky Stinky Stinky!" that Nicklas thinks is just hilarious. I caught some cute video of him laughing at me while I sang this to him and tried to shove peas in his mouth simultaneously. It's too cute!

And no, that is not my real laugh...there's something about babies' laughter that turns you into a total idiot :-)

Nicklas' First Trip to Savannah...a Rant...

Playing on the hotel floor...of course I put a blanket under him. Can you imagine the germs and gunk on hotel carpets! At least at home I know who (and what) has been walking there.

Last weekend was All-State Band weekend in Savannah, and Robert had been asked to be the percussion coordinator for the 9-10 Concert Band. Basically, that meant that he was responsible for assigning all percussion parts, gathering and transporting all equipment to and around Savannah, and filling in on parts when necessary. But, he also was comped for hotel stay for four nights (at the Hilton De Soto downtown), meals and mileage. So we decided that Nicklas and I would drive down separate so that Robert would have a car down there (he drove a rental Penske truck to haul all the marimbas, tympani, etc) and we could hang out.

Now, I normally love Savannah. I love the history, the restaurants, the old trolley tours, the garden squares, everything! We went nearly every year when I was a teenager because Jonas and I were in All-State band every year. But Savannah with a baby is not much fun at all. First of all, Robert was in rehearsals most of the day, and when he was, I was stuck in the hotel trying to get Nicklas to take a nap. The hotel staff were very noisy and I had a hard time getting him to sleep (and staying asleep). When Robert was on breaks, we were rushing around to eat or get something he needed for the band before rehearsal and/or Nicklas needed another nap. And when I tried to leave the hotel (alone) I found it impossible to carry the baby with all the "stuff" that I was sure I was going to need. Needless to say, Savannah is NOT stroller friendly! The sidewalks are old and often broken, and there are so many brick and cobblestone streets, you can forget trying to take a stroller through there. Often, one of us would carry Nicklas and the other would carry the stroller!

So the trip pretty much blew a big one, which is sad because the weather was so nice and I really wanted to get some touring in. I even put a deposit down on the Old Town Trolley tours, which picked up and let off right outside our hotel, but I was so busy with naps and getting Robert after rehearsal that I never even rode it. By Saturday, I had had enough, so I left for home right after lunch and abandoned Robert in Savannah for the night. His group's concert wasn't until 5:30, and they were paying for his hotel stay that night, so he drove home in the truck Sunday am.

On the bright side, I got to have lunch with my cousin Susan McGahee (who lives in Savannah) down on River Street on Saturday. Actually, she's my dad's cousin, so I guess that makes her my second cousin, but whatever. We had a good time talking and catching up, and we even got to make a trip to the candy store to get my dad some fudge (per his request). And the weather was beautiful, I got to break out my flip flops!

Here are some pictures I was able to squeeze into our trip. It's hard to remember to take photos when your alone with a seven-month-old and carrying everything you own with you...

On Friday we had breakfast at Clary's, one of my favorite places to eat in Savannah!

He got so dirty with us trying to feed him in restaurant high chairs that I had to give him a bath in the sink of our hotel bathroom. There was no tub, to my dismay...

We've discovered that this rubber ducky will calm a fussy baby better than any pacifier. Needless to say, I pulled it out ALOT during this trip!

It was so warm out on Saturday, we got to pull out our first little shorts outfit of the spring. Isn't he cute!

Snow Day!!

The scene outside our house this afternoon!

Nicklas with Mommy in the snow...what a pouty face!

We are so mean! We had to take his picture in the snow! (Don't worry, we went inside right after this)