Sleep

Well, I can't officially call it sleeping through the night, because I did have to get up at 1:30 and re-swaddle and re-binky him (I worry that maybe we're forming a habit???). But he did make it from about 7pm until almost 6am until he needed to eat again. So we got some pretty good sleep for a change. He was very hungry and mom's boobs were very full, but that didn't stop him from eating.

Christmas was loud. It was good. There were 8 kids ranging from 9 years to 9 months. The Boy got a little over-stimulated a couple times, but for the most part it was all good.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

9 1/2 Weeks

I really just wanted to have a post with that title. I'll even go so far as to cheat and post-date this for tomorrow morning at 1:32 am.

Yesterday at the Doctor's office, he weighed 16 lbs. 4 oz. They were kind enough to just write >95% for his weight percentile. At this rate, he'll be out of his infant carrier by 4 months! Our friends who have the exact same carrier used theirs until 9 months!

He also got 4 shots. He wailed at the time, but he calmed down in just a few minutes and then just slept a lot the rest of the day. He was quite the trooper! Thanks to those that recommended we give him Tylenol before the appointment, that may have helped.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

It's Not Whether You Win Or Lose.

The Blues won a game!!! Oh, wait, it was against one of the other worst teams in the NHL. Nevermind.

FILE UNDER: SPORTS

I Want A Jet Ski

I actually had to stop watching this for a minute because I was laughing so hard. I love Whose Line Is It, Anyway. This is definitely one of their funniest moments.

http://www.squizzle.com/movieview.asp?id=2191

FILE UNDER: HUMOR

8 Weeks

The Boy is 8 weeks old today.

I'm embarrassed to say we've lost something of his. We lost his neck. However, we did find one extra chin. And before it's all over, there may be more than one extra chin. I think we're about to lose his knees, also. But he's got enough thighs for 2 or 3 babies. He weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long.

(Speaking of long, when do you officially switch from "long" to "tall"?)

He rolls over from his tummy to his back, to his right all the time. He's done it to the left once. When he doesn't immediately roll over when we give him tummy time, he looks straight out, sometimes even up. He seems pretty fond of a particular stuffed dog. It rattles and squeaks and barks and crinkles and all that good stuff.

He definitely prefers mommy at this point, but we still have good times together. We read and play and get tummy time and watch some sports on TV (but not too much TV). I'm still managing to stay calm when he's having a fit. But it's much much harder when I myself am over tired. So I'm focusing on not getting so tired.

Since he never passed the hearing screening in the hospital, we had several follow up tests, OAEs and ABRs and what-have-you. The audiologist has diagnosed him with mild hearing loss at low frequencies. So when speaking at a normal conversation volume, he probably hears vowels and "m" & "n" & such more like a whisper. Whereas, "shh" & "s" & "t" & such are probably more normal. It doesn't appear to be just fluid or wax buildup. She is recommending hearing aids. We've spoken t an ENT once, and will speak with him again. We're also going to get another opinion. Of course, we'd break the bank for anything he needs, we just want to make sure he really needs it and that it will be beneficial. I learned that hearing aids are not covered by our insurance.

The Boy and The Wife (a.k.a. The Mom) left today to visit grandma for a couple days. I was really sad to see them go. Luckily, I got to come home at lunch and play with him and we even took a little nap together.

There are so many little things I want to post about on a daily basis so I don't forget them, but I just never get around to it. Plus, some things are just better live than Memorex.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Baby Blog

Yesterday, I got to sleep in a little with mommy & daddy. After breakfast, we played in my room for a while. I had some good tummy time. I finally decided to go ahead and show mommy that I can roll over. I did it 5 times before I got really tired. I thought maybe I was being a little too mean by only rolling over when daddy was around. I took a long nap and then had second breakfast. I sat in bouncy chair while mommy and daddy hung giant socks and put up this big green triangle thingy. It has neat lights and shiny round things on it. It all seems a little weird to me, but whatever. Then they put me in that stupid torture chair and then put me in that big box on wheels. That's the last thing I remember for an hour or so. I know we went somewhere else and I missed out on a lot of fun, but I just couldn't stay awake. Mommy bought me this bitchin' Tigger coat/onsie thing. All the other kids will be so jealous. Lunch was good. Mommy makes really good meals. At one point, we sat in front of this big box with lots of colors and movement. It seemed like there were people running back and forth with some kind of ball. It was neat. The people in red seemed the happiest. That's cool because the people in blue and orange seemed kind of dorky. I had second lunch and thirdsies and took another short nap or two. Daddy laid on the floor next to me and read me three books. I hit him in the face several times to thank him.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Break On Through To The Other Side

I had a total breakdown last night. He was screaming and I couldn't stay calm, which just made him worse. So I handed the little bagpipe to Mom and went on to have a screaming, crying fit of my own. Then I did some reading on anger management as it relates to being a parent, etc. I wrote down all my feelings and my plan. I have a zero-tolerance policy for my angry fits. They won't happen again.

I had a total breakthrough this morning. He was crying and screaming and arching his back. I stayed calm by speaking calmly to him. Telling him I really wanted him to stop. And that it makes me sad and mad when he does this. And that Daddy has him and was trying to fix whatever was wrong. Of course, he understands none of this. But saying it out loud is the release I needed instead of letting it build up and get me angry. And saying it calmly helped soothe him. I knew he had recently been changed, so didn't think that was the issue. He didn't seem cold or hot. I wasn't quite sure about gas. But he did seem to be hungry. So I told him we'd go see if the Booby factory was open or if I needed to heat a bottle. We found out the Booby factory would open in a few minutes, so we binkied and pinkied and managed to stay fairly calm until then.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Roll Over, Beethoven

Before this morning, The Boy had rolled over on 3 separate occasions. All 3 being more accident than anything. This morning, he was having tummy time and after about 5 minutes, he rolled over. I put him back on his tummy and he immediately rolled over again. So I put him back on his tummy. He rolled over AGAIN. So I put him back on his tummy. This time, he was tired, so it took him a little longer, but he did it AGAIN. HOLY and SHIT! 4 times. Four. 1, 2, 3, 4, FOUR.

Next week we're going to the DMV to get his learner's permit.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD