Still Sickly

Bright has been napping like a champ since the ear infection- napping like a champ when he is snugged up next to me in our bed that is... I have been bypassing the crib entirely since he will only nap for a half hour in there and will go for almost two hours next to me. Gives us both a chance to recharge. He slept for 6 hours straight again last night. Woke up a bit after 2:00, nursed and was restless. I asked him if he needed a new diaper and he fell asleep while I was changing him. Slept until 6:00 after that. Maybe our boy will become a better sleeper after all? It's funny- he still has night terrors which are really awful to see, but he now also jabbers in his sleep. He must take after his dad. Andy has some strange/unique sleep habits. We will leave it at that.

Now that lil' Chuffy is almost one I find myself getting really caught up with how much he has grown and changed so quickly and how many things I had worried about really weren't worth getting excited about.

One example was the co-sleeping. Doctors advised against it, but told us they did it with their own kids. People told us he would never sleep in a crib and we would have a 15 year old sleeping in our bed with us. well, he sleeps in his crib- not for long, long stretches of time but we are okay with that. It was good for us to have him close by when he was little- good bonding for both. I only wish that I had not been so worried that Andy would crush him- he really likes getting to snuggle him and probably has not had his fair share of that.

Another was the feeding of solid foods- strange how one coast starts them on solids at 4 months, and another waits until 6. Each side thinks the other is a bit off in their decision for one reason or another. Bright's choking on solids sure was rough and made us rethink what the doctor wanted and what we wanted for him. Ultimately he is eating just fine and we never had to subject him the swallowing study after all. Every baby develops at their own pace. Andy really took over on that one and was more brave in getting Bright to try new textures than I ever would have been- although When I see him letting him stick 4 pieces of Veggie Booty in his mouth at one time, I have to put my foot down :)

I cannot get over how fast he took to walking. It seemed like one day we were counting how many steps he was taking at a time and the next we were looking around the room to figure out where he had taken off to. He is super fast and really out of control most of the time. We need to start getting him to wear shoes now. He hates them! All of the ones we had he could never wear because his feet were so chubby. Now when I try with some bigger ones- he cries.

Another was the nursing. So many different people gave me their two cents on this. We're still doing it and he has only been sick, sick once. Still planning on sticking with it a bit more after his birthday. We made it through the tongue tie and clipping, the biting (not fun but it passes), and the super distracted phase. Now I can ask him if he wants milkies as we call it and he says "Yesh" or just keeps playing if he doesn't.

The last thing I miss about his real baby phase is that toothless, gummy mouth smile. Nothing quite as sweet as that- as soon as the first tooth pops in it's gone forever. Sigh.


The Beginning


The Present