Cognosco

Dear Albie,

So, I was going to skip your monthly update since I already wished you a happy half-birthday, but I feel that thee are just a few things worth mentioning that may not still be relevant a month from now. Keep in mind that even though I tend to be about a week late in writing these things, I only write about things that apply to the time period up to the 14th of each month. Because I am obsessive that way. You should know these sorts of things up front because you’re going to have to deal with it for a long time.

Remember how I said you were a great sleeper and we were lucky? Remember that? It got even better! You started to self-soothe and everything. And you actually had a nap schedule!

And then it all went to shit. Right about the time that you became fluent in rolling over and started to really try to crawl (you’re almost there!) you became almost impossible to put to bed. As soon as you were in the bed, you were on your belly and trying to crawl. And once you finally passed out from exhaustion, you would try to crawl in your sleep. I had read about this sort of thing on the Ask Moxie blog. Thank God I had so I knew it was just some sort of developmental spurt. And really, you would be totally asleep, eyes closed, on your hands and knees, and then wake yourself up. You’d be so pissed about it too. As if, you were crawling just fine in your dreams and had it all worked out and woke up to find out that you still hadn’t mastered it. I was so sad while at the same time, infuriating. I can sympathize. I feel this way about flying. I am always pissed to wake up and find out that I can’t really fly. Not like Superman, more like a grasshopper, in that I sort of bounce and stay in the air for a reeeeaaalllly looooonnnnggg tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimme. But enough about my flying. You still can’t crawl, and you’re still pissed about it. Although, you do manage to get from point A to point B eventually.

The learning to crawl stuff was just one facet of this sleep boycott. The other part, I guess, was just developmental fussiness. You essentially regressed to a newborn for a few weeks in a lot of ways. The only way I could get you to stop screaming at the top of your lungs and settle down to sleep was to swaddle you (no small feat with a near twenty-pounder!) and jiggle you like I used to when you were considerably lighter. And more jiggly. The problem with that is that you can get out of it so easily, and then eventually learned to roll over while swaddled. Which was just way to dangerous because you couldn’t roll back. You also refused to play by yourself and wanted to be carried everywhere again. So I broke out all of the various baby carriers I have acquired and just started wearing you as much as possible again.

And it’s funny, because I talked to a woman with a baby three weeks older than you and she had said that her baby had just “stopped sleeping”. And about a week later, you did the same thing. And then I talked to a woman with a baby a few weeks younger than you, and after you had been doing this anti-sleep campaign for a few weeks, her baby did the same thing. This is further evidence that the Wonder Weeks people are really onto something. So I just kept telling myself that it was a phase and it would get better. But seriously, it was so out of character for you. And it has been getting better in the last few days, which is good, because I am not a good person when I get past a certain threshold of sleep deprivation. I have no patience, and then we all suffer. So, I apologize for the few times I yelled at you in desperation. I am not proud of those moments.

Around the time of your last update, we had just introduced solids. That was a failed experiment. After a few more days, your digestive system went crazy, warranting a doctor visit, and your doctor (to his credit) advised me to just go back to breastfeeding until you were at least 6 months old. So, at this point, you’re not getting solids until after you’ve healed from surgery. And now that you know that food tastes good, you are not amused that it’s not being put into your mouth. Sorry about that.

We got a little clear baby potty to try out some elimination communication with you. It’s actually easier than I thought. We’re not really trying in earnest until after the whole catheter thing is over, but you are at least comfortable enough on the potty to pee into it, which is a great step to start with.

In terms of language development, you have progressed from bbbb’s to ttthhhh’s and even some fffff’s. You will also zerbert any piece of flesh that comes close enough for you to attack it. You clearly and consistently understand two sentences. The first is “give me your hands” so you can be helped up, and the second is, “do you want some milk?” Guess which one elicits a look of glee and sometimes a squeal?

We recently packed away the pack-n-play and purchased a “play yard” which is really just a “baby cage” with a politically correct name. You love it for the most part. As much as you love anything for 15 minutes straight. And you love standing and hanging on to it. You can’t pull up by yourself yet (although you try to in the tub and make it onto your knees) and can’t quite sit up from laying down yet. But if we sit you up you can stay steady for quite awhile and can now break your own fall when you finally topple. You have also recently started to do this little side “pose” that’s incredibly cute. Your head is almost propped on your hand as if you are lounging by the pool. It’s adorable.

You adore car rides if they are not too long. And you also love the shower, including water splashing onto your face. Your two favorite toys right now are a set of plastic keys and a little toy piano with four keys. It makes me so happy to hear you bang away on it.

Things I have learned:

•    This too shall pass (didn’t I learn that once before?)
•    I do not function well when sleep deprived
•    Two steps forward is strongly correlated with one step back
•    A child’s development is far from linear
•    A good sleeper is a good sleeper until s/he just isn’t anymore
•    Once a child becomes an active participant in breastfeeding, s/he also becomes an active acrobat during breastfeeding
•    Making a baby giggle hysterically is what life is all about

I love you, little Dude.

~Mama