The First Rule of Babies Sleeping...

... is you don't talk about babies sleeping.

The second you talk about it, they stop doing it.  But only if you talk about it in a positive since.  Like if you mention that little Muffie is sleeping 8 hours at a time and is only 4 months old, that very night little Muffie is going to go bat-shit crazy and wake up every 2 hours demanding to be fed and cuddled.

We've been lucky that Logan has been in a good cycle cycle (I'm going to call it a cycle, as to imply that its a temporary occasion and not the norm) for the last few weeks.  I like sleeping all night and I remember it taking James forever to not wake up to be fed anymore.  When James started to drink milk at a year old, we stopped feeding him at night.  Logan has been eating a lot during the day, and is pretty set in his bedtime routine, even if he doesn't sleep all night.  I'm grateful for routines and some sense that I know what's going on.

We still have to deal with getting teeth and other possible regressions due to crawling and walking and growing in general, but I'm enjoying our current sleep cycle.  Also, when Logan wakes up, he doesn't really cry or scream, he just laughs and squeals and its pretty adorable.

Don't you dare try to keep me warm

Last night, it was my turn to take the overnight feeding shift.  We've been very lucky that Logan has been eating only once a night, so we can take turns.  If you wake up the feed the baby, the other wakes up to walk the dog in the morning.  This means that one day every weekend, one of us gets to sleep in.  Note that sleeping in around our house means 7 AM.

So last night was my turn.  Logan fell asleep around 8 PM and woke up around 2 AM, which is his usual at the moment.  He woke up squealing his happy squeals, I fed him, snuggled him, and watched him fall asleep.  Then I tucked him under his blanket (Oh no, a blanket in the crib, child abuse!) and turned the light off.  I walked to the bathroom and heard him wake up and start squealing his happy squeals again.  So I repeated the bedtime process a couple more times.  Each time I put him under his covers, walked away, and then he woke up.

After more than an hour of this process, I sent Adam in.  Adam wasn't thrilled that he was called in, but I'd been trying for awhile, so I figured maybe someone else would know what to do.

So Adam walks in, takes the covers off Logan, and watches the baby fall asleep in a matter of seconds.  Logan was mad that I was keeping him warm.  He was trying unsuccessfully to kick his blanket off and waking himself up.

Its time like this that make me enjoy children that verbally communicate.  Although, they aren't near as likely to snuggle.

Sleep is amazing

So it turns out that while Logan isn't a great napper, he's an awesome night sleeper.  I had no idea it was possible for a little baby to actually sleep at night!  James never got more than a few hours in a row before he wanted to be fed.  Then we had issues with him still waking up to eat, even at 12 months old.  James also teethed very early and for the longest time, which didn't help with sleep.  He never even got the chance to sleep through the night because he was teething so badly from 4 months on.
But Logan is a sleeper.  He's been going a long time before waking up, usually down by 8 pm and sleeping at least 6 to 8 hours.  Its just crazy to me!  And I know that as soon as you talk about how well your baby is sleeping, they usually stop, but we have had this pattern going on for 2 weeks now.  Coming soon will be his 4 month growth spurt and "wakeful period" as all the books call it, and I know he will teethe at some point, but I am really relishing this time to actually sleep.

Gas Drops

Yesterday I gave in and went to buy some gas drops and gripe water.  Adam put the drops in Logan's 4:30 PM bottle, the bottle right before his usual 2 hour freak out.  He didn't so much as fuss once during the 2 hours.  Or all night, for that matter.  He was tooting up a storm, so the gas drops seemed to help with the pain and extreme discomfort he was feeling.
I never really gave a lot of thought to gas drops.  I've read several studies that rated their effectiveness equally with a placebo and my pediatrician echoed those thoughts.  I do have several mommy friends who swear by them.  I figured they couldn't really do any harm and desperation sent me over the edge.  But they worked.  And if they didn't work, they pretended to work, which is good enough for me.
Overall Logan had a good night.  He still didn't sleep more than 3 hours at a time, but I can deal with that.  We did make the effort to have him sleep in his room all night, which went well.  He must have been really happy in there, because every time he woke up, he was cooing and giggling and just pleased as punch to be in his room.  Adam has one more week at home, so we're going to be working very hard to get a routine going.  And I am hopeful that the routine will make Logan sleep better!

Fussy boy

The last few weeks have been going pretty well at our house.  We're settling into having a baby and getting used to new routines.  Although, I go back to work next week which will change things again.  Adam is taking 4 weeks of paternity leave and will go back on March 18th, once again changing things up, but I'm glad he'll have time to bond with Logan.
Mr. Baby (we are fond of calling him this, as he is a one serious baby) is doing well.  He eats like crazy and is finally figuring out that he should sleep at night.  He sleeps from about 8 PM to 2 AM and then again from 4 AM til 7 AM.  He usually takes his first morning nap after we return from dropping James off at daycare.  So we're all sleeping a bit better.  He is slowly awake less and less during his wake up at 2 AM.  Logan is a good amount fussier than James ever was.  He likes things just so and will let you know if you aren't meeting his standard.  Sometimes he cries to be fed, even when he's not hungry.  He screams if he wants to be entertained, cuddled, or laid on his tummy.  James screamed a good deal during his first three months due to gas issues.  Then, almost the very day he turned 3 months old, it ended.  They call the first 3 months of life the "fourth trimester" because in a perfect world, where humans are mammoths, babies would gestate for a full year.  But due to reasons, mainly size related, we give birth after 9 months.  Anyway, I am hoping that in the next few weeks, Logan's screaming will die down a good bit.
Other than that, his personality is very serious.  He smiles in his sleep, but usually has a silly little smirk on his face.  He still looks almost identical to his older brother as a baby, but appears to have darker hair.  His eyes are still blue, but look like they are changing to brown everyday.
Fussy babies are hard.  When you're home everyday with an angry baby, you really start to feel like you're doing a crap job of being a mother.  Or at least I do.  With toddlers, even when they're mad or grumpy, they still will show affection.  A hug or kiss can go a long way when you're feeling like the worst mom ever, but infants can't give that kind of response.  That's been a hard thing for me to remember, when I feel like my baby must hate me because he's been fussy all day.  But I know all too soon, he won't be a tiny (well, not so tiny, since he's gaining weight like crazy!) baby and I'll want these sleepless nights back.
Overall, we're doing well.  To our credit and experience with James, Adam and I have not had a middle of the night, overly tired screaming match.  We had them almost nightly for awhile with James, for no other reason than tiredness and unclear expectations.  We've had a better plan for how to handle overnight feedings this time and I think the clearer communication has helped us both.  Not that we ever held grudges about these middle of the night squabbles, but its better not to call your spouse horrible names at 3 AM.  Okay, I might have been the main name caller, but we will look the other way.

He's playing us

Children are crafty, fickle little beings.  They are cute only so their parents feel the need to keep them around.  Well, their cuteness and our inborn, genetic desire to not want to harm something we worked so hard to protect for 9 months.
James can play Adam and I like a fiddle.  He's not even two, yet he knows how to get what he wants.  Not that he does...  at least not all the time.
On Saturday, Adam and I went to an Oriole's game.  We had free tickets, so even though it was raining, we left James with my mom and headed down to Camden Yards.  I was a little worried that James wouldn't go to bed for Grandma, he likes to put up a fight and lay in his bed making noise for awhile before actually falling asleep these days.  Usually, Adam or I give in and go up to check on James during these noisy times.  Adam tells him its time to sleep, not time to play and I usually repeat something like that and sing him a song or two.  Eventually, he falls asleep.  But not for Grandma, nooooo.  James got a story, had some snuggles, and then went to SLEEP.  No fuss, no noise.  NOTHING.  I mean, sure I'm happy he didn't make my mom's night rough.  We came home and were told of our perfect child and really, who can complain about that?
Cut to Sunday night...  we're on our third trip upstairs and he finally stops making noise and goes to sleep.
Either we need Grandma to come over every night or he's playing us.

Naps are required

Yesterday, James didn't take a nap.  He desperately needed a nap, but he didn't nap.  His mother desperately needed for him to take a nap.  But he didn't nap.

I guess I should back up.  James has been doing this weird thing lately.  He wakes up at 4:45 AM and wants a sippy of milk.  He'll have the sippy and a morning snack and then want to go back to sleep for like 3 hours.  We've let him on occasion sleep for an hour or so.  When he slept longer in the morning, Rhonda reported that he wouldn't nap (obviously).  So we've been limiting his morning sleeping time.  Which is what we did yesterday.  Even with limiting his morning quasi-nap, he still didn't sleep at his usual nap time.  

By about 5 PM, James was the captain of meltdowns.  He kept running into things and crying (he normally won't even blink when he hurts himself).  He was super grumpy and wouldn't let anyone comfort him.  His usual happy. gleeful "NO!" was a moody, I really mean it this time, absolute NO kind of no.

Luckily, he went to bed promptly at 7 PM and slept for 12 straight hours.  I'm hoping this means we're starting the week off on a good foot and his regular schedule can commence.  

Something I love

The last 2 days have been beautiful here in Maryland.  Yesterday hit 72 degrees!  Amazing weather for March.  The day before yesterday was in the 60's, as it will be today also.  Since the weather has been so good, Rhonda has had the kids outside playing almost all day.  They do their preschool time in the morning, then go out and play.  After lunch and naps, they're outside waiting for the after school kids to join them.
Why do I love all this outdoor play?
Because the last 2 nights, James has gone to bed without so much as a peep.  I think its certainly helpful that his mouth isn't hurting and his cold is pretty much gone, but the playtime outside has been wonderful!
Now I don't want to jinx things just because bedtime has been less of a struggle, but I was so happy I had to share.  James also hasn't woken up overnight either, so we're all well rested, which makes for a much less grumpy family.

Bedtime

Bedtime used to be one of my favorite times of day.  For obvious and not so obvious reasons.  The obvious being that I like to sleep myself and James' bedtime put me closer to mine, I like to have some adult time to unwind and talk to Adam without interruption, and I really like knowing that James is getting the rest his growing body needs.

And then we get into the not so obvious reason - James is (was?) awesome at bedtime.  After about 15 months, we took away his night time sippy (so that brushing his teeth at bed was actually accomplishing something) and bedtime was a breeze.  Snuggle in the chair, look at a book and wait for James to ask to go to bed.  Literally.  James would point upstairs and say "bed?" and then I'd take him up there and he'd fall asleep.

It was amazing.

And now its over.  Ok, I don't know for sure that its over, but it seems over.  We do all the same things and James does all the same things.  Except now, after he asks to go to bed and gets up there - he freaks out.  Screams.  Cries.  Yells.  He does not want to go to bed.

I know this is fairly normal.  I know he's been teething, which certainly doesn't help (and may even be the only reason for this change).  And I know that I can't complain when I've had so many good months.  But those good months make this even more difficult.

When he cries, we let him go for awhile.  He is old enough to "cry it out" but he's too stubborn to actually do it.  So we snuggle with him in his room, I sing a few rounds of Twinkle, twinkle and we hope for the best.  Its been taking between 15 - 60 minutes for James to go down for the last week.  After awhile, he settles down and falls asleep.  Whoever is in his room quietly sneaks out and we spend the next half hour holding our breath that he's actually asleep.

If this is a teeth issue, I hope its resolved soon.  If this is a toddler issue, I hope it doesn't last long.

Momma needs her sleep too, James.

The upside

James had another rough night last night.  He woke up around 3 AM with a wet, almost leaking diaper.  I changed him, but he continued to cry.  We realized he was cold, so I put a long sleeve shirt over his pajamas and he finally went back to sleep about 4:30 AM.  I feel so bad for him when he can't sleep, because I know that he wants to.  He very rarely wakes up because he's not tired and wants to hang out.  Sometimes, we have a little trouble getting him in bed because he wants to play still.  I just chalk that up to Adam and I being awesome parents, but you can call it what you will.  I suppose I should also feel bad for Rhonda when James doesn't sleep, because it usually means he's a little grumpy before lunch and nap time.  But even James grumpy isn't that bad, he's just a chipper little guy in general.
There is one upside when he can't sleep.  And it might make me seem a little crazy (like you hadn't already figured that out, my loyal 8 blog readers...).
When he's sleepy and wants me to cuddle him at night, I try to breath in every ounce of baby that is left in him.  I imagine the days when his tiny legs, bent up like a frog still fit right on my stomach.  I think about how magical he was as an infant, my little boy, so sweet smelling and adorable, all mine, balled up on his mom's lap.  I wish I could recapture just one minute of his babyhood, even though I know all babies grow up.  Now, as his long toddler legs grow closer and closer to the floor, I try to remember that one day he won't even be this little and I'll long for my toddler.  And I try to remember that even though dad is the most fun to play with, mom is the one who comforts him.
When I'm tired and grumpy, when I've just been cross with my husband in the middle of the night for no reason other than I would rather be sleeping, and when there is nothing left to do but sit in the dark and sway with a growing little boy, I try to take it all in, while I still can.

Sleep

Sleep is a wonderful thing.  I really, really love sleep.  Like, a lot.  I really love beds and pajamas too.  You put on your comfy clothes, hop into bed, and a nap is imminent.  Jackie, my college roommate and housemate for 4 years, credits me with helping her "learn to nap".  Which is kind of funny because I'm pretty sure that I didn't nap as a child.  College was a great time for naps, you could even schedule your classes around them.  Oh, college, I miss you and don't miss you, all at the same time.
I function best on a good 10 hours of sleep, which I know is a pretty ridiculous requirement.  Funny enough, I'm married to a reformed insomniac.  Adam had trouble sleeping for years, from his childhood well into adulthood and even has tried a variety of sleep aids.  None of them really seemed to work (or worked too well), but now I'm told that the secret to Adam getting a good night's sleep is simple...  Snuggle your wife.  Adam often tells me that I'm the only reason he sleeps well at night.  Awww, he's cute sometimes, right?  Usually when he wants something, but I digress.
Getting a lot of sleep is next to impossible with a tiny baby.  That much is obvious, they wake up and want to eat at all hours of the night.  We were lucky with James by 4 months or so, he was only eating once overnight.  We would take turns - one of us waking up overnight, the other taking Mac out for his 4:45 AM jaunt.  Yes, we get up stupidly early.  Sigh.  James started to sleep through the night when he was around a year old.  I can't really remember specifics, but it felt like it took awhile before he didn't want to eat overnight.  After awhile we realized that he was eating because we were letting him.  I mean, if someone came into my room at 2 AM with a snack and maybe some milk to wash it down, I'd probably wake up and want my damn snack.
For the last 5 months or so, James has been sleeping from 7AM to 7PM.  It has been amazing.  I get my sleep, James isn't a grump for daycare, a complete win-win....
But then there are the rare nights, like the ones we've been having lately, where James doesn't sleep.  He wakes up because his teeth hurt or he's hot or he's cold or he's leaked through a diaper and he's pissed about it.  We try to snuggle him, change his diaper, try to decide if he needs some Advil, and usually he will drift back to sleep.  Even though they don't happen frequently, the nights that we are up several times remind me exactly how much sleep I need.
Today I have been dragging ass.  I am so tired.  I severely hope that James has a good night and we all can get some sleep.