Good sleeps!

Nights where we all get good sleep are so rare that I feel the need to document each one, just to remind myself that they DO happen!

Yesterday Scott picked Dargan up from daycare and said he was awake and happy but had actually napped well during the day, and he'd last eaten at 4pm. Got him home and he immediately fell asleep. We were going out to the Commerce Club for a beer tasting & dinner, so we prepared food and such assuming he'd wake up and be hungry while we were there. The room was packed with 100+ people and it was so loud... and Dargan didn't wake up at all!

We thought ok, great, he let us have a peaceful evening but of course he'll be awake all night now.

NOPE!

Got home, he woke up to eat at about 9:30, took most of the bottle (it was leftover from the day at daycare so we had to use it) and then went right back to sleep. He then slept until almost 2:30am! Woke up, nursed, and went back to sleep until 5:30 when we needed to wake up.

SO excited, and he was even alert & happy this morning!

Good Morning!

Dinosaur footie pants :)

Trying my hardest not to get my hopes up for a repeat, but MAN this would be a nice schedule to be on for a while! I have missed interacting with him since he has been so exhausted after daycare, so maybe if he gets better at napping then I'll get to hang out with my happy boy in the evenings a little, too. :)

12 Weeks - Back to Work

12 Weeks Old!

He was squirmy on Sunday so we didn't get any great 12 week photos.

Our last week at home was fairly uneventful. I got to exercise (lift weights, run, walk and even biked 21 miles on Sunday!) and Scott and I started our training for the Spinx Half Marathon (race date 10/31) with a "long" run of 4 miles on Saturday morning with Dargan. He enjoyed the cooler morning temperatures and looked around as we jogged along.

Video of Dargan "talking" (hoping this works)

On Friday, to commemorate my last day of maternity leave, Dargan and I went to the pool. He seemed to enjoy the water and his floaty (didn't get any photos since I was there on my own). I pushed him back and forth across the pool and he just floated along and looked around.

Sunbathing after a nice dip

Poolside nap

He's been really smiley again, too - it's so much fun to interact with him, make faces, and "talk" with him.

Early morning smiles

Big grin!

*smirk*

I put him in this after he pooped on me.

Monster butt!

Still not loving tummy time.

Mr. Hungry-All-The-Time

And then came Monday...

All weekend I'd felt excited, like it was the beginning of the school year after summer vacation. We got his bags packed for the morning with his bottles and spare onesies, I got my work bag packed, and geared up for our big day!

Sunday night was one of the worst nights of sleep in a long time. Dargan was up every single hour fussing, wanting to eat, just being uncooperative. I wonder if he could sense that something was different?

Anyway, Monday morning gradually arrived and we headed off to the daycare. I hoped he'd sleep in the car and during drop-off, but unfortunately he was wide awake and looking at us like, "Hey, what's going on? Where are we going?" Made it a little harder to leave him, but I managed to hold it together as we left. 

The workday was fine, I had an interesting time adjusting to pumping milk during work and trying to fit that in with my daily schedule. 

This was my Monday morning unread work emails.

The day passed relatively quickly, and after we spent 45 minutes in a parking lot on I-85 due to a tractor trailer full of frozen chicken being upside down and on fire, we finally made it back to the daycare to pick up Dargan.

We got his daily report:

- he apparently did not nap but 1.5 hours all day (in 10-20 minute blocks)

- he cried all morning and the director had to hold him so the "teachers' in his room could care for the other kids

- he ate all four bottles of milk that we packed for him

- he pooped once and peed a lot

Womp womp.

We sheepishly took him home and of course he immediately fell asleep (DUH he was exhausted). He slept through dinner and we tried waking him up afterwards but he would NOT wake up at all. 

Happy to have my sleepy baby back with me!

So we gave in, went to put him to bed around 8:30/9ish and of course he woke up and wanted to eat. Nursed him to sleep, put him in his crib around 10. I think he woke up at 1, 3:15, 4:30 - not fantastic. If we could get to one waking at night, I'd be overjoyed, even if it means staying up until 10 or 11pm. I'm starting to wonder if he's just not getting enough milk when he nurses, so his hungry tummy wakes him up. He never seems to be in pain or bothered by anything when he wakes up at night, just wants to eat.

We'll give him the week to sort himself out and hopefully he will adjust to the new routine. I reeeally hope he did better at daycare today! 

My current favorite photo... it's my desktop background on my work computer. 

11 Weeks - Small Improvements, and lots of smiles!

We're still not sleeping great, but we've had a few nights with 4 hour stretches, so I'm calling that an improvement!

This kid and his faces though...

I have taken SO many pictures of him this past week because he has been so smiley and giggly! It's wonderful!

We ran several errands this week, and I even got to go mountain biking on Wednesday evening - first time since I was 14 weeks pregnant! I forgot how much I enjoy it. :)

Found a hat with little ears on it... had to take a pic. 

Exciting things!!

Dargan & Kitty snuggles

We went to my parents' lake house this weekend which was a lovely time. We started out taking Dargan by the office on Friday to introduce him to all of our colleagues. He was SO well behaved and even gave some smiles and giggles. What a flirt! We then got through lunch and a 2 hour drive with zero issues. So happy!

I was worried because Dargan hadn't pooped since Thursday morning, and I just knew a big one was coming at any minute. Finally, around dinner time Friday night, we got what we'd been waiting for... and boy was it explosive!

He's going to hate me someday for posting things like this on the internet...

Bath time from Daddy & Grannie!

Yep, that was epic.

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. Got a visit from my Aunt & Uncle from Charleston who we hadn't seen in about a year, and even got to swim in the lake. Didn't take Dargan in the water since we weren't sure whether it was OK or not, but hopefully on a future visit we can take him swimming!

Checking out the trees with Grannie.

Pensive.

We had about a 3 hour car ride home on Sunday and he only started fussing about the last 10 minutes of the drive. Fantastic little traveler! Had a relaxing evening at home and made some homemade pizza for dinner.

Giggling with Daddy!

I couldn't catch a good smile, just kept getting smirks.

Shiner wants to play, too!

We had an OK night last night. He slept from 9 until 1, ate from 1-2, then slept until almost 4. We got up at 6 to start our transition into a work week schedule (next week!!) when we'll be waking up at 5 regularly. Probably going to try some test runs later in the week to see if we really have enough time to get ourselves and D ready to go in the morning! 

I love early mornings! Smiles!

Ahhh I can't believe my maternity leave is almost over. I'm excited to be working again but hate the idea of leaving this little cutie alllll day! :(

A good night!

I just want to commemorate the great night we had last night. In reality it was still only 3 hour blocks, but we had NO extended period of screaming leading up to bedtime, so that makes it seem worlds better!

The pediatrician had recommended that we let D decide his own bedtime for now instead of fighting to get him on a schedule. She also gave us some samples of formula that contain a probiotic that helps with colicky fussiness and gas. So we gave him a small bottle around dinner time, then I nursed him until he was happy afterwards. He was wide awake, so we stayed downstairs until we started seeing some yawns.

At that point we headed upstairs, changed into pajamas, and read some books. He got a little fussy and acted hungry so we prepped his bedtime bottle of pumped milk, but he barely got started on it before he fell fast asleep! He then slept soundly in his crib from 10:30-1:30. I got up, nursed him, then he went back down until just after 5am.

He only slept until 7 after that, but hey, I'll call that good enough for now! It's a huge improvement over where we've been, that's for sure.

This morning he was so pleasant and still a little drowsy, so I swaddled him up in his big tortilla blanket... Baby Burrito!

10 Weeks - Smiles!

Lots of updates from this past week!

Just look at that grin! And sitting up in his Bumbo seat!

This was Take 1 - tired after a meal!

I've declared Week 10 as the week of first smiles. He's hinted at them before, but this week we definitely got some good ones and he's been more consistent and responsive to us making silly faces. He's especially happy first thing in the morning (after eating, of course).

Subconscious sleep smiles - we've had these for a while, more of a reflex, but still adorable!

Little sleepy grin.

Big sleep smile

Finally with eyes open!

I still haven't captured a really good one while he's awake, but this one was good enough for the "smiled for the first time" card. Hooray smiles!

We've not had great sleeping patterns, still. He'll usually do one longer stretch starting around 10/11pm, then a shorter stretch after the next feeding, and then by 3 or 4am he's up every hour. We did have one really great night where he slept for two 4.5 hour blocks, but unfortunately that was after he had his 2 month immunizations and we'd given him doses of Tylenol.

He's also been really clingy and wanting to be held all.the.time. This is where the sling and wrap have come in handy.

Why can't I put you down, child??

I've been able to do some physical activity which has been great and helps my mood, but it's always a struggle to decide whether to exercise or to nap. We went for a run one morning and though it was as good run, it really got me thinking and I wrote an introspective journal entry on post-partum running.

My exercise buddies one morning. 

We went for a short hike at Paris Mountain last week where we walked around the lake. It was nice to get out in the woods for a bit! I even nursed him while we were on the trail. Just call me Crunchy Hippie Granola Mom (not really).

On Friday we had his 2 month old checkup. He is now 10lb 8oz and just shy of 22 inches long! He got several immunizations an we've also been given some physical therapy to do with him since he favors lying on one side of his head and it's a little bit flat.

Friday evening was the second of three Beer BBQ 5k races, this one at Thomas Creek in Greenville. It was super hot (near 100F) and I was really hungry, so I wasn't able to run the entire way like I'd hoped, but I did much better than the first one 4 weeks ago and we cut 10 minutes off of our time! Finished in just under 35 minutes.

Dargan slept the entire race.

Over the weekend I had a chorus coaching session on Saturday, which meant I was away from Dargan for about 8 hours, the longest period of time since he was born (other than when he was in the NICU). He and Scott had a full day of errand running and doing things around the house together.

Thumbs up for hangin' with Dad!

The pediatrician suggested sitting him in the Bumbo seat more frequently to help him get stronger and more stable with sitting up. He's been doing really well, though he gets tired after a while.

How long am I supposed to sit here?

I can't believe I only have another week and a half with this guy at home before I go back to work! I'm excited to get back to work - I really have missed it - but I just hate the thought of being away from him all day, especially when he's happiest during the day. I'm going to miss all his happy hours! Maybe daycare will help him get into a better routine and he'll sleep more at night (HAHA wishful thinking).

Sleeping at night? What a silly concept!

We keep hoping he'll just magically start sleeping eventually. I can't figure out what keeps him up. He fights being put to bed SO much... cries for hours and nothing comforts him except nursing, whether he's hungry or not. Even then he'll fight sleeping. It really wears on us having to deal with that when we're wanting to go to sleep so badly! Hopefully soon. SLEEP, CHILD, SLEEP!