Losing It

I think parents who tell other parents that their baby "slept through the night at 6 weeks old and has never had any problem sleeping through the night since then" are full of shit.

This whole "STTN" myth is making me nutso. Owen has yet to sleep more than 3.5 hours straight for about...oh, almost 12 weeks? We are going crazy over here. We've tried no solids, some solids, tanking up before bedtime, scheduled feedings, soothers, shushing, letting him fuss a bit before we tend to him, letting him fuss a lot (10 minutes seems like a lot to me) before tending to him...Nothing makes a difference. He has no teeth and isn't teething. He isn't sick. He doesn't have a fever. He's not wet. He's not cold. He's not hot.

I KNOW every baby is different. I'm not expecting some miracle baby that is put to bed at 7pm and wakes up refreshed at 7am. I don't MIND nursing once or even twice during the night. I expect to be woken up during the night, but this constant up and at 'em behaviour he exhibits is just too much at 0230. He's not a newborn anymore, either. Those books lied to me!

Adam puts him down around 7pm without any big problems but has to shush him back to sleep at least twice between 7pm and 11pm. From 11pm to 7am, it's anybody's guess what Owen will do. What is definite is that he will wake up. And whine. Oh, the whining. I don't think a bedroom of his own will make any difference anymore. On Sunday night he was up at 830, 10, 0115, 0430, 0530, 0630. Last night I fell asleep at 730pm and woke up at 1130pm to feed him, and then he decided to stay up from 0230 to 0430. I apologize for the rant. I'm just feeling so defeated today. Blah.

95th Percentile

Odie's stats for his six-month checkup:

20 lbs 15 oz

70 cm long

Healthy and strong

Talk about delayed response, he didn't cry until after the needle had been given, but a quick kiss and hug made it all better. While the doctor and I were speaking, he sat on the exam table and played with the paper cover. He must have wasted a good 10 feet of paper in the 15 minutes we were there, but it was highly exciting for him - paper makes a good sound and is light enough to pick up and scrunch up into tiny little hands.

Six Months

Owen is half a year old! Waaah! Where is our baby boy?

• He is such a little charmer, full of personality and happiness.


• He is sitting up on his own (when placed into position) and is constantly scooting around in his crib on his back, digging in his pudgy little heels and scaring himself when he gets to the other end of his crib.


• Still grabbing his feet and sucking on his toes.


• There is no food that we have introduced that he doesn't like, and he's still nursing like a champ.


• He's getting better and better each day at holding his sippy cup.


• He babbles and smiles, laughs and holds hands.


• He loves to rub his left ear when he's nursing.


• He pulls the blanket up over his face to fall asleep.


• He loves music and watching daddy act silly.


• His favourite song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider."


• He has learned the power of "drop it, watch them pick it up."

It feels a bit like coming out of a fog. The first few months are TOUGH, and it seems like one very long day and night. Now everything is going at warp speed. He's learning so much every single day. I feel so lucky to be able to stay at home with him for this year.

Quiet Time

My little button has been sleeping since 9 a.m. It is now 11:33 a.m. and I don't know what to do with myself. Last night was particularly challenging, up at 10, midnight, 1, 3, 5:30...I don't even know anymore. He awoke at 10 absolutely screaming. Bad dream? Pain? Who knows. Something was wrong, poor kiddo. He's catching up on some much needed sleep, as I should have done, but I haven't been able to put down this book and wanted to start this book.

That's one thing that I really miss since becoming a mum: Reading. I quickly learned that trying to read a book while nursing was difficult, unless it was a trade paperback, and I don't read trade paperbacks very often. I am looking forward to our move to the 2BR, where I can once again read in bed before I go to sleep.

Bath Time!

One of Those Days

You know it's been one of those days when you come home from running errands with a very tired, fussy, and cranky baby and discover a dirty diaper on the floor next to the changing table, an unmade bed with dirty sheets that still haven't been washed, a beet-stained countertop from mischievous beets that somehow escaped the colander, toys EVERYWHERE, and chairs a-kilter. All that's going to get accomplished around here this afternoon is that the tofu will be pressed for tonight's dinner, the beets will be roasted, and the baby will be loved.

***

Owen has been having some very trying nights over the past EIGHT weeks. Not sleeping more than three hours at a time is making for some very difficult nights for all three of us. He keeps waking himself up by pooping and then refuses to go back to sleep. Last night he again decided that the hours between 0130 and 0330 were a great time to repeatedly sigh loudly, toot, whine, and babble. We are so very lucky to have the life we have with a very healthy baby boy, but YEESHERS! Just sleep already, Owen!

Accomplished

*cartoon by mistertoast.blogspot.com

Yesterday was pretty intense in mamaland. Heck, it was hard in ladyland! We are finally moving to a 2BR garden suite, but to do so, everything is in overdrive, which I realize happens when you move. I, however, have only moved once as an adult - from the comforts of my parents' home to a new place with my at-the-time boyfriend, who is now my husband and daddy to Owen. And I'm a bit of a spazz.

The landlady, bless her Eastern European heart, is a dear and didn't want to risk making me or Owen sick with her cold ("I have it since one Aprrrril. God Forrrrbid you get seeck!"), so she asked me if I could show the apartment at 5:30. No problem! It was only 9:30 and I had already started the mountain of laundry.

Oh, wait. The garbages haven't been taken out. The recycling hasn't been sorted and taken out. There is wet laundry hanging in the bathroom. The Diaper Genie stinks. There are dishes on the counter and dishes to be put away. There are toys all over the place. Addresses need to be changed online and on the phone (can we talk about the horrible customer service across this great land? Gawd.). Oh, and then there's the little matter of my little man, who kind of spent too many half-hour increments in his crib so that I could manage to do all these things. And then the worst thing happened - Olga asked me to show the apartment to someone at 11:30. In an hour an half. With all this stuff to do. But I did it.

I did have a mini breakdown and call my mum for a pep talk. Thankfully my best friend came to the rescue and entertained Owen while I did all the chores and showed the apartment to the possible new tenant (who took the apartment). It was just one of those days, and I didn't even get a bubble bath at the end of it.