Another new 'Tone

Miles had another new milesTone today!!!! I was trying to take a photo of him and he kept leaning forward. So I decided to put him on the floor and see what he would do... and he stayed sitting up-ish!! It was only for a couple of seconds before he toppled over, but he can do it! He is changing so much and so quickly and we are so proud of him... and as you can tell, he is so proud of himself, too!!

More photos here, too.

Miles' New Trick

Miles has learned to roll over!! Yesterday, when Tim went to get him from his morning nap, he was on his stomach and crying. Later in the afternoon, he was super tired in the stroller and I expected to put him to bed and have him fall asleep quickly. There were a few noises (grunts and squeaks) from his room so I went to check on him - he was on his stomach again. So I rolled him over and stayed and watched him out of his view. He rolled over again. So I rolled him back over and he finally went to sleep. We heard him wake up, but he was fine in his crib so we left him for a minute. He then started crying so we went to get him - and he was on his stomach again. I caught the above on film last night as we were playing before bed.

He is apparently doing the baby thing of once they learn a new trick, practicing it all the time. He hasn't yet learned how to roll over onto his back (though he does it accidentally when he holds up his head too high).

He is growing up so quickly -- and we just crossed the threshold of mobility.

Social Reeths

Yesterday, we threw a very successful barbecue - and it was the first time since Miles was born, that it was almost like before we had him - but better because he was here!

It started with my weekend to host the Burlingame moms. I sent out an invitation to bring their babies and spouses, but only 1 of the 3 other ladies could come. So we invited to other couples we haven't seen in ages to come and join us. Then yesterday morning, I was on the phone with my mommy mentor and asked her how spontaneous she was feeling, and she, her husband, and son, got in the car and came over from Pleasanton to join us. I served some easy, but yummy recipes, some of which I picked up from magazines, others I "invented". (Like chicken satay sandwiches: marinated curry grilled chicken on sourdough rolls with cucumbers, cilantro and mint leaves, and homemade peanut sauce. YUM!!!!!)

Miles was the world's best baby. Right before the party started, we put him up for a nap, and he went down easily. A couple hours into the party, we put him down (easily again!) for a nap which he took as we laughed and joked in the living room right below him. And then at bed time, I took him upstairs, had a little Mom & Miles time, gave him a massage, read him a quick story, fed him and put him to bed. I was back in the party in 20 minutes and he was asleep for the night. (well, except for his midnight and 4 am feeding... can't figure out why he is doing that still...)

It was a wonderful afternoon / evening. Lots of good friends, lots of great conversation, and a day well spent.

Fun with Beebles!!

My mom came into town early this week on her way to Soda Springs for the remainder of the summer to help me out with Miles. She had a nice visit with her grandson, and was critical to me in terms of helping lift my 14 1/2 lb baby and start to heal.

Miles enjoyed the reprieve from boring old Mom and loved having someone else around to love him all day.

As for my back, things are going better and I am feeling encouraged. I have had 2 physical therapy sessions already and another 1 tomorrow morning. We're starting really basic trying to calm down the muscles that are still in total spasm, and starting to strengthen some of the ones that are atrophying. I got my hair cut today (first time in since before Miles was born) and sitting in the chair for the hour bothered my back. It's going to be a long road to recovery and a lifetime of trying to manage it, but at least I am on a road to recovery!!!

Thanks for coming out to help, Beebles!!!

Sleep Training a Success!

Miles seems to have gotten with the program. The last 2 nights, he has slept 10 and 11 hours respectively. Naps have gotten easy with the new routine. He is perfectly comfortable in his own crib and (mostly) happily drifts off to sleep. I can hear him sucking his hand through the monitor, and the occasional revving of the whining engine, but that is certainly nothing to complain about. I am so proud of our little sleeping man!!

Growing boy!!!

We had our 4 month visit for Miles this morning and he is looking great. The doctor said he was on track and looking wonderful. He also said that Miles was the most special, most handsome, most wonderful little boy he has EVER seen. Ok, he didn't actually say that, but I know it was what he was thinking (says the doting Mom). Here's how he's growing:

• -14 lbs 6 ozs: He's gained about 3 1/2 pounds since the last visit and is still just under 50th percentile for weight.
• -25.5 inches. He's grown 2.25 inches since the last visit and is about 75th percentile. His head is also in the 75th percentile. So he continues to be tall and skinny, relatively speaking.

He also got his 4 month shots this morning. I can officially report he was much stronger than Mom throughout the process. He didn't even cry with the first shot, though, of course, he did with numbers 2, 3, and 4. After it was done, we picked him up and he calmed down. When we got home, I put him down for his morning nap, and he fell asleep quickly. He woke up 45 minutes later and couldn't have greeted me with a bigger grin. I love our growing little man.

Proud Mommy!!!

Ok, so I am clearly obsessed with sleeping, but it seems to be paying off. Last night, Miles slept from 8 - 4 am. At 4 we fed him and he went back to sleep easily. He woke up around 6:30 and I listened to him coo in his crib for about 30 - 45 minutes and then he fell asleep again. We all woke up around 8 this morning. Pretty good night as far as nights go.

This morning's nap, I put him down with the normal routine. He "chatted" to his music for the 5 minutes that it plays, and then made whiny / car revving noises for about 15 minutes. I picked him up and explained that it was sleeping time and that nothing was happening in the house while he was asleep so wouldn't miss anything. After that and a couple more whiny sounds, he fell asleep. (About 20 minutes total, no wailing, and only 1 pick up!!)

After 45 minutes - you literally can set your clock to it - he woke with a cry. I then heard the sound of him sucking his hand over the monitor, and then he went back to sleep. This is the first nap since our regimented training began that he has slept more than 45 minutes!! I am so proud of our little man - he is getting this sleeping skill down great!!

Sleep Update

More or less, things have been going well. After yesterday's achievements, we went to bed convinced that we had figured out how to help Miles nap better. An hour later, Miles woke up screaming. We still haven't figured out why Miles woke up at 12:30 pm - and stayed awake until about 2 - but we're just hoping he doesn't do it again today. After that, he slept until 6:30, but those feedings were more reminiscent of his newborn days than now.

Today was pretty good. I put Miles down for his first nap with only having to pick him up 4 times. He woke up 45 minutes later, but with 3 more pick ups, he slept for a little bit longer. Right as I was putting him down, Erin (one of my bridesmaids and new CA resident) came down from Oakland to help me with Miles for the day. We spent the better part of the day chatting and it was great to catch up.

We kind of missed his second nap as I was at my Dr. appointment. Miles fell asleep in Erin's lap, and we transferred him into the car easily. By the time we got home, he felt that his cat nap was enough and he was not going to go back to bed. Drat.

For his last nap, he started to fall asleep in the stroller 1 block from him. Once I got home, I put him down immediately. He ended up staying in his crib for an hour before he fell asleep again. I could hear him a bit whiny in his room, but he wasn't crying. I checked on him, and his eyes were closed and just making "I want to be asleep" noises. The problem was that every time he would be on the verge of sleeping, the neighbor's construction band saw would go outside his window. Poor Miles, he just wanted to sleep, but kept being interrupted!

Bedtime was easy as always.

One interesting thing of note is the ease with which he fell asleep today outside of his crib. At the doctor's office, he was quietly sitting in Erin's lap and fell asleep. In his stroller, he quietly drifted off without crying like he used to. I am not sure if our training has anything to do with the above, but today it just seemed like he was "better" at falling asleep than he has been.

Or is that just wishful thinking?

Nightly Routine - Bath Time

Miles has become much more agreeable about Bath Time. He is completely content to sit and soak...and sometimes waiting patiently while Mom and Dad snap some quick candids. We now give him "the soak" every other night as part of his bed time routine. He gets a good cleaning, a little massage, dress for bed, story time, his anti-gas medicine, some dinner and then he is shuttled off to bed.

Today's Nap Update

So, we have continued with the baby whisperer's approach to sleeping with great success today! If you read below, yesterday, I needed to pick Miles up 42 times before he fell asleep. Today's first nap, Tim only had to pick him up 7 times and he slept for about 45 minutes. When he woke up, it was clear he was still tired, but he wasn't wailing. So I picked him up 3 times and he slept for another 20 minutes. For the afternoon nap, Tim picked him up 7 times and he is asleep again! There is a lot less crying, I think he is getting more accustomed to the routine. This has been our best day of sleeping since we unswaddled his arms.

So far so good!!!

UPDATE: For his last nap of the day, we went through the routine, and he is now asleep - no pick ups needed!!! I guess my "spirited" little man just needed me to figure out how best to teach him. He really is a great little learner if the methods are right. What a great napping day!!!

Sleeping - I mean Struggling

Old picture but I love it...

Sleeping has been a struggle since Miles rolled over. I have been trying to let him cry and keep going in to check on him, but he can cry, and cry, and cry all the way through a nap until his next feeding. He's been sleeping less than 2 hours per day and finally falling asleep exhausted during his last feeding (not good from a training perspective either). He is also back to waking up in the middle of the night crying - I think it's the arms out of the swaddle that is pissing him off. We haven't gotten a full night of sleep since he rolled over.

Anyway, frantically, I started pulling books off the shelf that Jeannie (sister-in-law) gave me and reading them for tips. The most recent one is "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracey Hogg. Her philosophy is that a child is a person and you need to respect them as such. You also need to understand their temperament (I think Miles is combination "textbook" and "spirited") and listen to their cries to learn what they mean. You shouldn't respond too quickly, or you can miss what the baby is trying to say with their cries. She is adamant that you don't treat all cries with hugs, a boob, or a pacifier. That makes for bad training later on.

I've been saying since Miles was born that "he won't let us put him down". According to her, that is all too common, and you need to teach the baby independence. As such, once you put the baby down and he cries, pick him up (don't let him cry it out) and sooth him until his needs are met and he has stopped crying. At which point, you put him down again. And repeat. She is adamant that you don't over-coddle the baby (which we have been guilty off). Once their needs are met, put them down again. She talks about going through this process with one baby over 100 times the first go, 40 times the second, and 8 times the third. I guess the theory is the baby learns that it isn't scary or upsetting to be put down. They learn if they cry that they will be comforted, but also that they will be put down again and that is okay.

Miles didn't sleep at all this morning. Literally. After he was up for about 6 hours, we put him in the crib and tried to let him cry it out with me checking on him every 10 minutes. He was SO EXHAUSTED and he fell asleep about 20 minutes into it, but woke up screaming 45 minutes later. I knew he was still exhausted but he couldn't sleep. So desperate for anything and not feeling strong enough to let him cry it out some more, I tried the baby whisperer thing and kept picking him up and putting him down. He only took a moment to sooth, and I put him down again. It took about an hour, and picking him up 42 times, but he finally fell asleep and stayed asleep. He actually slept an hour through his feeding so I finally woke him up.

I put him to bed again the same way, according to our "routine", awake but tired. Without crying once, he fell asleep - there was actually a little sweet cooing. He has always been good about falling asleep at bedtime and we'll see how he gets through the night, but his afternoons nap was such a success, I thought I would share it.

Parenting is hard.

Hot shot

So I spent the better part of today recovering from cortisone injections that I had this morning. The procedure was relatively benign though a bit painful as they didn't sedate me because I am breastfeeding. I was a bit anxious going into it, but a couple of shots to the back and I was done. I had to take a wheelchair to the car as my whole leg was numb - the analogy isleaving the dentist after a filling with half your face numb. Feeling came back over the next couple of hours, but I have been soar since.

It turns out, though, that for the next week I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than 5 pounds.

Miles is 15.

Oh my.

I posted to the Burlingame Mothers Club list and I have a highly recommended nanny coming in to help me tomorrow. While Miles is sleeping or I am feeding, she is going to help with some housework - which is great! I think there is more dried milk on the floor from giant vomits than I would care to otherwise admit. Tim will (again) have to take the brunt of the work this weekend, and we will see what we can figure out for early next week.

Big 'Tone!

Miles just hit another big milesTone this morning. I've been working on putting him to bed tired and swaddled but awake for his naps. Mostly he has been falling asleep on his own (though he has cried straight through his naps before). This morning, we did the same routine: a little tummy time, a little reading, swaddle him up, rock and shush him for a minute, and put him down. I walked out of the room and closed the door quietly and got down about 3 steps when I remembered a book in his room I wanted to read. By the time I had gotten back into the room (8 seconds later?) Miles was on his stomach. YAY! He rolled over!!

However, the only bad part about it is that now we have to take the swaddle out of his repertoire. Tim and I actually had a conversation this morning about weaning him on the swaddle as he has been escaping it at night and waking up crying. So, here we are, it's time! Undoubtedly it will make for a couple of painful days / nights of sleeping, but I am assured by other Moms who have gone through this that he will adjust and everything will be fine.

I don't have the back strength to rock him to sleep for all his naps today, so he is just going to have to learn how to fall asleep with his arms free by himself. Unfortunately, that means that I have to listen to him cry, and it breaks my heart.

Hopefully, he'll learn quickly and then we'll be pretty well trained on sleep. Hopefully... I am not sure how many naps over how many days I can listen to him cry. So sad...

UPDATE: He fell asleep after only 10 minutes!!! Given, he only slept for his normal 45 (still need to work on that) but he woke up without fussing. I found him quietly hanging out and occasionally chirping. I guess without his swaddle on, he has nothing to fight once he wakes up! His first nap was great - let's hope they all are!!!

4 months old!!

I can't believe it, but Miles turned 4 months old yesterday! He is progressing along great! Growing bigger and longer, but he is still pretty skinny. His development over the last few weeks has been great. He has tremendous neck strength and we have been able to put him in the bouncy chair (see below) and the exersaucer. He loves all the new things to learn about. He is sleeping at night better and better (last night he slept straight from 8:45 - 7:15 and then fell asleep after the first feeding until 9:00 - 12 hours!). I think yesterday had more to do with the fact that he wouldn't take a nap and was overtired - but it was nice to know he could go 11 hours without feeding!

He seems to be turning into a really agreeable little man - he only really gets fussy when he is tired. We'll probably start soon on some sleep training to get him even more prepared to fall asleep himself. Days with him are wonderful (and easier than 3 months ago!), and I am sad to have to go back to work soon....

More photos uploaded to flickr, too.

Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy

Miles having fun in his "Bouncy Chair".....

Miles having fun...(dad and mom also)

enjoying a little wind in his face. He makes the greatest faces!

2 months later...

It's been 2 months since I posted the last photo of the kids at our play group. It's amazing how quickly they are growing up. The moms are still having conversations about sleeping, naps, feeding, and boobs, but the kids have changed dramatically! They are noticing the world and each other a bit more, and can sit up a bit better!!

Sleep Progress?

Miles has been sleeping really well lately. Last week we were having a hard time of it until I stopped taking Ibuprofen for my back. As soon as I did, Miles started sleeping about 8 hours straight. Last night he slept 9 hours straight, but didn't go back to bed. Instead, he took 2 naps that were over 45 minutes (huge milestone for him) and 1 for 30 minutes in the stroller as we ate lunch.

Tonight, after feeding Miles downstairs at bedtime, he fell asleep nursing as usual. Tim then accidentally woke him up as he went to bring him upstairs. Tim then tried to rock the fully awake little man to sleep, who would just have nothing of it. After about 30 minutes, Tim tried just putting him to bed awake. After he came back downstairs, we literally haven't heard a squeak from him, though we have heard his occasional lip smacks to know he is awake. Tim just checked on him again, and he is asleep. The little man did it himself! Go Miles! I am hoping tomorrow is more of the same routine as today with long naps and relatively easy soothing.

...can you tell I am a bit sleep obsessed? I can't help it, when he sleeps well, Miles is a much happier little guy.

Back Update

So we have been to see Dr's both yesterday and today. The good news is that we've heard the same thing. I have one more test to go through on Friday to see the state of the nerve. I have numbness and weakness in my right leg. Apparently the numbness is an inconvenience, but the weakness is something to stay on top of. If the nerve health is more or less okay, then we will proceed with a dose of Cortisone (steriod) shot directly into the back and physical therapy. If the cortisone will work, we should see some positive progress within the first couple of weeks. If we do this a couple of times and have no luck, then we move into surgery. There is a surgical option called a microdiscectomy that is the least invasive and is our first approach. They basically go in with a scope and cut off the part of the disc that is herniated and pressing on the nerve. It doesn't sound too terrible, but we still want to avoid it.

Otherwise, I have been getting better. We went for 2 walks today downtown and it was nice to get outside and stretch my legs. We're walking slowly these days, but that is fine by me as there is a heat wave out here this week. I hope the pain continues to lessen, but we still need to stay on top of what is going on with the nerve.

Welcome Mary!!!

My brother and his wife Melissa are parents a second time over! They welcomed Mary Loren Chickering into the world early Monday morning. Unlike her older brother who is a major toe-head, she has a full head of brown hair and resembles her dad. Miles can't wait to his cousin!

Laid back - I mean out....

So Thursday morning we woke up with Soda Springs visions in our head, but they never came true. As I was changing Miles in the morning before Tim went off to work, something tweaked in my already bad back and I have spent every moment since on my stomach on the couch.

I had gone to a spinal specialist on Wednesday who thought it was likely a herniated disc with a pinched nerve -- but Thursday morning, I really pinched the nerve. After the major spasms subsided, I have been left even less mobile and with a numb foot and calf. We had an MRI on Saturday that confirmed the diagnosis. I have several more appointments and tests this week to figure out what to do. We are really hoping to avoid surgery, but are concerned at this point with permanent nerve damage.

The good news is that Tim has taken a new job which he hasn't started yet and has been able to help on Miles duty as I can't lift him. I think he has been a little alarmed how hard and long a day can be when it is scheduled around feedings and naps, but he is such a great dad, he's done it seamlessly and Miles has really enjoyed his time with Dad. Needless to say, it has not been the best 4th of July weekend ever...