Sleeping? Not so much....

So, the "crying it out" didn't last too long. Actually, I think he's teething now, so we have a whole other fish to fry. Anyway, I'm reading a book called Sleeping Through the Night, which will hopefully give us some strategies. Until then, we cherish the nights like last night: Down at 10:30, up at 4:45. Then we took a super long nap together this morning. He does know what he's doing sometimes. :)
Here are a few recent pictures!

Here's Jackson sporting the latest look in infantwear: burp cloth on the head!

Here's a new take on tummy time--using the Boppy pillow to lean on. I got the idea when the Target photographer used it during Jack's 3-month pictures!

Hi Uncle John! I miss you! Look, I'm wearing the shirt you brought back for me last summer! :)

Bye!

This is what three months looks like!

I know, what a cooperative little boy to let me blog twice in one day. He must know I'm posting about him....

I'd love to know what he dreams about. He smiles and laughs in his sleep so much! What is funny to a person with no life experience to speak of? :)

Here's our daily "tummy time." Sometimes he enjoys himself. Sometimes he fights it. I like to think it will make him crawl sooner. Who knows.

Here he is snuggling with a burp cloth. Hey, whatever works.

Now, where is my finger supposed to go? Mouth or eye?

Buzzing lips with Mimi!

This is how he fell asleep while I was in the shower this morning. With his finger in the toy.

Happy baby!

Three months

Dear Jack,

I know I could start every month saying this, but it's so true: I can't believe it's been three months! The time goes entirely too fast. When we see newborn pictures of you, we can't believe that's what you used to look like! You have matured so much and are becoming a handsome young man. :)

After about a month of being very confused at night and getting up way too often, you have recently begun sleeping through the night. You sleep for about seven hours, which is just heavenly for Mom! (And Dad, but he doesn't wake up much when you do!) You always wake up so happy. After you eat, we smile and laugh at each other. And your new trick is imitating us buzzing our lips. You had Mimi hysterical the other night!

You had a two-month appointment on May 24th. Dr. O'Brien was excited to see that you are smiling and have quite the personality! The nurse weighed and measured you. You were 16 pounds, 8 ounces (exactly 7 pounds gained since birth) and 25 inches long. Big boy! You also got some shots. You cried when they happened, but then you slept all day. A couple weeks later, we decided that you had officially outgrown your infant car seat. Now you are in one that will take you all the way to 80 pounds! And at the rate you're going, that could happen within the year. Just kidding!

It's summer now, so I get to be home with you everyday. I am so excited about that. Going back to school for the last five weeks of the year was no big deal, and it was so easy to leave you at home with people we knew and loved, but it is nice to be home myself now. I see many outings in our future! Yesterday was Dad's first Father's Day. It is so fun to celebrate these new holidays that we couldn't before. And someday, you'll know what they mean!

Right now, we are awaiting the arrival of two new babies. My friend Holly is having a boy named Caeden. We know you will be great friends! And my cousin Renee is having a baby any day now, but we don't know if it's a boy or a girl. I'm sure you'd love a little boy cousin to play with! And we're excited to share the clothes you've outgrown with both of these new moms.

Sometimes I try to think about what our lives were like before you came into the world. It's hard to remember! What did we do when we could sleep in without interruptions? What did we do when we didn't have to leave for someplace with enough time to pack your diaper bag and strap you into the car? What did we do when our garbage can wasn't overflowing with diapers and boxes from a highchair and a car seat? These probably sound like negative things to people, but I wouldn't trade them in for anything if it means that I get to keep you! You bring us so much joy, and everyday is a new adventure. We love you like crazy!

Happy 1/4 of a year,
Mom :)

Crying, part deux

So last night was our second "cry it out" night. He actually stayed asleep when I put him down, which eliminated the initial crying period. I woke up to him making some noise at 2:00 or so, and I turned the monitor off. (Am I a horrible mother?) So I have no idea if he cried much at that time. Then I woke up to him crying again (without the monitor) at about 5:00. Not bad! I'm gonna call that our fourth "sleeping through the night"!!! We can SO do this. :)

Crying update

Jackson did, indeed, cry it out. He cried for about 40 minutes and fell asleep. He woke up at about 2:15 to eat. A little over four hours. Not bad compared to how he's been sleeping lately! I guess we'll try again tonight!

Just cry it out!

As I write this, I am doing just that--letting my little one cry it out. At this point in the parenting game, we know he can sleep through the night. He has done it three times. And he was even getting to the point where he would sleep for five or six hours, get up to eat, and then sleep for another two or three hours. Then a couple of weeks ago, Jackson decided that it was time to revert back to the sleeping patterns of the early weeks of his life. He would be up every couple of hours. It was not fun! Then last night happened. Last night took the cake. Jack was asleep at 10:00, up at 11:45, down at 12:30, up at 1:20, down at 2:00, up at 2:20, down at 3:00, up at 4:15. Finally at 4:45, I gave him to Dan and got about an hour of sleep. At 6:00, Dan decided to call in sick. I had a ton to do today and we were both exhausted. We assumed after a night like that, Jackson would be very sleepy today. Not so. He finally took about a two-hour nap this afternoon and slept for another hour after dinner. He was getting super restless and cranky around 9:00 this evening, so I decided to feed him and put him down. He was asleep when I put him down, and woke up about 10 minutes later. So I decided just to let him figure it out. He's bound to wear himself out, right? I had to come downstairs so I couldn't hear him as well. It's not easy to listen to his cries and screams. So I'm kind of killing time. I'm hoping that when I go back upstairs, he'll be fast asleep. Hope with me....