Travis is super close to rolling onto his belly from his back. He can get his hips over but still gets stuck on the underneath arm. He’s usually flailing every limb when he’s on the floor. One of these days he’ll put that effort in the right direction and pop on up. Then we’re really going to have to watch out. A baby that can roll both ways can soon figure out that he’s mobile. Given how squirmy and active T is already, we’re a little worried we’re going to be in trouble very soon. And watch out when he starts crawling!!!!
Frequently, Hallie seems to cut right to the bottom of things and make more sense than we do. She does this a lot with words. For example, when we were dressing a doll the other day I explained that a sleeve was “inside out.” We fixed it, and she announced, “Now it’s inside in!” And yesterday, she sat on Mark’s lap while he “peeled” an orange. “Unpeel it!” she demanded. Now, isn’t that a better description of what he was doing? I hate to correct her when her version is much more logical!
I had to laugh at myself this morning. And so did Mark. Travis had a great night last night. I nursed him for the first time around 3. I was in there for almost an hour and had trouble settling him down again. We had two good long rounds of nursing and then he just started smacking and falling asleep. I decided he really had what he needed, and I left him in his bed awake. He complained, never even really squawking, for about 5 minutes and then was quiet. I was awfully glad I waited instead of rushing right back in.
But speaking of rushing in. . . Around 6 am, Travis’s noises made their way into my dream. I was holding him on my lap in a bus, maybe at the zoo or somewhere. When I woke up and realized I’d incorporated his cries into my dream I jumped out of bed (what Mark later called “springing into action”) and went to T’s room. Where I found him sleeping soundly. Turns out his cries weren’t just worked into my dream, they were entirely in my dream. A bit bemused and foggy, I climbed back in bed and got another hour before I heard him wake up happy and ready to visit. When I brought T back into our bed, hoping for another snooze, Mark woke up laughing at the talkative little guy beside him who was more interested in looking at his Daddy than nursing. Shows what a good night of sleep will do!
We had another fun but too-short weekend at the Turner house. We’ve gotten in a great habit of getting out for a walk or a hike every weekend morning. Saturday we headed for the park with Hallie in the jogger and T in the front pack. We got a late start, so we didn’t spend as long as we’d have liked. We still covered some ground, though, and spent a little time at the playground. It was a gorgeous day, and after lunch we fulfilled our promise to Hallie and hit Goodberry’s. We were all glad we did.
Today we got an earlier start. It wasn’t as nice a day, but we bundled up. This time Hallie rode in the backpack and T was snuggled on me and invisible inside a jacket of Mark’s. At one point I asked Mark if I looked pregnant. He said I looked like a 44D as a result of really bad surgery. I wondered at the double take one couple did as they went past. Then I caught a glimpse of myself, with one hand supporting Travis’s (invisible) head from the outside. I’d have looked twice, too!
We managed to get all the way around the lake today, with Hallie walking some and riding some. We fall more and more in love with our neighborhood every time we just head out the door and are in the nature park in minutes. What a world of good it does us to get out there every weekend. And we can’t help but feel good about the example we’re setting for our kids.
Happy 4 month birthday, Mr. T!!! We can’t believe how quickly the months are rushing by.
T’s sleep habits sure have been a roller coaster. After a week of really rough nights, things started to settle down. And by last night he gave us his best night yet. Asleep by 7:30, up once at 1 am, and not up again until 6, at which point I pulled him into our bed and he nursed and dozed until we got up.
Of course I had my hopes up that this would happen again tonight. Nope! He was falling asleep on Mark at dinner around 6:30. I took him up and nursed him, but he wasn’t too serious about things. I put him down fine, but he was up again in an hour. We nursed again, again he wasn’t too serious, and he fell asleep in my arms. But when I put him down he woke up and started wailing. I sent Mark in to give it a try–no luck. I went in again, nursed again, had him asleep in my arms again, and saw the eyes pop open and the cries start (again) as soon as I put him down.
By this point I knew he wasn’t really hungry and he was definitely tired. So I just left him. He screamed for about 6 minutes (6 very long minutes) and now he’s been quiet for a while. I’m hoping we’ve got a long stretch before he’s up again. Just another scenario to share with the doctor on Thursday. I hope he’s got some good suggestions for us. But then again, I’ve read so much and talked to so many people that I know there’s no approach we don’t know about or magic bullet we haven’t tried. I think we just keep plodding along until he grows out of some of this.
I’ve noticed that every few weeks some part of our routine with Travis shifts. I’m learning to just roll with it. The latest thing that’s changed has been my reading while he nurses. It used to be I could at least get through a section or two of the paper. Not anymore. Now I can read one page, the front page, of any section. As soon as I try to turn the page, Mr. Curious starts popping off, whipping his head around, and trying to read it himself. It won’t be long before I have to drape something over his head to keep him focused!
We’ve fallen into another routine that I hope lasts us a while longer. T is usually ready to eat and sleep around Hallie’s naptime. I can generally keep him happy while I do her stories. Then, as soon as she’s settled, we head for my bed. Nursing him lying down in bed let’s me get a nap while he gets fed. And when he’s done eating, he’ll often stay asleep while I slip out. One day this week he slept more than 1.5 hours after I left. I can’t yet count on that time, but at least I’m more rested when he’s ready to go again. One of these days we’ll really have to tackle getting him to nap regularly in his crib. But for now, this is meeting both of our needs. Hallie sure does make things easier by being such a good snoozer!
I was playing with Hallie after dinner when we hit upon playing hide and seek. Hallie has gotten much better at this game. Before, she wouldn’t count at all when it was her time to seek, or she wouldn’t hide. Now, she seems to have gotten those parts down.
Unfortunately, her hiding leaves a bit to be desired! When she’s supposed to be hiding, she’ll often give herself away. I’ll say “ready or not, here I come!” and more often than not, a voice will respond “ready or not, here I come!” Which makes my job as seeker pretty easy.
Then there are times when she can’t wait to be found. I’ll finish counting and begin looking, only to have Hallie come bounding up from whereever she was supposed to be hiding.
Even better, sometimes I don’t have to even wait before discovering her hiding place.
“I’m going to close my eyes and count,” I’ll tell her.
“I’m going to hide in the bathroom!” Hallie will gleefully reply.
I’ll spend the next few minutes wandering outside the bathroom door. “Hmm. I wonder if Hallie is in … the … bathroom!” I’ll ponder out loud.
“No! She’s not!” will come a voice behind the door.
Whatever the rules, its usually more fun to play Hallie’s game!
Sometimes I feel like I might just explode with love for my family!
I just received the “Infantastic” video I ordered from Amazon. It’s got three sets of exercises you can do while “bonding” with your baby. It’s pretty basic stuff but helpful to have a guide to follow. And Travis loves it, especially the arm stuff where he gets lifted in the air and the stomach stuff where I keep getting in his face. I hope we can establish and stick to a routine, since it’s so hard to find time to do anything alone.
