the napping mystery

If it's not one thing, it's another. Cam is now sleeping through the night (yay!) but now has gone back to fighting his afternoon naps. Who the heck knows why. He's yawning and rubbing his ears which means he's tired. I put him down early enough -- today it was before 1pm cause I saw his sleep signs. And yet, he cries and cries and doesn't want to go to sleep! I go in, pat his back, sing to him and then leave. Quiet for a minute or two and then crying again! His morning naps usually go fine but in the afternoon, I don't know what his deal is. It is SO frustrating.

Sometimes I think he's either too hot or too cold. So I experiment with different things. Opening the curtains, closing them (cause maybe it's too bright now?) putting the fan directly on him or oscillating it. In the sleep sack, out of the sleep sack. We're even contemplating an air con to make it through the summer. It's like a mystery that sometimes I get to solve and other times I don't.

Today seems to be a don't. He's crying and I'm listening through the monitor to see when and if I need to go in again. If only he could tell me what's wrong! This grand design of babies needing constant care but not being able to verbalize their needs is extremely flawed.

....Wait. What's this? He's quieting down! WTH? See, it makes no sense. Some days letting him cry a little gets him to sleep. Other days it doesn't. So ultimately it's still a mystery! But at least he's napping. Phew.

a movie alone sounds like a vacation.

Before being a mommy, I enjoyed being alone at times. Shopping, watching tv, reading...sometimes I just needed quiet "me" time. But I was never one who could eat at a restaurant alone or go to a movie by myself. But now that I'm a mom, those things sound like awesome ideas. I now know why "old" people (as I saw them when I was younger) like to do these kinds of things. My friend's dad would always go to movies alone and I remember thinking how strange that was. But now, I completely understand.

This morning, I went to Longs to buy something for Brian. My plan was to also make a stop at Starbucks for a coffee treat. In the past, I wouldn't think anything of this short trip out. I might have even been bummed that I had to go and run an errand. But today? It felt like a mini vacation!

I consciously enjoyed EVERY MINUTE of being out, by myself, without baby or husband. I went to Longs, bought what Brian needed and then took a short walk to Starbucks. While walking, I literally thought to myself, "Appreciate this time to yourself! Enjoy walking alone in the sunshine to grab a cup of coffee."

Isn't that funny? I think as a parent, you give so much to your child that there's almost nothing left for you. So when you're able to find those little moments to yourself, you revel in them.

I will SO be that "old" woman who goes to movies alone on the weekends. Bring it on.

sleeping through!

I've held back posting anything about this for fear that I'll jinx it. Seems like every time I say anything about Cam's sleeping, the minute I do he switches it up! But it's been a week so I'm hoping we've reached a new milestone that even this blog can't revert.

So, here it goes...

Cam's sleeping through the night!!! YAY!

He sleeps from about 7pm to 6am give or take an hour on either end. Sometimes he goes down at 630 and gets up at 6. Last night he went down at about 730 and got up at around 7. The routine now seems to be that he'll sleep 10.5-11 hours straight!

Of course, we LOVE it. Cam gets up a little earlier but I'll take that trade off over getting up in the middle of the night any day.

YAY, Camden!

stealing mommy's heart with cuteness!

Camden is just so funny. He started doing this head tilt thing that is too cute for words. And I think he now knows that he's adorable. It sure seems like it! I've watched this video over and over cause I love it so much. My new fave of him. Just when I thought I couldn't love him more...

easter pics...better late than never.

Aunty Jenny took some nice shots of Camden for Easter/6 months! It was raining that day but Cam didn't seem to mind. Probably because Uncle Chad was tasked with holding an umbrella over his head. Thanks, Aunty Jenny! You're so talented. :)









Here's also some pics from Easter dinner at Ruth's Chris. Lots of fun with yummy treats (thanks Salvadors), good wine, pretty decorations (thanks DD!) and better food than I remember Ruth's having in the past.

feather drop and the worm.

As Brian says, Camden's scooting is like a cross between the feather drop and the worm.

stupid leaking diapers

The other thing that's been throwing a wrench into Cam's night sleeping is that he keeps leaking his diaper! At 2:30am he's consistently been getting up and fussing. More than half the time when I go in to check on him, his diaper has leaked. His sleeper is soaked, the bed is wet and I understand why he's fussing. Poor kid.

Poor daddy too because he has to get up and help me. I can't take Cam out AND change his sheets. So, Brian has to change his sheet while I change Camden's sleeper. At this point, Cam is wide awake so we have no choice but to give him a small feeding to get him back to sleep. This pattern so needs to stop.

We use pamper nightime diapers but I'm thinking we need to start putting him in 4's instead of the 3's that keep leaking. Hopefully that will fix the problem?

I'm so tired of washing his mattress cover and sheets. And I'm sure Brian is tired of having to get up and change the sheets in the middle of the night. See, these are things those stupid sleep books don't take into account. If I kept ignoring Cam's cries at 2:30am, he'd be sleeping in his own pee!

More and more, I'm learning to balance what these books and doctors, etc tell you with trusting my instincts. Mommy instincts are real. There's no denying it.

Cam's eating

I've come to the conclusion that I need to start posting random Camden things so later on I can look back and remember how things worked. So this post is more for me than anyone reading this. I doubt anyone cares what Cam's feeding schedule is like at the moment, but here it is so mommy remembers it for later:

7-8am: Wake within this hour

Breakfast 15 min after waking: 4-6 oz milk. 2 T oatmeal mixed with 2 oz fruit. Plus 2 oz veggie.

8:30-9:30am: Down for nap
11:30ish: Wake

Lunch @ noon: 8 oz milk. Started giving him 1 T oatmeal mixed with 1 oz fruit after his milk. He ate it today!

1-2pm: Down for nap
3-4pm: Wake

Dinner @4:30: 4-6 oz milk. 2 T oatmeal mixed with 2 oz fruit. Plus 2 oz veggie.

Feeding before bed @6:30ish: 8 oz milk

This seem like a lot for Cam to eat, especially his breakfast and dinner but this kid eats it all and rarely spits up! And he's not that chunky either. Like I said, this kid can EAT.

the tally of the last two weeks

Cam's been giving us a run for our money. At first he was so excited to get on his knees ready to crawl, that he'd practice in his crib at 3am. I'd hear him talking LOUDLY to himself, go in after awhile and find him on his knees trying it out. This went on for a few days.

Then he started waking up multiple times in the middle of night. Before all this started, he'd been sleeping pretty well and some nights would sleep until 5 or 6am. So this whole waking up again felt like a slap in mommy's face. To make matters worse, he also decided at the same time that naps were no longer fun. He began to fight his afternoon nap EVERY DAY. Some days, I'd give in and just take him out after an hour of him crying/talking and me checking in on him. One day, I tried to let him "cry it out" for a longer period of time. That didn't seem to make things better or teach him anything positive. So, I went back to going in when I'd hear him cry in a way that I know will not subside on its own.

What is going on here?

Mommyhood is largely about trial and error. And it really is about mommy instincts too. One afternoon, Cam had been fighting his nap for almost and hour. It was 2:30pm and he needed to sleep. Something told me, "Maybe he's hungry." I never feed him at this time. He takes down 8 oz at noon and goes 4-5 hours in between meals. How can he possibly be hungry again? Well, something told me he was so I made him 4 oz and fed him. Point 1 for mommy cause he WAS hungry! After his 4 oz he went down for his nap, no problem.

So then I started thinking that maybe he needs a snack in the afternoon. The next day I tried giving him 4 oz at around the same time again. Nope. Point 1 for baby.

Still fighting his naps and now he's moved on to fighting his morning ones too. Good grief. Points 2, 3 and 4 for baby!!

I'm still thinking that maybe he really is hungrier these days though and perhaps that's why he's waking up more? Worth a shot. I start to work oatmeal back into his diet and he takes that down easily. Point 2 for mommy.

Still getting up in the middle of the night though and won't go back down without a feeding. Point 5 for baby.

Friends start to say maybe it's a growth spurt?

Up his oatmeal intake some more after a few days and he eats like a champ! THIS KID CAN EAT. He is SO Brian's child.

Then yesterday, there seemed to be a turning point. Cam got up at around 2:30am the night before. I fed him 6 oz in a effort to hopefully get Cam to sleep until 7am so mommy and daddy aren't zombies. No such luck and he got up at 5:30am (his new seemingly usual routine). I decided to give him another 4 oz and see what happens. He went back to sleep.

I got up on my own at 8:45am and was shocked to see the time. Cam's not up yet? How is that possible? He never sleeps this late!

Quietly enter his room to make sure he's still breathing. Yup. Fast asleep. Huh.

I go and make myself breakfast, get his breakfast ready and watch the clock. 9am. 9:15am...still sleeping. I text Brian to let him know what's up and tell him I figure he's tired so I'll let him sleep. Check in on him at 9:30am. Still alive.

Finally, Cam wakes up at 9:45am. Interesting.

We go about our usual day and I make sure to watch for his sleepy cues. He's tired at around 11:30am so I put him down for a nap and he goes down pretty easily. Sleeps for 2 hours.

He's up again and then gets tired around 3:30pm. Another easy nap and sleeps for an hour.

He's fed at 4:30 and then again at 6:30pm. This isn't out of the ordinary but he doesn't drink all of his milk at 6:30. Try to put him down for the night and he fusses for an hour! Boo. At 7:30 I pick him up and he's still crying. Are you hungry?? Brian makes him a few more ounces of milk, he drinks it like he's starving and then quickly goes to sleep after that. SO WEIRD.

This morning, he's back to his regular schedule. Got up at 7am, nap at 8:30am and then nap again at 1pm. All naps he doesn't fight me on. Points 3, 4 and 5 for mommy!

I'm hoping whatever phase Cam was going through is over. Yesterday, he really figured out how to scoot around the house so maybe he was working that out in his sleep? Or maybe he really was going through a growth spurt? Or maybe we were just keeping Cam out too late and not putting him down for naps early enough. Who the heck knows? I just hope we're back on track and on the road to sleeping through the night. I keep waiting for that day to come!

Mommy and baby are even at the moment. We'll see who gets a leg up tonight...

i'm about to crawl!!!

He's just days away, I think. I better start baby proofing the house!