Wednesday, August 27, 2008

*really* sleeping through the night

While we were visiting the MIL, I tried to keep N. on the same schedule as much as possible, taking into account the hour time difference, and for the most part it worked. He was nursing and going to sleep at the exact same time (11PM Canadian time, 10PM US time), and getting up at about the same time in the morning (7AM/6AM). Most days we woke him up because we had errands to run, or cleaning to do, and it worked out fine.

Once we got back home, I decided to see what would happen if we didn't nudge him awake at that 5-6AM hour to feed. Truth be told, I didn't want to, because waking him at 5AM meant he would go back to sleep, usually until at least 9AM, which meant I was sleeping until at least 9AM).

The result?

The little bugger goes down at 10:30PM, and usually sleeps until 8AM.

So, if I take into account the fact that night feedings mean I'm up for a minimum of an hour (I can't breastfeed in bed, the girls are too big, and he suffocates), I'm actually getting an *extra* 30 minutes of sleep.

He had his 4-month physical on Monday, too, which went really well. He's 16 lb, 9 oz, 25 1/2" long, and a head circ of somewhere around 43.5cm, putting those measurements at the 80th, 70th, and 80th percentiles. I was surprised that he was actually gaining weight faster, but with this new sleeping-through-the-night trick, he's often ending up with one less feeding per day (and doing just fine), so I'm hoping that will level off.

Random photo time: Here's a pic of N. with a pic of Hubby at a similar age. I said from the get-go that N. had Hubby's eyes, and here's the proof; I'm not sure if I still want N.'s eyes to darken to brown, but I guess there's still time.

Daddy's boy


(All images copyright E. Boudreau)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Surviving our first family road trip

Well, that was an adventure ;-)

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, since it sort of came upon us very suddenly, but we took a mini-vacation up to my mother-in-law's last week, which really wasn't a vacation.

We've been trying to sell the family home for quite some time, years in fact, because she's been alone there since 2004 and has been desperate to get into an apartment. Long story short - in mid-July it started looking as if it was finally going to work out, with a probable closing date of August 25th, so we had to go to help.

(We also had to go to make sure she didn't throw out any more family heirlooms, which she's prone to do, but that's another story for another day.)

So, online I went to book another car rental, and we headed out very early last Tuesday morning. I'd had a few weeks to plan out the packing, but considering we were only going for six days (two of which were driving days), the car was excessively full.

Luckily for us, N. was his usual cheerful self. I'd woken him up at 4AM to nurse, so we could hopefully get on the road by 5AM with him asleep in his carseat. He decided that the excitement was just too much fun, though, and stayed awake while we packed the car, and giggled at our manic running around. We were on the road by 5:40 (which wasn't too bad, all things considered), and we stayed on the road for nearly 15 hours.

There were stops in there, and one major detour that took about 80 minutes when we missed an exit, but all in all, it was pretty uneventful. N. was good, not too fussy until later in the day, and we arrived in time for him to have a bedtime snack and go right to bed after meeting his Memére (grandmother) and having some snuggles.

We spent the next day doing legal paperwork having to do with the house sale, and packing/cleaning. Same thing on Friday morning, with the heavy lifting happening Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Hubby's cousins were fantastic, bringing their truck and trailer and loading up all the furniture so efficiently. We stopped for a little pizza and beer around 6:30PM, which N. surprisingly showed an interest in, and then we kept going until nearly 10PM. My father arrived around 7:30PM, to take back to his place important family keepsakes (we store stuff at my parents' place, since they have a ton of room). N. seemed to get along just fine with his Papa, too.

Saturday afternoon was spent tidying up the loose ends, making sure we hadn't forgotten anything. Hubby also took photos of the house, and the yard with all its beautiful trees (it's quite a huge yard). Once we were sure everything was taken care of, we put the baby in the back of the car, and drove away.

I have to say, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I can't imagine how Hubby felt. His parents bought the house when he was eight, and it has been his home for 25 years. But, it was time, it's better for his mom (who's now in a two-bedroom apartment, which means there's space for us when we visit), and it's a load off of everyone's mind.

Unfortunately, we only had the one evening together after all the madness ended, but we had a good time. We cooked dinner, helped MIL arrange some furniture, and played with N. until he was exhausted from all the giggling. Then, to bed early, and up at 5AM to get on the road to come back home.

N. was even better on the way back, with minimal fussiness all in the last hour of the drive. My kid, he's the bomb.

C'mon, Mom, can we go again?

(All images copyright E. Boudreau)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Heading out on our road trip tomorrow.

Here's to hoping N. decides to sleep a bit. He did well today, on our trip to the mall to get some last minute supplies, so I'm optimistic.

Back in a week!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Dear future self,

Prune juice works when you give it to babies. Really. At any point in time when you're tempted to employ this technique - remember that you will inevitably suffer the consequences.

Sincerely,
August 13 Self.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Just when I think I can't love him anymore than I already do....

... N. does something that catapults him from the best baby in the world to the best baby in the universe (which, let's face it, he's actually been since being born).

Yesterday, I set out to finalize some travel plans, because we're heading home for my best friend's wedding at the end of October. It's actually taking the place of a summer vacation, because we're going to spend some time at my parents' place, and introduce N. to the huge extended family that's never met him but loves him just the same.

I figured it'd be easy, since we'd decided to book with Airmiles/Skymiles, and it was going to save us somewhere around $1600 (flights, including taxes, were going to cost about $2100, and we'd still be responsible for the taxes). My father has lots of experience with booking Airmiles, and we thought, nearly three months away, no prob.

Right.

There were NO flights showing up in the Airmiles system anywhere near when we wanted to fly. We shifted the whole vacation by nearly two weeks (changing from the wedding at the first of it to the wedding at the end of it), and still nothing. There was one option, which involved arriving the night before the wedding, but that was cutting it close. I'm matron of honour, and we still haven't actually altered my dress yet (it was purchased while I was pregnant, with an estimated size). Luckily, my mom's also a seamstress, but even she can't alter a formal gown the morning of the wedding.

I spent the day on the phone with Dad, who spent the day on the phone with Airmiles, trying out a zillion options. Then, we finally decided to investigate car rentals, and then trying to figure out which credit cards would cover the rental insurance, so we could do this for under a thousand bucks.

In the end, we've figured it out, and are saving the extra money, so it's all good. It was the kind of day, though, that would've sent me into apoplexy before, much less when I have a baby to take care of.

What does all of this have to do with N., you ask?

He took not one, but TWO, naps while I was on the phone, and each and every time he was awake, he was HAPPY. No fussing, no crying, no whining, no meltdowns.

I heard today of another baby in my extended circle (Mom's friend's granddaughter), who's older than N., but still wakes up lots at night, has reflux, and is generally needy, the poor thing. Every day, something happens that makes me appreciate that I really do have one of the best babies around. I will never ever take that for granted.


Oh, and his passport came in yesterday, too. We could theoretically get away without it because we're driving, but it's nice to have. And oh, so cute.