I just wanted to update you on how last night went.....much better! Darius only woke up one time and after his pacifier and some pats on the bottom went back to sleep. He stayed asleep until around 7:00 a.m. Yay! I was able to get a much better, not to mention longer, night's sleep. I'm hoping that this will continue and evolve into him not waking up at all or being able to settle himself on his own.
Right now I have all of the windows open and am enjoying the cooler air. I'm getting ready to head outside and join the rest of the family. Have a good weekend!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Retraining Darius
Before we went on vacation, Darius had been sleeping through the night for a little more than two months. Since we were in different places while on vacation, he started waking up in the night for a mid-night feeding. This has been a continuing habit of his. Well, Tuesday night I was ready for this habit to be over. He woke up wanting to eat at 12:30 and also at 4:10 and then he decided that I had slept enough and decided to keep me up for an hour after that.
Last night I was not going to feed him before 4:00 a.m. Knowing that if he consistently got up around that time, I would eventually lengthen his feedings until at least 6:00 a.m. He woke up at 2:10 a.m. and so I went in and gave him his pacifier and patted his bottom until he settled down again. Once he was quiet, I went back to bed. Thus began a long process that lasted an hour. With him fussing, me patting and trying to go back to sleep. He finally did and ended up sleeping until 6:20 a.m. Yay! I am preparing myself to repeat this tonight and every night until he gets back in the habit of sleeping through the night. We are trying to help him sleep longer by feeding him cereal and a veggie at his last feeding so he will stay fuller longer. Although last night in his sleep at some point he spit the majority of it up. (Maybe that's why he fussed so much.)
Anyway, I still haven't noticed a tooth pop through yet. I'm still hoping it will soon, although he hasn't been as grumpy today as previous days. I hope it stays that way.
Last night I was not going to feed him before 4:00 a.m. Knowing that if he consistently got up around that time, I would eventually lengthen his feedings until at least 6:00 a.m. He woke up at 2:10 a.m. and so I went in and gave him his pacifier and patted his bottom until he settled down again. Once he was quiet, I went back to bed. Thus began a long process that lasted an hour. With him fussing, me patting and trying to go back to sleep. He finally did and ended up sleeping until 6:20 a.m. Yay! I am preparing myself to repeat this tonight and every night until he gets back in the habit of sleeping through the night. We are trying to help him sleep longer by feeding him cereal and a veggie at his last feeding so he will stay fuller longer. Although last night in his sleep at some point he spit the majority of it up. (Maybe that's why he fussed so much.)
Anyway, I still haven't noticed a tooth pop through yet. I'm still hoping it will soon, although he hasn't been as grumpy today as previous days. I hope it stays that way.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
New Side of Darius
To start out we finally have A/C again. It went out on Friday afternoon and it was finally fixed this morning. We (the boys and I) had to endure a very warm humid day in the house yesterday. It finally had taken its toll late in the afternoon and evening causing all of us to be grumpy. But, this morning we finally got it fixed and have been enjoying the cool air ever since. Josh was lucky because he works in an air conditioned library all day and he had class last night so he only had to endure the night. Anyway, it has made me very grateful for it.
I'm seeing another side of Darius now. He is trying to teethe his third tooth and it is really bothering him. He has been so grumpy and fussy in the last two days. He is pretty inconsolable some times. The only thing that calms him down is to be held. He's not usually like this and I can tell that he's really uncomfortable. I do what I can for him, but sometimes it doesn't seem like its enough. I hope that it pops through soon, for his sake. I hope that this doesn't repeat itself every time he gets a tooth. But we will take it one tooth at a time.
I'm seeing another side of Darius now. He is trying to teethe his third tooth and it is really bothering him. He has been so grumpy and fussy in the last two days. He is pretty inconsolable some times. The only thing that calms him down is to be held. He's not usually like this and I can tell that he's really uncomfortable. I do what I can for him, but sometimes it doesn't seem like its enough. I hope that it pops through soon, for his sake. I hope that this doesn't repeat itself every time he gets a tooth. But we will take it one tooth at a time.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Getting Older=More Fun
Now that Darius is getting older, Samuel is enjoying him more. Samuel likes to make him smile and has even gotten him to giggle every once in a while. He gives him toys to play with and takes them away from him. (We are now working on sharing.) He gives him his pacifier and likes to give him kisses and hugs, especially when he is crying. Darius likes to watch Samuel and see what he's up to. He also smiles at Samuel when he sees him. It is fun to see how they relate to each other and interact.
Last Sunday we had a church picnic at a park. Samuel got to swing for the first time on a "big boy" swing. He LOVED it! I bet I pushed him for 45 minutes on it. I was worried that he wouldn't hang on very well, but he did. I finally had to help him get off when his arms were shaking from holding on so long. This means that we need to get a swing for him. We have been talking about it for awhile, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Darius has his 6 month doctor's appointment this week. 6 months already! It is going so fast, he's already eating cereal and starting to eat fruit. My baby isn't going to be a baby much longer. Hopefully he will slow down a little, but I know the time will just seem to go even faster. What's a mother to do?
Last Sunday we had a church picnic at a park. Samuel got to swing for the first time on a "big boy" swing. He LOVED it! I bet I pushed him for 45 minutes on it. I was worried that he wouldn't hang on very well, but he did. I finally had to help him get off when his arms were shaking from holding on so long. This means that we need to get a swing for him. We have been talking about it for awhile, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Darius has his 6 month doctor's appointment this week. 6 months already! It is going so fast, he's already eating cereal and starting to eat fruit. My baby isn't going to be a baby much longer. Hopefully he will slow down a little, but I know the time will just seem to go even faster. What's a mother to do?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
New Food Allergy
We have a new food allergy to add to Samuel's list. Eggs. I had made "forgotten cookies" yesterday (basically a meringue cookie) and we gave a bite to Samuel last night. Well, he threw it up and broke out in hives on his face. He had had a similar reaction to a pastry I had made last week. But I was unsure at the time if it was just his stomach or if it was eggs. Our fears were answered last night. I was hoping that we would just have to worry about milk. Now we will have to be even more cautious with food. As far as I know, he's done okay with eggs in baked goods. But I guess now I will have to learn how to bake without eggs. As if cooking without milk isn't hard enough sometimes (we have adapted quite well to it, though) now we will have to make a whole new adjustment. When will it end?!?
I guess a plus side (if there is one) is that we eat healthier. We can't eat processed or boxed foods because most of them have milk in them so we eat everything from scratch. It's definitely made me a more versatile cook. I'm glad that I enjoy cooking since I have to do it so much! We are praying that he will grow out of all of the allergies and especially that he won't come up with new ones. Although nuts are off the list for now, since he has a high chance of being allergic to them. It's very disheartening/depressing (pick an adjective) to have to deal with all of this. I have to be on guard constantly and it makes going to different gatherings harder. We can't trust the food and so sometimes it's easier to just not go than to have to deal with figuring out what he can or can't eat or bringing his own food.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm to blame for his food allergies. Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much dairy when I was pregnant with him or eaten so much of other things that he wouldn't be allergic to them now. I love dairy products and peanut butter and so maybe I ate too much of them and gave his body an overload so now he can't handle any of it. I hope not, but I guess I will never know.
I guess a plus side (if there is one) is that we eat healthier. We can't eat processed or boxed foods because most of them have milk in them so we eat everything from scratch. It's definitely made me a more versatile cook. I'm glad that I enjoy cooking since I have to do it so much! We are praying that he will grow out of all of the allergies and especially that he won't come up with new ones. Although nuts are off the list for now, since he has a high chance of being allergic to them. It's very disheartening/depressing (pick an adjective) to have to deal with all of this. I have to be on guard constantly and it makes going to different gatherings harder. We can't trust the food and so sometimes it's easier to just not go than to have to deal with figuring out what he can or can't eat or bringing his own food.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm to blame for his food allergies. Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much dairy when I was pregnant with him or eaten so much of other things that he wouldn't be allergic to them now. I love dairy products and peanut butter and so maybe I ate too much of them and gave his body an overload so now he can't handle any of it. I hope not, but I guess I will never know.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
We're back
Well, we survived our vacation. It actually went pretty well. Samuel got along great with the others. We were wondering if he would cling to us the entire time, which he had done at Christmas time. I think it helped that his cousins were there along with his grandparents and aunt and uncle he had seen right before we left. He ran around and enjoyed seeing the others, (I think). Darius was his normal happy self. Samuel also got to play in the rain for the first time at his grandparents'. He loved running around in the rain and playing in the down spout. He also had a great time playing in the mud. He ran back to the garden when Josh looked away and by the time Josh got there, Samuel had slipped and fell in the mud. He was covered, but it was so funny to watch him.
The down side to vacation was all of the time spent in the car. The boys generally did okay, until about the last hour and then they would both throw a big fit at the same time. It made for a loud unconsolable car ride, especially when you're flying down I-80 (in Nebraska) trying to find your exit in the rain. Craziness! To alleviate this, on the last trip (to home), we left at 3:30 a.m. when they would sleep for most of it. That put us home by noon and taking long naps during the afternoon.
The best part of the trip was seeing my family. I got to see my cousins and their families, plus my grandparents. There were 10 great-grandkids there, with 8 being under the age of 3. We gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my grandparents. It is so admirable to see that and it makes me very proud to be their granddaughter.
The down side to vacation was all of the time spent in the car. The boys generally did okay, until about the last hour and then they would both throw a big fit at the same time. It made for a loud unconsolable car ride, especially when you're flying down I-80 (in Nebraska) trying to find your exit in the rain. Craziness! To alleviate this, on the last trip (to home), we left at 3:30 a.m. when they would sleep for most of it. That put us home by noon and taking long naps during the afternoon.
The best part of the trip was seeing my family. I got to see my cousins and their families, plus my grandparents. There were 10 great-grandkids there, with 8 being under the age of 3. We gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my grandparents. It is so admirable to see that and it makes me very proud to be their granddaughter.
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