Sleeping Success

This will be a long post, because I freely admit it, I am obsessed with Patrick's sleep. It's the one thing that I am over the top about, to the extent that I think I have read every book about babies and sleep, and I've lost sleep myself deciding how to best ensure that Patrick sleeps well. I'll also admit that the main reason I decided to stay at home was that Patrick didn't nap well at daycare and I felt I needed to be at home to provide a consistent environment that would encourage good naps and good sleep. I believe that sleep is a learned skill, and I truly think it's one of the most important things a parent can teach their child. A well rested child is a happier child. Like I said - it's a huge deal to me. Anyway, my first goal as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) has been to fix Patrick's sleep issues.

My goals were as follows:

1) Get Patrick sleeping through the night again. From about 7 months, he started waking up in the night due to colds, teething, etc, then at 8 months he had a developmental spurt from crawling and pulling up. It got to the stage where he was waking up, standing up in his crib, and screaming until someone picked him up. We would then have to walk around with him until he fell asleep on us (a bad habit we started), then try and put him down again so he didn't wake up. Usually he would wake up (see point 2 below), and we would have to start the walking around all over again. Some nights we were up for 2 hours at a time, and we were both getting exhausted. Brad was getting really busy at work, and I've been having that fun 1st trimester tiredness, so something needed to be done.

2) Have a better bedtime process. The bedtime routine worked well for a long while, but it stopped working about a month ago. I'd let Patrick fall asleep on me in the rocking chair, but he would then wake up by jerking his body when I put him down, which would lead to him sitting up, then standing up and crying and demanding to be picked up. We knew something had to be done when we realized it was taking 2 of us to put him to bed - I'd wait for him to fall asleep on me, I'd carefully put him down, I'd put my hand on his back, the other on his bum, Brad would put his hands on each of Patrick's leg, so that when Patrick did his usually "jerk", it wouldn't actually make him wake up. Clearly having to pin your child down so he stays asleep is not something we wanted to continue.

3) Get Patrick napping well. His naps were all over the place. He didn't nap well at daycare, so usually he just played until he fell asleep in a bouncy chair. At home it was better, but again we were letting him fall asleep on us and trying to keep him asleep when we put him down which wasn't always a success.

And I'm pleased to say that after 2 weeks, we are having success in all 3 areas. I'd like to give a huge Thank You to my friend Beth, who did some work on her baby's sleep when Bella was 9 months old, and she was a huge source of encouragement. It definitely wasn't easy, and we had to go through some horrible crying for us to get to this point, but it was all worth it. After 3 nights, Patrick started sleeping happily through the night once more. At bedtime I put him in his crib and he fusses for maybe 5 minutes before falling asleep by himself (last night he didn't fuss at all, he just talked to himself and then fell asleep). And naps, which have been the trickiest thing for us to solve, are going very well - he fusses for maybe 10 minutes (if that) each time I put him down, and he takes 2 naps a day.

It's such a relief to have him sleeping so well, and it's so nice to go get him when he wakes up and find him in his crib smiling at me. It's also been good for Brad and I, because now we know we're getting a full night's sleep, and each bedtime and naptime are not a battle anymore. It's made me feel a lot calmer and more confident as a Mom.

Again, a huge Thank You to my friend Beth!!

More New Foods for Patrick

Today I gave Patrick some melon to try. He ate a few bits, although as you can see he wasn't too sure, but at least he's being adventurous and trying things. Two seconds after I took this photo, he threw up. (As I've mentioned earlier this is a normal reaction to every new food). But I think he liked them!

A Bit of Good News for Lesley

I have some shocking news. Yesterday I received a letter from the Immigration Services saying that my green card has been approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is shocking news because it has taken over 3 years for me to get this far (it should take about a year to 18 months). Granted, I have still to get the actual green card, so I am not holding my breath that this process is finalized yet, but apparantly the card will arrive in the mail in 3 weeks time. My case has taken so long because USCIS (the official name for the Immigration dept) has had a few mishaps with my file. When Brad and I first got called for an interview, the Officer told me that she couldn't interview us because they could not locate my file. She said they should find it within a couple of weeks, however it remained "unlocated" for over a year. (Funnily enough they found it a month after I wrote to one of my state senators, but I'm not sure if this had anything to do with it.) When Brad and I went for our second interview, they told us that they were waiting for a background check that should take a couple of weeks, but then we didn't hear from anyone for 6 months. And I'm sure there were other mishaps that I'm just not aware of. Anyway, I shall be glad to get this process finalized. One of the major frustrating things is that you can't get hold of anyone who actually cares or manages your case. You can call the 1-800 number and someone will look up your status on the computer, but that is not at all helpful and they have actually given me incorrect information several times. You can make an appointment to go to the immigration offices downtime and wait a few hours to fill out a form explaining your problem, which I did, but this yielded no results at all. I think they shred the forms as soon as you hand them in. So for the past 3 years I have been in immigration limbo, in a state called "Adjustment of Status" (AOS), which basically means you're in the process of being adjusted from a temporary resident to a permanent resident. Under this AOS it's a hassle getting back into the country because I have to go to a back office in the airport and have a rude officer interview me and go through my paperwork. Plus we've had to pay every year to renew my annual work visa and travel documentation, so the goverment has actually made money out of us from them losing my file. But we seem to be getting near to the end now - what a huge relief!! Anyway, sorry for the long post, but this has been rather a long saga and I'm quite excited the end might be in sight.

These Shoes Are Made For Walking....

Patrick recently got his first pair of proper shoes! He was properly measured and he is a 3.5 wide. He's not too confident standing up and walking around in them as he tends to trip over them, but they look very cute (and that's the important thing). (When I say "walking" I mean he holds my hands whilst we walk around the house chasing after the cats. He could (and does) do this all day.)

Patrick meets Santa!

Today Patrick went to Phipps and met Santa.


"I'm not too sure about this hairy bloke...."

"Mommy!!"

9 Month Photos

Last week I tried to take some photos for Patrick's 9 month birthday. But he wanted to explore, so this is all I got:

Grown Up Food

Patrick has done very well so far on the baby solids that we have given him; he loves most of the fruit and vegetable purees and often eats a full 6oz pot. He's not that keen on some of the meat ones (though some of the meat pots do smell pretty bad, I think soon I shall try making my own. When I opened a nasty chicken and rice Gerber pot last night the horrible smell made me throw up (lovely morning sickness seems to hit me in the evenings as well), the funny thing was that Patrick took one mouthful and then threw up himself.)

I thought the transition to grown up, chewable food would be straightforward as well, seeing as how well Patrick does with the purees. Not so. For the past couple of months I've been slowly letting him play with solid foods, but for a while it seemed that whenever anything non-pureed went in his mouth, it caused him to gag and throw up. Small chunks of peaches in a puree - throw up. One little cheerio - throw up. Teething biscuit - throw up. So for a while I just left the grown up foods, after all he's eating lots of fruits and vegetables and still drinking lots of formula, we're not in any hurry to grow up. At the weekend we tried him again with Cheerios - he let me put one in his mouth, chewed it, spat it out (but no throwing up - hurrah!!) I popped it back in his mouth, he spat it out again, but on the 4th insertion he actually chewed it and swallowed!!! We tried him again yesterday and he's got the hang of it now, he popped 4 in his mouth and ate all of them. I'm very proud. He's also munching on bits of buttered toast (although if you look close you can see most of the bits end up on the floor around him).

Going Up Stairs

Patrick loves climbing up stairs (luckily for him we live in a townhouse!) He hasn't worked out yet how to get down, so we have to be quite vigilant and stand behind him. He can manage a whole flight by himself - usually when he's in hot pursuit of one of the cats!

Phew, I'm only half way there!














But I'm getting there....











Hey! I made it!!!

More Photos From Orlando

Here's Patrick in London!

Patrick with Aunt Kristal

Definitely a Pisces Baby

Patrick loves being in the water. Here he is in the pool in Orlando. He loved playing with the water spouts and crawling around splashing in the shallow water. He had his own little inflatable raft that he got to enjoy as well.

Here is Patrick in the pool with Daddy. He's so relaxed that he fell asleep.

Yes, he is a handful.

Family Photos from Orlando

Patrick and the Pop-Up Book

Patrick still loves playing with books, he can happily turn pages for hours. His grandma gave him a lovely book that has pop-ups of Christmas scenes and plays Christmas music. Patrick was obsessed with it whilst we were in Orlando, it was definitely his plaything of choice. He would see it across the room and would crawl after it. After a while though, being the rough boy that he is, the book started too look a little worse for wear. He loves to pull bits off the pop-up pictures and try to eat them. There's barely one page left unscathed. It's fair to say it's not really popping up anymore, and the music that gets activated by the moving pop-ups is no longer functioning. Oh well. At least he's enjoying his books!!

It's Not "All About Patrick" Anymore.

Big News: We are expecting a little brother or sister for Patrick!!

The new baby is due on around July 8th, 2007 (this is the 3rd due date I've been given, but as it's the latest one I'm quite happy to stick with it). There will be 16 months between them, which I think will be hard work at first, but hopefully will be easier as they get older and can play with eachother. We had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago - we saw the little "blob" and saw and heard the heartbeat, so everything is looking good. I'm feeling good as well, I've been a bit sick (changing Patrick's nappies first thing in the morning is rather a challenge now) but not as sick as I was with Patrick, so I'm grateful for that. I'm already showing a LOT, there is no way I could have kept this pregnancy a secret until 12 weeks. I'm only 9 weeks and I look 5 months pregnant. (So please bear that in mind when you're looking at the photos of me that I'm about to post - I haven't been eating too many pies, I'm just growing a person!!!)

Builder's Bottom

Patrick's Last Day at Daycare

Today was Patrick's last day at Daycare. His teachers have all been ever so good with him, and it was such a comfort to Brad and I to know that his 2 main teachers really bonded with him and genuinely loved him. We have promised to visit them in a few weeks so they can get their "Patrick fix." Here's a photo of Patrick with Miss Dayuana.

Here's a cute photo of Patrick with his first little girlfriend. They were playing together today when Miss Dayuana said "Ava, don't you fall for him, he's just going to love you and leave you, it's his last day today!" But they look made for each other, don't they, with their little bald heads!

Professional Homemaker!

I am taking a career break for a while to stay at home with Patrick. Today was my last day at work, and Patrick's last day in daycare. Although I'm happy about the prospect of playing with Patrick all day, I know I'm going to miss work and my friends there, I was lucky to work with a very nice bunch of people. It was also unexpectedly refreshing to have a reason to wear cute shoes and put on make-up. And I must confess I'm a bit nervous about my new "job" (BTW, I prefer the term "Professional Homemaker" to "Housewife" - that just sounds so 1950's and female subservient.) I hope that Patrick doesn't get bored being with me all the time, because I notice at daycare he is really interacting well with the other babies and starting to play with them. I think I shall be leaning heavily on my other Mom friends over the next few weeks to help me make the transition to SAHM (Stay At Home Mom). But at least I'll have more time now to take photos and post here.

Confession

Patrick got his first black eye this weekend. Unfortunately it happened on my watch. He had pulled himself up on his piano when he toppled forward and hit his head on the corner. He really cried; his whole head went red like it used to when he got upset when he was a baby. He cheered up after a lot of cuddles though, and then I took him for a walk because being outside and watching cars drive past always cheers him up. I had just convinced myself that his swollen eye didn't look too bad and that maybe I could get him into bed before Brad came home, when a neighbor came out of his house across the street and (from across the street!) said "Hello - Oh MY! Has he got a black eye?!!!"

I'm sure this will be the first of many tumbles he takes, so I'm not feeling too bad about it. (I'm just irritated it happened whilst he was with me!!)

Whizz Kid

Patrick started messing around on our computer this afternoon. We thought it was funny so we let him type away for a few minutes. He loved to hit down on the keyboard. However, he must have kept the ALT button pressed down, and he found a few interesting shortcuts. He cut and paste a few hundred times, he did a find & replace, then he managed to change the font on our computer until everything was HUGE. It took us 20 minutes to correct it.

That'll teach us, huh?

Patrick wants to be a cat

Patrick pretended to be a cat today. He investigated the cat tower from a cat's perspective. He stuffed one of Tybee's toy bouncing balls in his mouth (eurgh!), and he had a handful of dry cat food that would have made into his mouth had I not intervened. He takes these things very seriously.

Patrick is becoming quite a handful

My friend Jamie has a really funny entry on her blog about Patrick and her baby Zeke, here's the link: http://aboutsprout.blogspot.com/

I wish I could say P's behavior is a one-off. Last week his daycare teachers told us that he has been asserting his independence and getting into fights with some of the other babies. Zeke is not the only baby to have had their hair yanked by P. (It might be that P is simply jealous of babies with full heads of hair??) P also pulled over one of the older girls in his classroom last week. He is changing into a proper little boy; all rough and tough. I always wanted a little boy who was naughty and had adventures and would come home all dirty and scuffed up, so I guess this is another instance where I should have been careful what I wished for. It struck me the other day that I have never had to say No to Patrick. I've just distracted him away from e.g. the steak knife that he wants to grab (No, I don't leave knives around, I'm just using that as an exaggerated example). But I think all that might be changing soon; we might have to start actually "parenting" as opposed to just playing with and caring for him.

On the plus side, P gives the most amazingly strong hugs that are so heartwarming. He crawls up you, throws his arms around your neck, and squeezes really tight. Miss Dayuana at his daycare put it very well, she told me; "Lesley, that boy hugs like a MAN!"

It seems to me that Patrick's personality is becoming more evident now. He's quite physical, as the crawling and cruising demonstrates. But he also loves to look around at everything with such a look of intense concentration on his face. In that respect, he is definitely a "thinker". If you are holding him, he often peers around you, craning his neck, to make sure he isn't missing any action going on behind you. Yes, he's quite a nosy little boy. His daycare teacher today said he is the security guard of the infant classroom, because he has to watch what everyone is doing. Sometimes he really fights naps because he just doesn't want to miss out on seeing things. His teacher also said that P is very independent, he isn't that bothered about playing with other babies, he's happiest playing by himself. He likes interacting with other people too, but whilst he doesn't volunteer smiles, people can often coax a smile out of him quite easily. I am really enjoying seeing his personality develop. We have our first parent / teacher meeting next week so it will be very interesting to see what his teachers say about him on a more formal basis.

Now we're cruising....

Not content with his new found crawling mobility, on Monday Patrick pulled himself up on his Fisher Price Piano and walked around the side of it. He was a little uncoordinated with his feet, and needed a bit of help negotiating the corner, but he was quite steady and happy to be upright. You can see by his expression that he was very proud of himself. I am now looking at the photo and thinking "Gosh, he looks SO big!" Where did my little baby go?? He seems to be growing up so very quickly, he seems to me to be on the threshold of toddlerhood. I am in denial about this - on Tuesday I sent him to daycare in a pastel onesie that said "Baby."

More Long Distance Crawling

Patrick is loving his new found freedom. Last night he was full of beans after his Halloween Party and zoomed around the house non-stop for over an hour. In this photo he left Brad in the living room to explore the hallway - look how far he traveled!
(You can just see Brad in the background).

Halloween Party

Sunday afternoon we went to a Halloween Party with some friends that we made from our Childbirth classes. All the babies dressed up as cuddly animals, and it was quite the zoo.

From left to right we have: Ewan the lion (who didn't like wearing his headpiece so we're lucky to get a photo with his mane intact), Parker the giraffe, Zeke the cuddly koala, and of course Patrick the monkey.

Zeke: Hey Parker, have you seen my hand anywhere?....

Hey.... Naughty Monkey, get off my pumpkin!!

Ewan: I'm not wearing that headdress. I'm a boy. I don't wear anything called a dress. Besides, why would you cover all this lovely hair??

Pumpkin Patch Patrick

Harvest Fest

On Friday Patrick had a Harvest Fest celebration at his daycare. He dressed up as a monkey again (we definitely are getting our money's worth out of this costume!)
Here's Patrick with his favorite teacher, Miss Evelyn. He adores her; his little face lights up when he sees her each morning.

Winter Weather Wear by Patrick's Parents

The weather has got a bit colder lately, so we've had to get Patrick all bundled up. Here's some photos from today - see if you can guess which outfit his Mom dressed him in, and which outfit his Dad put him in.




"Seriously Mom, I'm laughing because even I don't believe that green velour rompers are coming back in...."

Patrick's First Solo Journey!

This morning I left P on his playmat in the living room whilst I was in the kitchen making up his bottles for daycare. Our house is open plan so I could hear him and see the top of his little head (his hair is coming in, but very slowly). I heard he was on the move, which in the past has meant him exploring his play mat - but when I looked over he was determinedly heading towards me! And he ended up in the kitchen! This is the furthest he's ever traveled by himself.

Did you know there are 28 documented versions of crawling? P has gone for the traditional style. He likes to slap his hands down on the floor as if to emphasize his new skill!

I gave him an empty can of formula to play with in the kitchen and he happily played with it for ages. Who knew there were so many things to do with a can?! You can roll it across the floor and chase it, you can bash it like a drum, or you can chew on it.

I am really enjoying this new mobility (I know it's going to require a lot more attention, but P isn't often left unattended anyways - who wants to do housework when there's a fun baby to play with?!) The other night we played with P and he happily crawled between us, giving us huge hugs and kisses when he got to us. It's so heartwarming. (Although we can't get too full of ourselves, his favorite things to crawl after are still the cats.)

We have had a few wake-ups over the past few days that we are attributing to teething, P's second tooth is almost as high as his first one now. P wakes up and starts crying, then pushes himself into a sitting position in his crib. At the weekend we were awoken by him fussing, then we heard his aquarium mobile music start, then stop, then start again... This went on for a couple of minutes until we went to see what he was doing. He was sitting with his back against the mobile, and when he cried he would throw his head back and hit the button on the mobile, thus starting it. Then he would stop crying and think "Hey, music!" and would try and turn his head to see where it was coming from, hitting the button with his head again and switching it off, which would then start him crying again.... We are being patient with these wake-ups, we try to pat him on the back and "Shhhh" him back to sleep, but inevitably he hasn't been able to settle himself so we've been picking him up. My rationale is that P is usually a very good sleeper, so I don't think this is a sleep issue. Also he's only going to be little once, and if I were teething I would want to be cuddled back to sleep as well.

Cute Photo

Patrick Loves Reading

Patrick loves reading, he will happily spend half an hour turning the pages of any book you give him. He also loves magazines and catalogues - although he usually tries to eat them. Here is Patrick checking that his parents are up to date with the latest Parenting news - as he can't read yet he prefers to digest the information.

Pilates Patrick

Patrick is doing very well crawling around now. Yesterday he started doing some interesting new body shapes.

Teeth Update

I've just realized that I haven't updated anyone on the important teeth news. Patrick now has one tooth almost fully through at the bottom, and another one coming through as well at the bottom, as well as some moving down at the top!

I hope you can see it in this picture.

(Bless the little goofy guy!)

A whole new level of vigilance is now required...

You turn your back for a second, and before you know it, he's gotten stuck under the armoire...