Sundays With Oliver - Week Twenty

We had a great week. We all started getting more sleep (yea!) which put everyone in a better mood. Oliver hung out with Daddy during the day this week while I went to work. On Friday afternoon, Oliver and I headed down to San Antonio to spend the weekend with the grandparents. I took Oliver into Mom’s school on Friday afternoon so that she could show him off to her students and friends. On Saturday Mom and I took him to the San Antonio Zoo. It’s a great zoo and we all had a lot of fun exploring. Mom got a zoo membership so we can go back as much as we want for the next year. 

In other news, Oliver mastered rolling from belly to back this week and even managed to roll over from back to belly once (he hasn’t repeated that yet). I have a feeling that once he masters that trick he’ll be unstoppable. He’ll start rolling under everything. So, I’m okay with him taking awhile to figure that one out. Finally, he’s officially grown out of his six month clothes and is now in nine month clothes... he’s growing too fast!

Here are the pictures from this week:

Updates

1. Sleep Training - Our sleep training is still going really well. Since the first night, we’ve been able to put Oliver in his crib awake and he puts himself to sleep within ten minutes. The longest he’s cried during the whole process is about twenty minutes. Last night, I put him down at 8 and he slept until 4:30. I am feeling so much better after four nights in a row of good sleep. Naps, however, are proving to be a bit of a struggle. He’s done one two hour nap since we started but the rest have been only around 45 minutes. He’s been taking lots of “naplets” instead of regular long naps but I’m hoping that problem will resolve itself soon. Also, we bought a video monitor this weekend and it’s been so entertaining to watch him while he’s sleeping (it also helps us know when he’s actually gone to sleep as opposed to when he’s just stopped crying for awhile). 

1. Rolling Over - He’s getting really good at rolling from belly to back but he still hasn’t managed the back to belly roll. He’s been swinging from side to side pretty well, though, so I feel like that milestone is just around the corner. 

1. Bottles - While the bottle strike has been over for awhile, Oliver still hasn’t been a huge fan of eating from the bottle, so I was a little concerned about going back to work this week. I was afraid that if he didn’t eat enough during the day that this sleeping through the night thing wouldn’t last. So, imagine my surprise when I got home today after a mere four hours at the store to discover that Oliver had downed 8 ounces while I was away (he usually only takes that much when I’m gone for a whole day). 

What a champ!

Sundays With Oliver - Week Nineteen

After our trip last week it’s been nice to spend some time at home. Brian picked up some shifts at the bookstore so all three of us went into work on Thursday and Friday. Oliver is officially too old to come to work with me. He won’t sleep very long in my office and proves himself a huge distraction to my coworkers so his days of hanging out at the store are numbered. We haven’t had any luck finding a day care that we like that can take Oliver this fall so we’ve decided that Brian will stay home with him. At first we had thought that Brian would sub this semester but then we did the math and figured out he’d be working just so we could afford day care (which we can’t find anyway) so it just makes more sense to have Brian watch him while I work. We have found a day care that we really like and Oliver is on the wait list so he will hopefully have a spot when Brian starts working in the spring. 

The biggest development of the last week was the beginning of our sleep training. We are using the Ferber method where you put your child down in their crib while they are still awake and let them learn to soothe themselves to sleep. The theory is that if your child learns to soothe himself to sleep, then he will be able to go back to sleep in the middle of the night if he wakes up. You go in and check on the kid (but don’t pick him up) at certain intervals which lengthen throughout the night until they go to sleep on their own. (This method often gets a bad rep because people think it involves sticking your baby in a crib and then letting him scream alone in a room until he passes out. That’s not how it works.) Oliver is right at the youngest age where you should try this method so I was a little nervous to see if he was ready for this program or if he was still too young to learn to self-soothe.

We started Friday night and it has been going really well. We took Oliver out of his swaddle (which I thought would be the hardest part) and put him into his crib “relaxed but awake.” On Friday night, he cried for about ten minutes after we put him to bed and then slept for three hours, cried for another fifteen minutes and then slept for another three hours. We went in and checked on him every three to five minutes when he was crying. I fed him at that point and he slept for another four hours. All in all, Friday night felt like a success. Last night was even better. We put him in his crib at 8:30, he cried for about a minute and a half and then slept until 3:00. I fed him at that point, put him back in his crib and he slept until 7:00. We didn’t have to do any checking on him last night because he never cried more than a few minutes. I feel so well-rested today and any doubts I had about whether or not he was ready for this have been completely put aside. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes but it seems to me like Oliver was ready to make this change. Even being out of the swaddle hasn’t bothered him much (although he did scratch his face up pretty good on Friday night... we’ve been putting him in those no-scratch mittens for naps and bedtime now). His naps have been going fairly well, also. All his naps are taking place in his crib (before he was swaddled and in his swing). They are shorter than before but today he managed a two hour nap. I think they’ll get better as the week goes on. I’ll update later this week with any progress or regression as we keep striving towards better sleep habits.

   

Madison Trip - Part Two

On Friday we went out for breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Linda, Uncle Don, Sydney, Brea and Julia. Brea had found a great place to eat and we had a wonderful meal. That afternoon, Brian and I walked down to the university to explore a bit and had a beer at State Street Brats. Ben, Deonne and Will arrived later that afternoon so Oliver got to meet his Aunt and Uncle and cousin for the first time. Will was very cute with Oliver and (for some unexplained reason) called Oliver “little hipster” all weekend. We hung out with them and the grandparents for awhile and then all met up again at the rehearsal dinner. Brea arranged for a babysitter at the hotel so while Julia and Oliver got to hang out for awhile at the dinner, Brian and I had somewhere to drop them off when they got fussy. (One of the best things about the whole weekend was that everything was within walking distance of the hotel. So, the babies could participate but then could get home quickly if they started to melt down).

Saturday morning we got up early and went to the Farmer’s Market that surrounds the capitol building. The Farmer’s Market is huge! There are tons of vendors selling baked goods, produce, meat, cheese (lots of cheese), and fresh flowers. We bought a pastry and some cheese curds (they squeak! who knew?) and some cherries and three mini loaves of bread (zucchini, banana walnut, and bacon cheddar). All of the fruits and veggies looked so good it made me wish we had a kitchen so Brian could cook some of them for me. After the Farmer’s Market we went to a coffeeshop and read for awhile and then headed back to the hotel. I went and hung out with Brea and her wedding party while they got their hair and make up done. Before we knew it it was time for us to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was on the roof of the modern art museum in Madison. It was a beautiful ceremony - Brea looked gorgeous, the flowers were amazing, and the woman performing the ceremony did a great job. 

After the ceremony, Brian and I headed back to the hotel to pick up Oliver and Julia (they stayed with the babysitters during the ceremony) and then brought them over to the reception site. When they had had enough fun we took them back to the hotel to stay with the babysitters and then got to be grown-ups for the rest of the night. It was a fantastic party - great food and wine, lots of dancing and great conversations with the family. So much fun!

On Sunday we spent the day hanging out with Ben, Deonne and Will. We went to brunch and then walked down to the university where we hung out on the Union Terrace for awhile. We then walked back up State Street and went to the Madison Children’s Museum. Ben, Deonne and Will had been there the day before and kept saying how much Oliver would like it. I thought it would be too old for him and he would be bored but, boy, did he prove me wrong. After a rough start (he had a major blow out all over me while I was feeding him when we first got there), he had a blast staring at all of the big kids playing with the exhibits and spent almost an hour laying in the infant area playing with the toys. For those of you who don’t spent much time with Oliver, he’s a high maintenance kid and never does anything for more than fifteen minutes so this was a landmark. Brian and I decided right away that we’ve got to join the Austin Children’s Museum. After the Museum we walked down to State Street Brats and had lunch since we hadn’t eaten there on Friday. After lunch I took Oliver back to the hotel for a nap. That evening we all went swimming and then out for a late dinner. It was nice to have a full day in Madison after the wedding to explore a bit and even nicer that we found so much to do within walking distance of our hotel.

Monday morning, we got up early, packed and made the drive to Chicago (unlike the first drive, Oliver slept the whole way). We had initially thought that we would try to cram something touristy into the five hours we had in Chicago but, thankfully, we came to our senses and instead spent that time hanging out with Brea and Julia. It was so nice to get to spend some time with Brea and now we’ve got even more incentive to get back to Chicago so we can do the touristy thing. After a nice visit we headed to the airport and after a not so eventful flight we were back in Austin (Oliver got a little fussy on the plane but that’s to be expected).

It was a great trip and there are tons of pictures of it on the Photos page. Oliver is a great traveler - he slept pretty well for us the whole time (got up twice every night) and put on the charm for the family. He had cranky moments but who doesn’t get a little cranky when they’re away from home? I hope this is the first of many trips we will enjoy as a family.

Four Month Wellness Visit

We took Oliver for his four month wellness visit today. Here are the vital stats:

Weight: 16 pounds, 13 ounces (80th percentile)

Height: 25.5 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 inches (90th percentile)

He weighs about a pound more than Brian and I thought he did. 

He got two vaccinations and they have made him pretty cranky. He is asleep for the night now (he went to bed around 8:00) but I’m afraid it might be a long night for me. I don’t think he’ll sleep long.

The doctor says he’s doing great - growing strong and super social. She gave us some handouts on starting solids but said there’s no pressure to start before he’s six months. We might start him on some rice cereal next month but that will be mostly for pure entertainment value (I just want to get the pictures of him spitting it all out). We talked to her about our sleep struggles and she gave us the go-ahead to start some sleep training. We are going to start on Friday night (I spent most of our vacation reading Dr. Ferber’s book). Wish us luck! I’m really hoping it works out and we can all start getting more sleep.

"Sundays" With Oliver - Week Eighteen

Disclaimer: The following pictures were actually taken today and not on Sunday because I wasn’t so crazy as to try and pack the dog for our trip to Madison (although it seemed at times that it was the only thing we didn’t bring with us). 

We had another great week. My mom stayed with us in the beginning of the week (her last week of freedom before school starts) and helped us get ready for the trip (she even drove the dogs down to Dog Camp for us on Thursday!). She also babysat Oliver Wednesday night while Brian and I went to see Wicked. I have been wanting to see Wicked for years but couldn’t afford tickets when the traveling show came to town this summer but one of my reps gave me tickets from HarperCollins. It was awesome!

The rest of the week was spent in Madison and I will update more about that trip soon but here is the picture from this week. (He was a little sleepy and cranky when we took the photos since we had just gotten back from his four month wellness visit and he got some shots... you can see the band-aids on this thighs in some of the pictures...)

Planes, New Cousins, and Cheese Curds.

We are in Madison, Wisconsin for Brea’s wedding this weekend. We flew into Chicago Thursday evening, rented a car and drove into Madison. The trip went as smoothly as could be expected. We packed enough stuff to last about a month - two huge suitcases, the car seat and stroller - and managed to get it all on the plane. I even got through security in Austin with breast milk that I brought with me. I was a little stressed about trying to carry the milk on but it was really no big deal. On my friend, Jessica’s, advice I told every TSA agent I saw that I was carrying breast milk (even the ones on break, eating their lunches). They ran it through the X-ray and then had to examine it. The woman who did the inspection was super nice, walking me through exactly what she was going to do with the milk (they have to test the container but they don’t open it) and doing everything with brand new latex gloves on and where I could see her. 

Oliver did great on his first plane ride. He was a little fussy when we first got on the plane but he calmed down and did great at take-off and then slept for about 45 minutes. When he woke up I got to experience changing him in an airplane bathroom - not something you would want to do if you are at all claustrophobic. Then I walked him up and down the aisle for awhile and let him flirt with the flight attendants. When he would get fussy, I would nurse him and the flight passed without major incidence. The car ride to Madison was another story. Oliver was pretty much done by the time we arrived in Chicago - it was 6:00 PM and he hadn’t had a decent nap all day... so he did some good screaming on the drive. But he eventually screamed himself out and slept for the last hour and a half.

We got into Madison late and then called the grandparents so they could come up and see Oliver. We visited for awhile and Oliver fell madly in love with his Grandma. She played peek-a-boo with him and he laughed and laughed. It was so cute! We finally got him to bed around 11:30 and he slept until 5:00, got up and ate a little and then slept in bed with me until 7:00.

Yesterday we met up with the rest of the family, including Brea and her new daughter, Julia. Oliver and Julia are so cute together. You can definitely see a family resemblance. We laid them down on a bed together and Oliver immediately wrapped his arm in hers and then started to try and eat her head. It was adorable!

Sundays With Oliver - Week Seventeen

Oliver spent the first part of this week hanging out with Grandmama who was up in Austin to help us out again. Not only did she take great care of the munchkin, she did our laundry, cleaned our house, lined up some HVAC people to come over (we need a new A/C) and started researching day cares for me (more about the day care issue some other time). We are so grateful for everything my mom’s done for us this summer and we’re going to be so bummed out when she goes back to work the week after next. 

Later in the week Oliver hung out at the bookstore a little bit. I had to work this weekend since we will be out of town the end of next week, so all three of us went into the store yesterday. I got a lot done while Oliver took his morning nap (and Brian got some studying done, too). 

Oliver still hasn’t repeated his rolling over trick of a few weeks ago although he seems like he really wants to. He’s still shrieking every once in awhile but has put most of his energy this week in trying to blow raspberries. He sticks his tongue out and starts humming - he ends up completely covered in spit. Cute. Despite his one night of nine hours of sleep, as a rule he’s still not sleeping very well (he was up three times last night) so I’m really ready for our pediatrician visit and starting some sleep training. I’m so tired. 

    

One Year Ago Today...

... we first found out about Oliver. Back then we called him Doodle (as in: “That’s one doodle that can’t be undone.” - from Juno). We were shocked and excited and scared and a thousand other things. And here we are one year later, with a beautiful happy healthy baby boy. Definitely the best surprise of my life. 

Sleeping Revisited

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Oliver was having some sleep issues. The issue? He wasn’t sleeping. He went a few weeks there where his first stretch of sleep would be five or six hours, he’d wake up to eat for ten minutes and then fall asleep again until around 6 am. Not exactly sleeping through the night but I was pretty happy only having to get up once a night with him. During his fourteenth week, however, that reliable (though not ideal) sleep schedule completely disappeared. That week he started fighting bedtime for over an hour (he would drift to sleep in my arms and then start screaming as soon as I put him in his crib) and he was getting up anywhere from three to five times a night. I was about ready to lose my mind. I felt like a zombie the days after he would wake up so many times and it got to the point where I spent the whole day dreading bedtime and the battle it would bring. I felt horrible because I wasn’t enjoying my time with Oliver during the day to the full extent because I was obsessing about trying to put him to bed later that night.

Recently things have gotten a little better. He’s gone back to waking up only two times a night but he’s still fighting bedtime every once in awhile. I convinced myself that he was waking up that many times a night because he still needed to eat every five hours but then the little knucklehead showed his hand (big mistake, Oliver!) on Monday night. I put him to bed at 8:30 and he slept until 5:30 - a full nine hours. That’s the longest stretch he’s ever done and proof that he can go longer without eating than he’s led me to believe. Then I started to think back to all those nights of two wakings and realized that he wasn’t even really eating when he did wake up. He would only be up for about ten minutes and although I would offer him a meal, he would only comfort suck and then go back to sleep. So, it turns out, I’m a human pacifier and Oliver’s pretty dependent on me to get himself to sleep in the first place (hence the bedtime battles) and also needs me to get him back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Now, it’s nice to feel needed but I need my sleep so this whole human pacifier thing has got to stop and soon! Oliver’s got to figure out how to get himself to sleep and how to go back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night and I’m slowly coming to the realization that I’m going to have to teach him this valuable skill so that we can both get a good night’s sleep. 

So, we’ve got a trip to Madison next weekend for Brea’s wedding and then a pediatrician visit the week after for his four-month and if she gives the go-ahead we’re going to start some gentle sleep training after that. No more napping in the swing, no more swaddling and hopefully no more bedtime battles and endless night wakings. I don’t think we’re ready for full-on cry it out (hopefully we can catch this early enough that some “fuss it out” will do) but I’m prepared to go there if need be (the screaming session in the car on the way home from Midland showed me that I can, in fact, listen to my child scream... it sucks but I can do it). Hopefully we can all start getting some better sleep around here.

Sundays With Oliver - Week Sixteen

We had a great week. Oliver hung out with Daddy all week while Mommy worked. On Wednesday morning Oliver and I spent some time with Lydia (who is the most relaxed baby I’ve ever met... very chill). This weekend we all went down to San Antonio to visit Grandmama and Grandpa Richard. Oliver had such a good time at Grandmama’s house that he decided to stay one more night while Brian and I went back up to Austin. I got a full night’s sleep! Thanks, Mom!

Oliver continues to struggle with teething. We can’t see any coming in yet but he’s obviously in pain. Hopefully the teeth will begin to make their appearances soon. Oliver seems so miserable. Oliver also discovered his voice this week.