Sleepy Time!

Not to spit in the wind or anything, but the boy has been sleeping better for the last week or so. We started a new strategy with which we are having some success. To start with, I'm resigned for the time being to the fact that nursing him down is the best method for getting him to sleep at night. Don't get me wrong, I love the bonding time with him, but there's a part of me that's freaked out by the thought he'll be 3 years old and still needing the boob to get to sleep (hopefully, this is an irrational fear). But, for now, it's fine. It works for both of us. The next part of our strategy is based on the premis that he does indeed go to bed with a very full tummy, so if he's waking up, it's probably not hunger related. Previously I was getting up to nurse him 2 or 3 times a night (this is from 5 months on)...just to get him back down. Exhausting! So, if he wakes up in the middle of the night now I put the 10 minute timer on him. I will let him cry up until 10 minutes to put himself back to sleep. Anything beyond that is worth an investigation. Guess what? He's never made it past the 8 minute mark yet. Usually, he only goes 3 or 4 minutes. After 3 nights of trying this we've had 8, 9, 10, and 11 hour sleep stretches. Eureka! CJ and I are just trying to catch up on our sleep before the next regression comes along. Naps have improved as well. He's typically taking a morning and an afternoon nap. Sometimes they're only 30 or 40 minutes, but it's still an improvement! Check him out above actually falling asleep during a yogurt snack!

Harry Potter Speculation

I'm a big Harry Potter fan and am eagerly awaiting the publication of the final book next summer...rumored to be released on 7/7. In the last few weeks there's been lots of speculation flying around about which character's might not make it to see the end of the series...including Harry himself! JK Rowling has adamantly stated that that certain character who died toward the end of the Half-Blood Prince is REALLY dead (I don't want to spoil it in case there are one or two out there that haven't read the book yet). Here's a pretty cool sight with some info on the upcoming release....it's just fun to read all the rumors. The best thing about Harry Potter is how the books have managed to ignite a new joy of reading into kids (and adults). I hope that something similar comes along for Collin's generation. I plan to read him the Harry Potter stories when he's older...right now when I try to read him anything he just tries to eat the pages. It seems like such a long wait for the next novel that I plan on starting from book one in the fall and try to scope out any clues that might give anything away for the finale.

On the Collin front.... it's been an up and down week. The best news is that last night he slept from 8:30-6:30. I think it's a record sleep...let's hope it's a trend.

Reading the classics this summer...

Well, I finished Lord of the Flies quickly. I must say that it a rather hair-raising little book. It was incredibly dark and had so many different undertones to it. I'm curious what grade this book is suggested for. You have to wonder, how quickly would the trappings of civilization fall away if any group of people were stranded on an island somewhere and left to their own devices. The characters were intriguing...poor, tormented Piggy, conflcited Ralph, and little psycho-path Jack Merridew. I could relate to Piggy completely because of the dire importance of his specs. I too would be doomed to stumble about haplessly without my contacts or glasses. I could practically feel his anxiety when his were stolen from him toward the end of the book. After finishing, one thing that crossed my mind was how different would the story have been if it was a pack of girls stranded on that island? Overall, I'm glad that I read Lord of the Flies. It was brilliantly written, but nonetheless, I won't be putting it into any of my Top 10 lists anytime soon. RIP Piggy and Simon.

I've since started on Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This is just the switch in tone I need after Each time I read something by Austen I'm amazed at how modern her stories read. The main character, Catherine, is very likeable and I'm cheering for her. More to come....

On a much lighter note....

The boy continues to get into everything. Every day brings new adventures!
His latest thing is unrolling all of the toilet paper and wallowing around in it. This kid is a genius!

Disturbing...Vent of the day

All over the news right now where I live is the arrest of a local handyman for sexually assaulting children in the homes where he worked. We're talking at least 11 children , ages 2 through 11, boys and girls. Not only did he assault these kids, but he put video cameras in the bathrooms of dozens of clients to be able to watch them in their daily comings and goings. We're talking really sick shit here. Just like all pedophiles he found ways to get close to kids and ways to "groom" them to get his sicko needs met. Obviously, I find this disturbing. I don't think there's a time in my life I wouldn't have found it disturbing. Since Collin has been born though, I really find myself getting sick to my stomach when I see these stories. I mean, WE have a handyman! I was nervous about unknown people in the house before. It sucks that you have to be a woman in the world today, in the United States no less, and worry about being attacked in your own home (or by your intimate partner for that matter since its so much more common then a stranger attacking youz). Put Collin into the picture and its a whole new ballgame. I mean here is a little creature who is truly for defenseless for the time being. Working in the field as sexual assault/domestic violence counselor, you would think I might be just a little bit used to hearing these stories, but I'm not. I still continue to be shocked. Seriously, when is our society going to say enough is enough?

The Hip Hammock

Eureka! We've discovered the hip hammock! CJ randomly brought it home from Babies R Us last week on a whim. I was a bit dubious about trying any other kind of sling contraption because thus far Collin has not taken to any of them. For the next baby we will definitely be trying the whoe sling thing very early on to get the baby adapted quickly. Anyway, Collin freakin loves this thing. I mean what's not to love, he's carried around on my hip like the little king that he is. Not only does the kid love it,it seems (not to spit in the wind) as though it is a sure nap inducer. Twenty minutes of bopping around in this thing and he's out cold. The downside is that I can't figure out a way to wrangle him out of it and place him in the crib without a wake-up. I've taken this as a sign that I am just meant to nap with him. So today, once he was passed out, I just eased my way onto the couch and we took a nice little snuggled up nap. On the night time sleeping front, I had a reassuring conversation with my neighbor today. She nursed all 3 of her kids for a year each and she said she always nursed them down to sleep and that that they just naturally phased out of needing it to go to bed. This has given me some hope that we are not permanently resigning Collin to a life of sleep disorders because we don't put him down awake at night. I think I'm just coming to the conclusion that you do what it takes to make it work.

Let the babyproofing begin.....

It seems as though the milestones are coming fast and furious now. My scrapbooking can barely keep up with all the events. Just in the last 2 weeks Collin has become quite the swifty pulling himslef along on the floor, has learned to clap his hands, say "MMMM", pull himself up on the furniture, and unroll the toilet paper (he's in the bathroom with me because he can't tolerate being left alone for 2 minutes while I pee). He is absolutely fearless in these endeavors and we have a pretty big baby proofing project ahead of us. We don't want to go too overboard, but the number of safety devices you can buy at Babys R Us is astounding! Of course, the one thing you decide against using will probably be the thing you really wish you had.

Collin's cognitive skills seem to be developing quickly as well. He definitely knows that something is up when he hear's "No" and object permanence is coming along as well. He tracks for an item with his eyes even when I've taken it out of his view. Sometimes he looks at me like he has so much he would like to say! He also LOVES the new Gaelic Storm CD. We've been dancing around the house to it for the last few days.

Weekly Book Fix

Thanks to Stephanie over at The Written Word I've been perusing quite a few reading/book lovers blogs and have been itching to go make some purchases based on those bloggers recommendations and reading lists. So this morning my lovely husband drove me over to Borders and kept the boy occupied while I binged on books. I'm going with a "classics" theme (both old school and modern) for the rest of the summer. Here's what I purchased today...

War and Peace
Crime and Punishment
Northanger Abbey
Lord of the Flies (started this one on the beach today and I'm already very afraid for poor Piggy)
The Princess Bride
Love in the Time of Cholera

Looking at the list I can't believe that I haven't read some of these already. The good thing about buying some of these classics like Austen, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky is that their cheap! This stack should keep me busy for a while.

What kind of man will he be?

CJ and I were out on our weekly "date" last night and of course Collin was one of the main topics of conversation. We were wondering out loud about what kind of man our little chief would grow up to be and the kind of influence we, as his parents, will have on this process of becoming a person. As first time parents I think that this is one of the things we're really struggling with. How many of our own biases and judgements will we ultimately pass onto him? How about our ideas about politics, religion, and ethics? CJ and I are known to have some very differing opinions on some of these things...how will that play out as we raise our kids? We both agreed that the important thing would be to find balance and common ground as much as possible. We both want Collin to be an open-minded and compassionate individual. Of course, balance and common ground are things that are easier said than done. It's obviously a little hard to predict what kind of a person Collin will grow into, but he's already giving us little clues as to his temperment...determined, enthusiastic, energetic, affectionate...so far so good.

He Sleeps....

...for the moment anyway. Today's attempt at a morning nap in the crib has been successful thus far. He went down about 30 minutes ago, but I can hear his little lips smacking on the baby monitor. Actually, there he is crying right now. Oh well. I squandered my half an hour wondering what to do with myself!

Mommy Lit

Becoming a parent has introduced me to a whole new genre of books I like to call "Mommy Lit". I was reorganizing my bookshelves today and realized I've accumulated quite a few books on motherhood and parenting related topics....books with titles like "Mommy Wars", "Breeder", and "Operating Instructions". They've brought me quite a few laughs throughout the last several months. One that I've recently been perusing is called Inconsolable: How I Threw My Mental Health Out with the Diapers by Marrit Ingman. This book I actually love. I love her dark humor, writing skill, and courage she shows to tell the world about her battle with post-partum depression. She also has a blog that is both entertaining (much more so than mine) and thought provoking.

Today was a tough day on the mommy front at our house. Little C has become something like a stalker. I feel his eyes on me wherever I go. Don't get me wrong, I love that he loves me so much and it's pretty flattering that I'm the only one who can meet his needs right now, but everyday life necessities are not getting done...I can't operate with a 20 lb boy attached to my hip! Ithink I need to start practicing the zen art of letting go....letting go of all the things that there just aren't time to do anymore.

On the up side...Collin and sweet potatoes mix pretty well. We're looking forward to the orange poop that is sure to come.

2 Teeth Busting Through

I think all of the crankiness of the last several days has at least been partially explained. This morning I noticed 2 little white bumps on Collin's lower gumbs. Low and behold his first 2 teeth are breaking through. The poor thing has been gumbing away on anything he can get into his mouth. That is, everything except his teething rings. He has been exhaused as well...last night was a record sleep of 10 hours. We're hoping this is a trend. Another little milestone today was his introduction to the sippy cup and apple juice. He was looking a bit dubious about the cup, but once he figured out that there was apple juice in there his tune changed pretty quick!

On a non baby note...I found out that the National Book Festival will be held the weekend of September 30th in D.C. We'll be road tripping with the boy for the weekend. A whole festival for books? I'm psyched! I didn't even realize this thing existed....and I call myself a bibliophile! I'm hoping this will turn into an annual family tradition.

Not to get too graphic, but...

I know that it's mostly family members reading this blog right now and that makes it a little bit difficult to post about some of the more delicate topics regarding motherhood to a 7 month old. Or at least with my prudish family it is! I mean, my mother doesn't even like how frequently we use the word breasts or booby in conversation these days. However, it has been a tough day on the breastfeeding journey and I need to post about it. We've been doing great, all things considered. I mean, it must be going well because the kid is busting over the 20 pound mark already! I did think that after this long I wouldn't be forced to deal with any more cracked nipples though. I though that form of motherhood torture was reserved only for those first several weeks. I was definitely wrong on that front. About 2 weeks ago Collin started getting particularly ferocious on the breast. I mean nashing and thrashing about. He has developed into a baby with very bad breast feeding etiquette seemingly overnight! My poor right nipple is mangled but good and I actually had to see the doctor today. Of course, there's not much to be done except apply lanolin and "air dry". I am trying to impress upon Collin how much it hurts me when he thrashing around while feeding, but the little imp actually seems to get a gleam in his eye when he's doing it! I just continue to remind myself what a great thing I'm doing for my kid by continuing to breast feed, but my eye is on the clock and its ticking!

Heat Wave!

I'm not sure if the heat is contributing, but Collin's behavior the last few days has been off the wall. I guess it must be a combination of things like teething, reaching developmental milestones, and re-entry after a long vacation...all happening at the same time! He has been grumpy, cranky, and impossible to please. We actually took him to the doctor yesterday, just to make sure there's nothing physically wrong with him. Nope...nothing! The doctor said it's "behavioral". Crazy me, I've always thought of "behavioral" issues as an adolescent thing...not an infant thing! Well, the good news is that last night we had a bit of a breakthrough with the sleeping. I hate to even mention it because I feel like it's spitting in the wind a bit. Who know's what tonight will bring? Anyway, I nursed him (BIG NO NO in the doctor's book) to sleep, but he woke up as soon as I put him down in the crib. I called in the daddy reinforcements and CJ got him to sleep. This was around 8:30. Low and behold, he didn't wake up until 6:00 this morning. Needless to say, I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a trend. CJ and I are strategizing like to 2 generals in a war what our next moves will be.

On the book front, my To Be Read pile is growing in leaps and bounds. I got 2 Mommy related titles in the mail today that look particularly relevant... Literary Mama (edited by Buchanan & Hudock) and The Imperfect Mom (edited by Borchard). Who knows when I'll actually get the time to read them, but I'll keep you posted.