Baby #2 Has Broken Me Too

So much for getting the 2nd one sleeping better than the first.

It happened.  Just like last time.  He broke me.

Noah.  Oh baby Noah.  Noah got VERY sick, so sick that we were making daily trips to the pediatrician to check oxygen levels and breathing, desperately hoping we wouldn't have to make a trip to the hospital.  So sick that he had to be held all night long because he had to be upright to sleep.  Laying him down (even on an elevated surface) resulted in horrible coughing fits.

It was so awful.

So that was last week.  Three nights ago he finally made the move back to the crib and while I was desperately hoping he would go back to sleeping at least 3 hours it seems he has most definitely not.

He's awake every 2 hours.

Unfortunately THE SICKNESS finally hit me as well and there was no way I could stomach sleep training when I was feeling so so sick myself.

But last night was really awful.

Down at 7pm after having to be PUT to sleep, he would not settle on his own at the beginning of the night, something we've never really struggled with but definitely struggled with while he was sick.

Then he was up at 9pm, I fed him because I hadn't fed him since 6pm and I was hoping to go to bed myself and get a few hours sleep.  But it was not to be.

Up at midnight (feed), then 2am and at this point he wouldn't go back to sleep even though we were doing a nursing/rocking to sleep sort of thing NOT CIO.  But cry he did.  Dom went in at 3am.  No dice.  Somewhere around 4am I finally tried to nurse him to sleep again.  Down for a whopping HOUR.  Up again at 5am, husband rocked him for AN HOUR.  Then he was up again at 6:30am.  I tried nursing him again at this point but he wouldn't go back to sleep.  So, I turned off the monitor, left him in the crib and Dom finally went to get him at 7:15am.

It was a really miserable night.

So...here we are.  Broken.

We have no other options left to us when nursing and rocking him to sleep don't even work.  As in even when we're not CIO he's still crying.

This happened with Jett.  We got to the point where he was crying no matter what we did, so CIO wasn't much different, he was just crying by himself instead of in our arms.

We were actually mid CIO when he got sick so this is actually CIO 2.0.  But CIO 1.0 wasn't really working out so well, we had many a night where he was up for 2 hours crying and we had to resort to nursing to get him back to sleep.  So I'm REALLY not looking forward to this.

But here we are back in the exact same place we were 3 years ago.

Wish us luck.  WE NEED IT

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Baby Noah - 5 Months

Things Noah loves:

Anything that is not a baby toy, this includes all electronics, remotes, phones etc., all sharp objects, all small choke hazard objects, all hot liquids and all breakable objects like coffee cups.  The only time he'll try to pull a cup out of your hand is if it's full of something hot.

Other loves include ANYTHING THAT JETT IS PLAYING WITH.  Be it a toy or a book or a pen or even a plastic bag...does not matter.  If Jett is playing with it then IT IS THE BEST and no substitution or other toy, book or plastic bag will suffice.  It must be THE ONE IN JETT'S HAND or he will cry and scream about it.

At least the feeling is mutual as Jett seems to think that any and all toys that Noah is playing with are also the best.  Jett playing with baby toys and Noah playing with toys with sharp bits and small pieces.  Good times trying to keep everybody satisfied AND ALIVE over here.

He does all sorts of reaching and grabbing and shoving everything in his mouth.  And can do a pretty good spin if you leave him laying on his mat but that's about all the movement we have out of this one.

By all accounts Noah appears to be a bit "lazier" than Jett was at this age as he shows absolutely no inclination to roll or really become mobile in any way shape or form.  He mastered the back to front roll when he was 2 months old and then flat out gave up on it and no longer rolls...just lays there and cries.  And back to front?  He can make it to his side and then again...just gives up...and lays there and cries.

He can however arch his back up farther than I've ever seen any baby do.  He will get his butt and shoulders fully in the air and just sort of hangs out with only the top of his head and his feet on the ground.  I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish in this position but he does it ALL. THE. TIME.  I feel he should spend more time attempting maneuvers that will actually make him mobile...but he disagrees.

Whatever kid, whatever.  You do you.

So while he's making no moves toward crawling he would however really like to just be standing already.  He arches and squirms to get down on the ground but when you put him there he's unhappy...unless you hold him up so he's standing.  Then happy as a clam.

We haven't had him weighed in awhile so I have no idea on weight.  6 month visit is in a few weeks so I'll find out proper stats then.  My guess is that he's very similar to Jett, maybe a bit heavier and a bit shorter.  But definitely no chunky baby over here.  Long and lean.

Sleep...oh sleep.  I hate babies and sleeping.  This kid was doing great with the sleeping.  We were able to put him down without nursing and he'd sleep for "doable" stretches, anywhere from 3-6 hours.  I was ever hopeful that we could avoid sleep training with this one if we just kept doing what we were doing.  But then he got sick.  That damn RSV really messed everything up and he never went back to sleeping well after that.  Sleep training was definitely something we were reevaluating and we were just waiting for the madness of the holidays and a house full of guests to begin the training.

THEN HE GOT SICK AGAIN.

Second kids = sick kids.  This time it was a tummy bug and he was up every hour and a half for basically the whole 2 weeks we had people in the house.

FUN TIMES.

So...about a week ago after everyone left and Baby Noah was finally healthy we began sleep training.  And it's gone...ok.  He goes down pretty easy (MUCH easier than Jett) for Dom and will generally sleep for 3-4 hours.  Some nights Dom gets away without having to go back in there at all and I just do feeds every 3-4 hours.  Those are the "good" nights but still means I am up every 3 hours and I feed him no less than 3 times.  Other nights he's up after an hour and a half (like last night!) and Dom has to go in and out at intervals and some nights this lasts for an hour and a half!!!  THEN after finally falling asleep he wakes up half hour later and I have to go feed him because by then it's well within a feed window.  This results in me losing 2.5 hours of sleep in the middle of the night...sometimes I think it's just easier to feed him every time he wakes up!  I'm still so so tired.

And naps.  Naps suck too.  Half a fucking hour every goddamn time.  For awhile he was really stretching out the morning nap and sleeping for an hour or more but not anymore.  We're back to solid half hour naps and not a minute more.

And finally...food.  At just over 5 months Noah finally got what his little heart desired, which was to eat.  He was SO interested that it was starting to feel cruel to not at least let him try to partake in family meals.  So one night, pancake night as it were, we just handed the kid a pancake...

Love at first bite.

(Rather a different first food experience than with Jett where I planned out when and how and what I was going to feed him then had the camera ready for the momentous occasion.) 

He now gets a bit of food at dinner every night.  Things like banana or apple or bread.  I have no idea if he's really ingested any of it yet but he's sure enjoying the hell out of trying everything!

How Jett Cheated at Christmas

At 3 years old this is the first Christmas that Jett really understood Christmas. He was SO excited for it.  The month leading up to it we talked a lot about Santa and presents and what to expect Christmas morning.  Everytime we went to the store and he wanted something he'd "put it on his Christmas list" and he did a really good job not getting too present crazy.

He even helped me wrap cousin presents and didn't get too jealous that there were no presents for him under the tree.  He in fact repeatedly wrapped and unwrapped some presents for himself, household items that he'd put in a box...so funny.

But then the families turned up.  And they came bearing gifts.  Lots and lots of presents went under the tree and Jett just couldn't help himself.  He knows his name by sight and found the 2 or 3 under there that had his name on them and he just kept going back to that tree and those presents. 

Lesson learned.  All toddler gifts must be wrapped in wrapping paper and not come in gift bags because the little cheat peaked into his presents!!!

Come Christmas Eve we opened the few presents under the tree ("Santa" presents were for Christmas morning and weren't under the tree yet) and Jett kept telling us what was in his gift bags before he opened them.  "Oh and now I'm going to open the rolly racing car!"  I couldn't believe it.

And then.  AND THEN.  It gets better.

Opening the few presents Christmas Eve just got him even more excited.  He was gifted with this awesomesauce robe from his aunt and cousin who couldn't make it over from London.

And O.M.G. this was now his Christmas "costume" and he would not take it off.

At bedtime we finally convinced him it was too hot to sleep in and that we'd drape it on the doorknob of his door and when he got up in the morning he could put the robe...I mean costume...on and come get mommy and daddy and we'd all go downstairs together to see if Santa came.

He went to bed no problem.  Right on time.

But he couldn't handle the excitement.

At 2am I hear the pitter patter of little feet coming into my bedroom and there's Jett in his robe/costume telling me that Santa had come and he watched the sun come up already so it was time to go downstairs.

My house was full of people and Noah was in our room so I tried to quickly and quietly usher him back to his room telling him that we have to wait until morning to see if Santa came and that he needed to go back to sleep.

He actually went back to bed pretty easily and I went back to sleep.  The next morning my little sister informed me that he had actually been up again, turned the light on, put his robe on AND WENT DOWNSTAIRS.  He then came back up stairs, did a little happy dance in the hallway as she looked on in amusement then went back to his room and back to bed.

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE CHEATED.

My little rule follower cheating at Christmas.  

To be fair we never told him he couldn't go downstairs and check.  

Our mistake.  Next year we'll know better!

Anyway, he then slept in on Christmas morning and we actually had to go wake him up, help him into his costume so we could film his entrance into the living room assuming we were witnessing him seeing the presents for the first time.  It wasn't until later that morning that my sister informed us about the cheating.

Sigh.

 

Nevertheless, all cheating aside.  Christmas with a 3 year old was a blast.  I can't wait for Noah to be able to enjoy it as much as Jett did this year, only 3 more years!

Anyone else have toddlers cheating on Christmas morning???