Oh, and this is just for naps. He's a fantastic sleeper at night - most of the time going from 9ish-5:30, quick feed, and back to sleep until 8ish.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
45 minutes
I could almost set a clock by Evan's naps. Almost always 45 minutes on the dot. Sometimes shorter, rarely longer. Yet he's never quite as rested as he wants to be when he wakes up. He's ready for another nap within an hour or less sometimes, but I can hardly ever keep him awake longer than 2 hours. Sometimes he'll doze a little longer if I put lovey across his face and his pacifier back in his mouth. But he'll almost never sleep straight through without rousing. He used to! But he'll take 4 or 5 45-minute naps (sometimes with an extra doze tacked on the end) each day. I would love to try to consolidate them down to 3 longer naps (so I can nap too!) but doesn't matter what I try, nothing works! I've tried keeping him awake until he's falling over asleep sitting up and I've tried putting him down at the first hint of tiredness. I've tried the swing, his crib, my arms, his carrier. I've tried darkening his room and leaving him in the bright living room. I've tried adding white noise, silence, and keeping it loud. I've tried shedding layers to cool him down and bundling up to keep him toasty. I've tried his goodnight routine. I'm open to suggestions...
Oh, and this is just for naps. He's a fantastic sleeper at night - most of the time going from 9ish-5:30, quick feed, and back to sleep until 8ish.
Lovey-face
Oh, and this is just for naps. He's a fantastic sleeper at night - most of the time going from 9ish-5:30, quick feed, and back to sleep until 8ish.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Milestones
I'm relying on this blog as a substitute for a baby book but I've been horrible at tracking the milestones. There haven't been any major ones like rolling over or sitting up. Evan still hates tummy time but we can make it last a couple minutes now! He is very good at grabbing objects now and I'd say that's been the case since right before the new year. He really loves his playmat with the dangling toys now, although I think we try to use it too much during the day because he has no interest in it by evening. Although we're still technically a month out from the Baby Einstein seat according to the box, Evan fits in it if we wrap a blanket around him in the seat and he seems to enjoy it!
We have some off nights here and there but he's doing very well at sleeping through the night! Usually until around 5:30 then I feed him and he goes back down until around 8. He has a "lovey" (a tiny blanket with a teddy bear head in the middle) that he's gotten quite attached to. It really helps him sleep. He always pulls it over his face which causes his eyes to roll back in utter comfort and security. It's so cute. He's also started hanging out with lovey outside of nap/bedtime.
He's just about ready for his first haircut, although it will just be at the base of his neck. He's been rocking the "Benjamin Franklin" do for too long. He's still got a slight mohawk left, but most of the rest of his hair has fallen out and he's got some new fuzz coming in.
Well, he's waking up from morning nap #1, so to be continued... when I have more material!
We have some off nights here and there but he's doing very well at sleeping through the night! Usually until around 5:30 then I feed him and he goes back down until around 8. He has a "lovey" (a tiny blanket with a teddy bear head in the middle) that he's gotten quite attached to. It really helps him sleep. He always pulls it over his face which causes his eyes to roll back in utter comfort and security. It's so cute. He's also started hanging out with lovey outside of nap/bedtime.
He's just about ready for his first haircut, although it will just be at the base of his neck. He's been rocking the "Benjamin Franklin" do for too long. He's still got a slight mohawk left, but most of the rest of his hair has fallen out and he's got some new fuzz coming in.
Well, he's waking up from morning nap #1, so to be continued... when I have more material!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Evan's future girlfriend?
Lydia Catherine Jaeger was born last night at 11:40pm, less than 2 hours after arriving at the hospital! A petite 6lbs 8.4oz, 20 inches! We look forward to meeting her!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
A few more videos
Giggling for Mommy!! Oh the joys that a baby's laugh brings:
Aunt Catherine playing peekaboo and wiping up spittle:
Giggles for Mommy! from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Aunt Catherine playing peekaboo and wiping up spittle:
Peekaboo! from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Playtime
Thank you GG, Grampa, Liddy & Bill for the playmat!! Evan is starting to reach and grab at things so we figured he was finally ready for the mat and he loves grabbing at all the fun animals.
Playtime from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
The Perfect Storm
We had our first inconsolable blowout with Evan over the weekend. It was our last night in Maine (bonus night because of the weather). Jack, Evan and I had all been fighting a bug while we were up there but Evan was a trooper and still in good spirits despite his stuffy/runny nose and cough.
Right before I was going to give Evan a bath, he burst out crying. I figured he was cold and put him in the bath to warm him up. Didn't work, so I made the bath as quick as possible. He got so worked up that towards the end of the bath he actually stopped breathing for a few seconds which freaked us both out. I finished up the bath as fast as I could and got him dressed quickly so I could nurse him, figuring he was hungry. He stopped breathing a few more times, only a few seconds each. Jack ran upstairs to ask his family to pray and his mom calmed us down by saying that it happens to most babies that when they get themselves that worked up they'll stop breathing for a few seconds and then get scared and start crying and breathing again. Jack and all his siblings had done that as babies. That eased my mind a little but it still killed me to see his little terrified face each time. He was able to nurse a little but was caught in a cycle of losing his breath and crying for about an hour. We called the doctor and he gave us a few things to check for - hair wrapped around a finger or toe, scratch on the eye - and asked a few questions. We were instructed to give him a dose of children's tylenol which fortunately we had packed and if he was still inconsolable after 45 minutes to take him to the ER. We were hoping and praying we wouldn't have to do that! I can't imagine trying to strap him into the carseat and drive a half hour to the hospital. Thankfully our prayers were answered and he fell asleep in my arms about 35 minutes later. We were wondering if it was an ear infection or something intestinal. Or just utter exhaustion.
He woke up for his normal early-morning feeding at 4am showing no signs of distress and went back to sleep afterwards. Then woke up for the morning around 8am totally fine. We gave him another dose of tylenol preemptively thinking it could still be an ear infection. We got a follow up call from the doctor a short while later asking if we could make it back in time for a 4pm appointment. Jack checked with work since he was supposed to be available remotely if they needed him. They said to do what he had to do and they would take care of things so we packed up in a whirlwind and headed out at 10:30am - just barely enough time to make it there. We were about 15 minutes out when I went for some chapstick and saw my phone and without thinking I blurted out "do you have your phone?" and Jack checked his pockets only to realize what he thought was his phone was batteries. We frantically called back and asked if we could meet halfway to pick up the phone which we did. Shoot... now we're actually getting on the road at 11am. Could we make it back in 5 hours? We decided we were in it for the haul - no pit stops and if Evan got hungry I had to pump a bottle and give it to him on the go. We ended up needing a quick fuel stop but we pulled in the doctor's parking lot at 3:56pm. PHEW! (don't ask what our average speed was). Well it wasn't an ear infection and nothing else that the doctor could see was out of the ordinary. He said Evan would give us the next clue.
Well Evan has been totally fine since, other than fighting off the rest of his sniffles. It must have just been a perfect storm of hunger, exhaustion (he hadn't napped much that day) and "I don't want a bath right now, why aren't you listening to me!!!" which launched him into that cycle of losing his breath, getting scared and crying, and calming down, only to lose his breath again. It was really scary at the time but we're glad he's ok and we have that notch under our parent belt.
Right before I was going to give Evan a bath, he burst out crying. I figured he was cold and put him in the bath to warm him up. Didn't work, so I made the bath as quick as possible. He got so worked up that towards the end of the bath he actually stopped breathing for a few seconds which freaked us both out. I finished up the bath as fast as I could and got him dressed quickly so I could nurse him, figuring he was hungry. He stopped breathing a few more times, only a few seconds each. Jack ran upstairs to ask his family to pray and his mom calmed us down by saying that it happens to most babies that when they get themselves that worked up they'll stop breathing for a few seconds and then get scared and start crying and breathing again. Jack and all his siblings had done that as babies. That eased my mind a little but it still killed me to see his little terrified face each time. He was able to nurse a little but was caught in a cycle of losing his breath and crying for about an hour. We called the doctor and he gave us a few things to check for - hair wrapped around a finger or toe, scratch on the eye - and asked a few questions. We were instructed to give him a dose of children's tylenol which fortunately we had packed and if he was still inconsolable after 45 minutes to take him to the ER. We were hoping and praying we wouldn't have to do that! I can't imagine trying to strap him into the carseat and drive a half hour to the hospital. Thankfully our prayers were answered and he fell asleep in my arms about 35 minutes later. We were wondering if it was an ear infection or something intestinal. Or just utter exhaustion.
He woke up for his normal early-morning feeding at 4am showing no signs of distress and went back to sleep afterwards. Then woke up for the morning around 8am totally fine. We gave him another dose of tylenol preemptively thinking it could still be an ear infection. We got a follow up call from the doctor a short while later asking if we could make it back in time for a 4pm appointment. Jack checked with work since he was supposed to be available remotely if they needed him. They said to do what he had to do and they would take care of things so we packed up in a whirlwind and headed out at 10:30am - just barely enough time to make it there. We were about 15 minutes out when I went for some chapstick and saw my phone and without thinking I blurted out "do you have your phone?" and Jack checked his pockets only to realize what he thought was his phone was batteries. We frantically called back and asked if we could meet halfway to pick up the phone which we did. Shoot... now we're actually getting on the road at 11am. Could we make it back in 5 hours? We decided we were in it for the haul - no pit stops and if Evan got hungry I had to pump a bottle and give it to him on the go. We ended up needing a quick fuel stop but we pulled in the doctor's parking lot at 3:56pm. PHEW! (don't ask what our average speed was). Well it wasn't an ear infection and nothing else that the doctor could see was out of the ordinary. He said Evan would give us the next clue.
Well Evan has been totally fine since, other than fighting off the rest of his sniffles. It must have just been a perfect storm of hunger, exhaustion (he hadn't napped much that day) and "I don't want a bath right now, why aren't you listening to me!!!" which launched him into that cycle of losing his breath, getting scared and crying, and calming down, only to lose his breath again. It was really scary at the time but we're glad he's ok and we have that notch under our parent belt.
These are a few of my favorite things...
By Evan McDade,
Translated by Mommy
My hands - they are always there when I need them. They always taste great and I have a choice of 10 fingers or any combination of them to put in my mouth. I can even fit all 10 in if I want to. They're nice to look at too as I'm falling asleep, although sometimes when I have too much energy they whack me in the face a lot.
My pacifier - what can I say? It soothes me!
My swing - It's such a good listener. It doesn't interrupt me when I tell it stories and it even rocks me back and forth my entire nap!
Riding in the car - and when I say riding in the car I don't mean the stop and go business around town. I mean perpetual forward motion!
The hanging toy on my carrier - It's a great listener like the swing and loves my stories, but sometimes it interrupts with it's jingles.
Being held while bouncing on an exercise ball - mostly because I know how silly it looks for the person bouncing me.
Anything fluffy - Now that I have some control over my hands it's great to use them to feel soft and fluffy things!
Daddy - who wouldn't love someone that snuggly and who makes all those great faces and noises?
And of course Mommy - because she's actually the one writing this and will always be one of my favorites :)
Translated by Mommy
My hands - they are always there when I need them. They always taste great and I have a choice of 10 fingers or any combination of them to put in my mouth. I can even fit all 10 in if I want to. They're nice to look at too as I'm falling asleep, although sometimes when I have too much energy they whack me in the face a lot.
My pacifier - what can I say? It soothes me!
My swing - It's such a good listener. It doesn't interrupt me when I tell it stories and it even rocks me back and forth my entire nap!
Riding in the car - and when I say riding in the car I don't mean the stop and go business around town. I mean perpetual forward motion!
The hanging toy on my carrier - It's a great listener like the swing and loves my stories, but sometimes it interrupts with it's jingles.
Being held while bouncing on an exercise ball - mostly because I know how silly it looks for the person bouncing me.
Anything fluffy - Now that I have some control over my hands it's great to use them to feel soft and fluffy things!
Daddy - who wouldn't love someone that snuggly and who makes all those great faces and noises?
And of course Mommy - because she's actually the one writing this and will always be one of my favorites :)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Giggles!!
The last week or so Evan has had a few barely passable giggles that we figured were flukes. Well there's no doubt now that he can giggle and he's on his way to laughing! Then again who wouldn't laugh at Daddy making funny faces?
Giggles! from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Grandparent Time
Evan has had a lot of quality time with both sets of grandparents the last few weeks. Here he is in a couple videos showing off for them!
Why I Oughta... from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Cooing at Gramma from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
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