Jackson might have his first official cold. We still don't know for sure, but he has had a runny nose for almost a week now. Nothing too crazy, but enough that I have to suction his nose out at least once or twice a day. We had one bad night where I literally got 3 hours of sleep. It was last Friday night and he tossed and turned because he was so stuffed up and couldn't breathe out of his nose. Poor Justin gave up his spot in bed and slept on the couch so that Jackson could sprawl out with me. And Sprawl he did...we tried so many different sleep positions from one end of the bed to the other until we would find one that worked for awhile. The next morning Jackson was as fresh as a spring chicken while me and Justin were dragging along like an old and busted pair. He has seemed fine since then, but just has a slight runny nose. So maybe it is teething related, allergies, cold...I just don't know for sure but at least he is still his happy rambunctious self!
He has now been going to his Mother's Morning out program for over a week now and so far it seems to be going well! It is only for 2.5 hours a day, 3 days a week. He is slowly warming up to the teacher and he even smiled for her. He still won't take a bottle from her, but he's only there for such a short time that it really doesn't matter. Funny story: The second day I dropped him off and there were 2 other babies there, a boy and a girl. The boy is a year old and started walking recently so he was walking around. Jackson took one look at him and crawled over to where the boy was standing and pulled himself up on a storage bin to a standing position. Then he looked the boy right in the eye and gave him a look like "Look I can do that too!". Then Jackson let go of the bin and was just standing there on his own as if he was showing off. He quickly grabbed back on to the bin before he plopped down, but I just got a kick out of him acting like that. The teacher said that Jackson likes to play with the little girl there, except she has to watch them because they both try and grab onto each other's faces. They are about 3 days apart in age. He does cry as soon as he sees us when we pick him up, but I am encouraged by the fact that he seems to warm up to the teacher a little more every time he goes. Meanwhile I am able to get a TON more work done in the time that he is there. I do miss him while he's there and I find myself counting down the time until I can hold my sweet baby. I hope it continues to go well! p.s. Check out his cool backpack from Uncle Allen and Aunt Becca...we love it! And please excuse my raggy ponytail in the picture. I will by glad when my hair grows all the way back! Poor Justin looks kinda tired in his picture....Must be a morning he woke up early and let me sleep. This little man wear us out!
Sleep/Naptime continues to be a bit of an issue and I am totally to blame. Jackson was a great little sleeper until about 4 months when the nightwaking began. It would get better but then slowly start coming back. We tried letting him cry it out which helped for a while too. The thing is that it has come and gone, so I never know if it is coinciding with teething pain, gas, etc. So I never know if he is truly in pain or if he just wants to be held. Jackson has also been napping in his crib, but whereas we used to get 2 naps a day for an hour and a half each in the swing, we are now getting 2 naps a day for about 30 mins to an hour (although closer to 30 mins!). The swing spoiled us!! Getting him to sleep is another beast, though. That is because I STILL nurse him to sleep every night which works like a charm and I also do for many of his naps too. If he wont go to sleep for naptime I lay him in his crib and let him fuss for a bit before I get him and rock him to sleep. And I know these are the cardinal rules of what not to do when sleep training, but it works for us now until he is completely weaned. As for his teeth, we brush them with baby oragel toothpaste every morning and night (which he loves!) so that he doesnt get tooth decay from the milk/baby food sitting on there at night. Have I ever mentioned that Justin has never had a cavity and I have only had one tiny one? I hope this means that Jackson will be blessed with good teeth but you never know!
Anyway, naptime is what it is, but as far as sleeping through the night, we are still not completely back there. He will usually go a good 6 hour stretch and then he is fusses every 3 hours after that to eat. He never fully wakes up though. A typical night: 7:45/8 bedtime, 2/2:30 feeding, 5:30 feeding, wake up 6:30/7. Justin will usually get up with Jackson in the AM so that I can get an extra hour or so of sleep, which is so nice! What's weird is that some nights he will actually sleep the whole night, though. It is frustrating to me that the inconsistency is still going on at almost 9 months old, but I know it is in large part because I have let it be this way. So Justin and I have talked about doing the "cry it out" thing again, but after some thought we both agreed not to. What we do is working for us right now, so we are going to ride it out for a bit. Honestly, I think my body is really used to waking up and I have no trouble going right back to sleep after 10 mins or so of feeding him.
The thing is that I know this time with him is so precious and when I think about more of the "cry it out", its just not worth it. If life as we know it were to end tomorrow, I know I would regret letting him cry to learn to soothe himself so that I could get some extra sleep, but I would NEVER regret picking him up in my arms and comforting him. A weird thought, I know, but it was just a way for me to put it in perspective. I have wondered if maybe it is doing more damage than good to constantly comfort him when he cries in the middle of the night instead of letting him learn to self soothe...but honestly how could it ever be wrong for a mother to respond/comfort her baby? If anything, I hope it reassures him that me and Justin are always here. So that is where we are today with this. And I realize that it works for us right now because we have no other kids and flexible jobs, so I am in NO way saying that parents who do the cry it out method are wrong. I am learning more and more each day that every baby is so different and you do what works and is right for your own family. Now if this is still going on after a year old when he is weaned, check back with us...we may have changed our tune!! :)
Jackson's big boy 9 month appt is next Tues and we can't wait to see how much he's grown! We also need to talk to the pediatrician about the whole table food/solid food deal. Our child absolutely HATES anything chunky and will gag profusely and refuse to eat it. Bread, bananas, stage 3 chunky baby food...nothing is working. He still loves his stage 2 baby food though. I really want to start giving him teething biscuits, puffs, small bites from our plates but he is having none of it. We found some really great organic snacks/food from Whole Foods (our new favorite place...we are buying about 80% of our groceries organic now!)Hopefully he will come around soon.
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