Back in the real world

I am easing back into the real world now. I have not felt like doing ANYTHING over the past few days. I've been doing lots of sitting on the couch and playing with Bear, but nothing too strenuous. I've mostly been focusing on getting better and I think I am, for the most part at least. Yay! I think we're going to retry the whole MI trip the weekend after next. Now that I'm better, I feel much more excited about it and can't wait for everyone to meet my boy. Especially since both my mom and my dad told me stories about my cousins' kids (that I've not met yet) and I just know it will be neat to have all those kids around at the same time.

Max and I, after a long discussion about it, did actually accomplish something over the past three days concerning Bear's sleeping patterns. The boy's never been a wonderful sleeper, but for the past couple of months, he was crying for me to bring him a bottle 3-4 times each night. Sometimes he was too tired to even drink any of it and would just pass out as soon as I put it in his mouth. I had tried not giving it to him, but he would get SPITTING MAD about that. At his last doctor's appointment, we shared his sleeping habits with the pediatrician and we were told that at this point, Bear should be able to make it through most of the night without eating. So we decided that we'd try it. It's been 3 nights and Bear hasn't had a bottle any earlier than 4:30 am during any of those nights. Here's kind of a sum up of how it went:

Night 1
-went to bed at 9ish
-woke up at 10 and was MAD about no bottle for about 45 minutes
-woke up at 11:30 and was still pretty mad (cried for about 20 minutes)
-woke up at 12:30 (cried for 15 minutes)
-woke up at 1:30 (cried for like 2 minutes)
-woke up at 2:30 (no crying, just wanted to be rocked)
-woke up for the day at 6:45!!

Night 2
-went to bed at 8 (lack of naps that day)
-woke up at 12:30 (cried for maybe 5 minutes)
-tried to wake up for the day at 5 (Momma can't handle that!)
-went to sleep in Momma's bed until 7

Night 3
-went to bed at 9
-woke up at 11:30 (was pretty mad and cried for about 30 minutes)
-woke up at 4:30 and had a bottle
-wanted to get up, but again ended up in Momma's bed

I've read that a baby's sleep habits can be changed in 3 nights, so we'll have to see how it goes tonight, but overall I've been really pleased with how he's done. Apparently, he doesn't need all those bottles I was shoving in his mouth! Also, he's just not waking up as frequently. Maybe he realizes that he's not getting a bottle so there's no point to waking?? Can he think that deeply yet? An added bonus is that his diapers aren't all that wet during the night anymore. I used to have to change him by about 2:00, or his diaper would leak. We are going to work on him getting to sleep on his own next, but probably not until we get back from MI. I've heard that kids can regress while traveling and I don't want to ruin all our hard work.

Well, I'd better stop writing and get to work. Bear and I are headed to a MOMS club lunch today and I have to make something to bring. It's over at a member's house and should be fun. I know Bear is really excited to see his friend Kaitlyn again. Look what happened the last time they saw each other:

How adorable is this?


Is it too early to worry about what it looks like he's aiming for in this one? Probably. Kaitlyn looks like she's letting him know that it's not appropriate. She is 4 months older, so she'll have to teach him a thing or two.