Reflections of Week 15

Even though this week has been quite busy, Jack has coped well. He has been really settled and has adjusted into his routine a lot more now.

One new thing that Jack has discovered is a new noise. He is now making a shrieking-screeching type of noise. Initially, we didn't really know what on earth was going on with this noise. After a while, we realised that he's just playing with his voice and testing it to see what it can do. It's a pretty happy shriek. At Church he was making this noise quite a lot. This was my first 'feeling embarrassed by my children' experience.

Sleeping
Jack is sleeping really well. He's consistently sleeping through the night now. There were a few nights where he was waking up and crying out, but we didn't need to get up as the crying didn't last for long. He still wakes up at different times in the morning; sometimes 6.00am, sometimes 6.30am and sometimes 7.00am. Usually, I can leave him in his cot for half an hour before I get him up to feed him. He'll just talk to himself and make his happy noises.

His day naps have been better. They're still different each day. Some days he sleeps really well during the day and other days he just cat naps. But, the difference is that I'm dealing with it more effectively. If he has a short nap, I get him up and see if he'll play until his next feed. Usually, he'll play with Dave until feed time.

We finally put up the big cot. He's been sleeping in it for a week now. Initially, I didn't think that he was affected too much from moving to the bigger cot. But, when I look back, I realise that his sleeping was slightly affected. For the first few days he was moving around A LOT in his cot. I would go in to check up on him and he'd been totally upside down without any sheets or blanket on him. He's not moving around as much anymore. I think he's gotten used to the space now.

I'm still giving him the dreamfeed. I'm gradually feeding him earlier in the night. Every few days, I'm feeding him 15 mins earlier and I'll keep doing this until it's 2 hours since his last feed. But, I'm not going to rush it (as I usually do). Last night, as Jack was fast asleep in my arms, I realised that this won't last and I should treasure each moment. Giving Jack the dreamfeed is such a lovely experience. It's not often that I can sit in a quiet, dark place, and just relax while Jack feeds. When he finishes feeding, he's fast asleep and I sit there a few moments longer, cuddling into him and listening to his little breaths.

Thumb Sucking
Well, the big news for the week is that Jack's thumb sucking has taken off. For every sleep now he sucks his thumb (unless he's too upset). When he first started doing this, he favoured his left arm, so we would leave that arm out of his wrap. One night he wasn't settling, so I went in to check on him. I realised that his left arm was wrapped, instead of his right. I re-wrapped him and he settled down. Over the last few days, though, he has been sucking both thumbs, even if one is wrapped (he'll suck through the wrap). For some sleeps I've left both arms unwrapped and he seems to cope well with this. But, other times, I think he still likes to be wrapped. It's always trial and error working all this stuff out. I'm going to try to gradually phase the wrapping out.

Wake time
Jack's been lasting longer during wake time (I'm still doing 1 1/2hrs). Most of the time when I put him to bed now, he's happy, rather than being grizzly. He's doing pretty much the same stuff during wake time. He's rolling on to his side more and he's been staying on his tummy for a much longer time now. Sometimes, I forget that he's on his tummy as he's playing so quietly and contently.



Another new thing that Jack's starting to do is holding on to his toys and playing with them. He was taking random swipes at his toys before, and not really showing any real interest in holding them. Over the last few days, however, he has taken a lot more interest in his toys. He'll hold one toy and purposefully play with it, usually by shoving it in his mouth. Sometimes it looks like he's talking to his toys.


Routine
I've kept up with the 3 hourly routine and it has been working well. I feel like I've been able to stick to the routine pretty well now, which has been making things much easier.

Outings
We've been out and about nearly everyday this week. But, Jack has been coping well and it hasn't unsettled him too much.

On Tuesday, Jack and I visited Mike & Katie. We had a lovely time hanging out and chatting. I'm really going to miss not being able to pop down and visit them.

On Wednesday, I went to School for the Year 9 Graduation (which I've discussed here). Mum babysat Jack from about 7.30am to 11.30am. This was Jack's first babysitting experience. He went really well and I think my mum enjoyed it. Thankfully, he had two long sleeps, so mum didn't have to worry about dealing with his cat naps. I had to express some milk so that mum could give him a feed. I was a little worried that Jack may not take the bottle (since he's not taking the dummy anymore, I thought this may transfer to the bottle as well). It turned out that I was right. He didn't like the bottle at all (even though he's been quite happy with it before). Mum tried to get him to take as much as possible, but he didn't drink very much. Ah, well...

Friday night was Harry's birthday party. By the time we got there (we were running terribly late - another thing that I'm having to get used to now), Jack only had about an hour of wake time. He hadn't slept that well during the day and it was really hot, so I knew that he wouldn't settle well when it was time for bed. I think he must have been over-stimulated by all the new faces. He cried on and off for about an hour. It's very hard to enjoy yourself when you can hear your baby crying. Eventually he went to sleep and slept well.