Catching the Z's

Monday, I started feeling like the blind leading the blind. I, a person who generally always was and is a terrible napper, now must steer my child toward being able to master this! Getting a baby to nap sounds easy, particularly if you know most sleep 15-18 hours a day or something like that. But it really requires technique, as babies are terrible about relaxing when they are tired (hey, that sounds familiar...maybe that is my problem!). I'm in the process now of seeing if I can get Liam used to napping in the crib during the day.

As soon as Liam was acting sleepy, usually around 2-3 hours after he gets up in the morning, I nursed and cuddled him. I laid him down in the crib with the monitor and soother on. He played for almost 30 minutes, but proceeded to fall asleep without crying or fussing when no one was in the room. It was amazing! I am convinced it had to be TOO easy and might have been beginner's luck. This first nap in the crib only lasted around 20 minutes, but still it felt like progress.

Yesterday we got him to nap in the crib, but he slept longer when we were in the room. I took the time to read a little. He later put him self to sleep again listening to the train.

Today the little man was fighting his late morning nap, and fell asleep maybe a whopping 5 minutes in the crib at first. However, he didn't seem too tired at first, so we brought him back downstairs. After awhile, the Pterodactyl was back and Michael put him in the car seat where he fell asleep almost immediately with just a little rocking.

For now, just getting him to nap is the biggest thing. We'll keep working in getting him used to the crib, but I'm happy with anywhere as long as it's not always on my lap (although I still enjoy that at times, don't get me wrong). My favorite new thing about the naps, is often when he wakes up he makes this slow, soft "Meh" or "Muuuuh" cry that sometimes almost sounds like he's saying Mom or Mama. It is so cute! He used to do that cry when he was a newborn, usually when he diaper was wet, but stopped for awhile. I'm glad it's back. I love that cry, it is one of my favorite things.

Recently Liam has discovered two new things. First, the Thomas show on YouTube. He was pretty into it!
You can see the strip of hair he has wore off from turning his head back and forth looking at everything all the time! Otherwise, so far the rest of his hair is staying put!

Last night, Liam also got to act like a big boy and sit in his new high chair. He received it for Christmas, but my parents finally delivered it since we have been unable to fit it in our little Corolla when all the other stuff is in there. He seemed to like it, but it only sits straight up and at times he's still a little wobbly as he is working on his abdominal strength. He mostly enjoys being at our level.

I was very proud of him in regards to sleep a couple different times. First, I think it was Monday night that he went 8 hours without waking me up! Michael and I spent a good part of the first hour of that time talking, but even that is as good as sleep sometimes for couples with young babies. I am pretty sure Liam wasn't sleeping that whole time either, as that morning I found him with his legs in one of the back corners of the crib (and he wiggled one of his feet out of his sleeper inside the sleep bag). He didn't wake me up, so I guess he had fun.

I was also proud of him last night, when he went to bed easily after I discovered a bit of a crisis in our basement. I just finished a load of his cloth diapers and went down to transfer them to the dryer. Only, they were still soaked even though most of the water was out of the machine. Odd. I tried to run the spin cycle again, and the machine made this horrible sound. It was no longer spinning! I called Michael and since he is good with many mechanical things, so he got online and began researching. The machine is not under warranty, is a basic and cheaper model, and we wondered if it might be something simple and cheap to fix. Michael was willing, so it was worth it.

First I had to wring out each diaper and liner by hand, and the water was freezing cold! After that, Michael moved out the washer only to discover the stone wall was plastered in lint. Our air duct had not been properly secured after we had our glass block windows installed, and at some point it came loose. This was a serious fire risk, so I wanted to clean it up before attempting to dry the diapers.

I nursed Liam down and turned on the soother. Sure enough, he slowly got quiet and went to sleep just after 9pm! I put on a dust mask and began my work, and was fascinated to see the inside of the washer after Michael got it apart. Around 10pm he accidentally made noise upstairs and woke up Liam, who required being nursed again. But, he went back to sleep again after that and I was able to get everything else done. I think he woke up a little when I went to bed a little after 11 pm, but he fell asleep after I just calmed him down a little. It was great, and he didn't wake me up until 5am.

I was so thankful Liam had a great night, Michael found the broken part in the washer and could order a new one for only $5.32 total on E-bay, and I was able to remove the fire hazard before it got any worse or caused any problems!