We skipped the attempt on Day 3. I think Chris was too afraid of a repeat of the night before to try to put Lincoln down in his crib, so he just let him fall asleep in his swing and stayed there for awhile until Chris brought him to his bassinet in our room.
But Day Four was awesome! Link went down after a couple attempts, slept through the night again, woke up for his morning snack around 5am (he went down late), then came to bed with us to finish out the morning. We had some conversation and smiles, then he fell asleep again and let us sleep in.
Day Five (last night) was the best. We're starting to get our bedtime routine down now. I fed him, put him in a new diaper, got him in some fresh pjs, Chris swaddled him up good, and we topped him up with as much as he would take from the bottle. I put him in the swing, thinking we'd just let him fall asleep there over the next hour. He was out in two minutes, around 9pm. After ten minutes, I took him to his crib, expecting him to wake up pretty quickly. Didn't hear from him again until 4am. And after he had his little snack, he fell right back asleep, slept through the re-swaddle, and settled back down again until around 8:30. Huge success for all of us.
He just went down again for Day Six. We gave him a bath tonight and I think that made him extra sleepy and cozy, because he didn't even stay awake for his top-up from the bottle. Hoping that doesn't mean he'll be up again in two hours, hungry for more. Guess we'll see. Tonight's also different because he wasn't completely asleep when I put him down. He started looking around again on the way from the swing to the crib, and had wide open eyes when I laid him down, but it's been half an hour now and not a peep on the monitor.
I know this is super boring for anyone who's not Chris or me. But I'm finding during these first few months of Lincoln's life that I'm not writing things down nearly as much as I thought I'd be. If I don't write it here, it's not getting written.
So sometimes there will be three posts in a row about Lincoln's sleep habits. Hopefully there will be more interesting posts as he continues to get more interesting each day. And of course there's always cloth diapers to talk about!
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Moving to the Crib: Day Two
Well, day two was a fail. I went to bed early, so Chris worked on putting the little monkey down tonight. He made three attempts, but Link woke up within ten minutes every time and started screaming. Chris finally put him in the bassinet around 1am. Link woke me up at 4 to nurse, and I realized he had a crazy stuffed up nose. I'm really hoping that was the reason he kept waking up all night.
In other news, I got to try out the NoseFrida for the first time. After watching some youtube videos, I fully expected to wind up with a screaming child a second after doing it. Instead, my little weirdo broke out in a huge grin. No idea how that could have been a nice experience, or if was just that stuffed up that the relief was immediate, but his face just lit up. Crazy little monkey.
Here's to getting him (nose snot free) to sleep in the crib again tonight!
In other news, I got to try out the NoseFrida for the first time. After watching some youtube videos, I fully expected to wind up with a screaming child a second after doing it. Instead, my little weirdo broke out in a huge grin. No idea how that could have been a nice experience, or if was just that stuffed up that the relief was immediate, but his face just lit up. Crazy little monkey.
Here's to getting him (nose snot free) to sleep in the crib again tonight!
Chris, Lincoln, and Jack working hard as "bedtime" approaches.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Moving to the Crib: Day One
Chris and I decided before Link was born that we would have him in our room, in a bassinet by our bed, for the first two months, and then transition him to his own room and crib. And of course we knew in the back of our minds that it might not be up to us–Lincoln might decide to do whatever he wanted. Whenever he wanted, and however he wanted.
Lucky for us, Lincoln has been a super easy baby (from the end of the first week on). He's our first, so we're really going off what we've seen of our friends babies, and what we hear from our friends who are currently in the newborn stage, too. From what we've seen/heard/read, Lincoln's pretty easy to please. He's been sleeping a good 6-8 hours each night for a couple weeks now. Before that, he had a great routine of going down around 5pm, waking up around 9 for Chris to give him a bottle (while I slept), waking again at midnight for feeding, and then sleeping through till around 5 or 6. After that he wouldn't go back down in his bassinet, so I'd bring him to bed with us and he'd fall back asleep quickly with his hands over his head.
He started skipping waking up for the 9pm feeding, then started pushing his "bedtime" back later and later, and then stopped waking up for the midnight one, too. And now he's gotten into the habit of sleeping 9pm-5am-ish, and sleeping with us in our bed from around 6:30 (yes, he takes that long to eat and get back down most of the time) until whenever he decides he's ready to get up for the day.
So we decided last night to try to bite the bullet a week early and see if we could get Link to sleep in his own in the crib. We had not, unfortunately, completely set up the baby monitor and Angel Care unit. It was a funny few moments of silently trying to get the video going (we're using an app called Cloud Baby Monitor with an old iPhone of Chris') and figuring out the settings on the Angel Care. But he slept through our blundering, and through the crazy squeaking door, and through all subsequent squeaks as we checked on him during the night. Little man slept his normal eight hours! After his early morning feeding, he was a little hyped from all that good sleep and came back to bed with us for some cuddles. He was the most talkative, smiley little thing! A good night's sleep really makes his little personality come out.
The first night was a success... we'll see if we can keep it going!
Lucky for us, Lincoln has been a super easy baby (from the end of the first week on). He's our first, so we're really going off what we've seen of our friends babies, and what we hear from our friends who are currently in the newborn stage, too. From what we've seen/heard/read, Lincoln's pretty easy to please. He's been sleeping a good 6-8 hours each night for a couple weeks now. Before that, he had a great routine of going down around 5pm, waking up around 9 for Chris to give him a bottle (while I slept), waking again at midnight for feeding, and then sleeping through till around 5 or 6. After that he wouldn't go back down in his bassinet, so I'd bring him to bed with us and he'd fall back asleep quickly with his hands over his head.
He started skipping waking up for the 9pm feeding, then started pushing his "bedtime" back later and later, and then stopped waking up for the midnight one, too. And now he's gotten into the habit of sleeping 9pm-5am-ish, and sleeping with us in our bed from around 6:30 (yes, he takes that long to eat and get back down most of the time) until whenever he decides he's ready to get up for the day.
So we decided last night to try to bite the bullet a week early and see if we could get Link to sleep in his own in the crib. We had not, unfortunately, completely set up the baby monitor and Angel Care unit. It was a funny few moments of silently trying to get the video going (we're using an app called Cloud Baby Monitor with an old iPhone of Chris') and figuring out the settings on the Angel Care. But he slept through our blundering, and through the crazy squeaking door, and through all subsequent squeaks as we checked on him during the night. Little man slept his normal eight hours! After his early morning feeding, he was a little hyped from all that good sleep and came back to bed with us for some cuddles. He was the most talkative, smiley little thing! A good night's sleep really makes his little personality come out.
The first night was a success... we'll see if we can keep it going!
Sunday, January 3, 2016
I'm probably jinxing myself...
Lincoln has been an awesome sleeper in his little seven weeks of life. Seriously, we got a great baby when it comes to the sleeping thing. (I really hope I'm not jinxing myself here.)
Generally Lincoln sleeps through the night (10pm-ish to 4am-ish) every night, then goes back down again until anywhere between 7 and 9. He was rocking this around 3/4 weeks old. Sometimes after that early morning feeding he doesn't go back in his bed easily, but we've found that letting him stay in bed with us for those last few hours is really calming for him. I'll shove my pillow way up and the blankets way down and make a big empty space for him. He throws his arms up over his head and sleeps great like that.
The caveat to the good night-sleep is that his day time sleep isn't as great. So it's definitely been harder to get anything done. Link likes to be entertained when he's awake, and unfortunately sitting in his swing is not entertaining enough for him anymore.
Today, though, his sleep was amazing! Well, it was a bit rough at the start– Lincoln woke up, and stayed up, a little bit too early for me. Chris ended up taking him for awhile so I could catch up on the missed sleep. Man, I love that guy.
Chris got Link back to sleep around 10:30, and then the kid slept until around 3! We got so much done while he was conked out on the bed. I think he sleeps better in our bed because it smells like us... we’ll have to remember that later on for daytime naps.
Once he woke up and was fed, we brought him into the nursery with us, where Chris was putting up the pictures on the wall (yes, we still hadn’t done that) and I was stuffing the pocket diapers.
He did fine just watching us from the floor for awhile, then when he started getting fussy we put him on his stomach for some tummy time. Usually he stretches out his neck and stares around, but this time he laid his head right down on the carpet and went right to sleep! We’re thinking he takes after us and will be a stomach sleeper. Too bad we can’t put him to sleep on his stomach for a long while– he was out so easily!
We’d been planning to go the drive-in to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Chris decided tonight was the night. We stopped for Little Caesar’s pizza and dollar drinks from McD’s, then got a primo front row spot at the drive-in. Again, Link did great! He actually appeared to watch the movie with us for the first half, then fell asleep after eating toward the end of the movie.
I was worried all the sleep during the day meant he wouldn't fall asleep easily at night. We made sure he got plenty of extra milk, got him all cozy in his pjs and swaddlers, and I walked him up and down the hall while playing one of his lullaby/worship CD's on my phone. The kid was out in five minutes.
Now, please God, let him stay asleep for the rest of the night!
Generally Lincoln sleeps through the night (10pm-ish to 4am-ish) every night, then goes back down again until anywhere between 7 and 9. He was rocking this around 3/4 weeks old. Sometimes after that early morning feeding he doesn't go back in his bed easily, but we've found that letting him stay in bed with us for those last few hours is really calming for him. I'll shove my pillow way up and the blankets way down and make a big empty space for him. He throws his arms up over his head and sleeps great like that.
The caveat to the good night-sleep is that his day time sleep isn't as great. So it's definitely been harder to get anything done. Link likes to be entertained when he's awake, and unfortunately sitting in his swing is not entertaining enough for him anymore.
Today, though, his sleep was amazing! Well, it was a bit rough at the start– Lincoln woke up, and stayed up, a little bit too early for me. Chris ended up taking him for awhile so I could catch up on the missed sleep. Man, I love that guy.
Chris got Link back to sleep around 10:30, and then the kid slept until around 3! We got so much done while he was conked out on the bed. I think he sleeps better in our bed because it smells like us... we’ll have to remember that later on for daytime naps.
Once he woke up and was fed, we brought him into the nursery with us, where Chris was putting up the pictures on the wall (yes, we still hadn’t done that) and I was stuffing the pocket diapers.
We’d been planning to go the drive-in to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Chris decided tonight was the night. We stopped for Little Caesar’s pizza and dollar drinks from McD’s, then got a primo front row spot at the drive-in. Again, Link did great! He actually appeared to watch the movie with us for the first half, then fell asleep after eating toward the end of the movie.
I was worried all the sleep during the day meant he wouldn't fall asleep easily at night. We made sure he got plenty of extra milk, got him all cozy in his pjs and swaddlers, and I walked him up and down the hall while playing one of his lullaby/worship CD's on my phone. The kid was out in five minutes.
Now, please God, let him stay asleep for the rest of the night!
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Good-bye, 2015
So... it's been awhile, eh?
In my defense, I did have a baby six and a half weeks ago, so that's been keeping me busy.
Here's this little guys' most recent mug shot:
Lincoln has definitely made the last few weeks interesting. We're finally finding somewhat of a rhythm to our lives again (and then re-finding it when Lincoln switches it up on us). Tonight we are out of our rhythm, visiting Chris' parents in Yucaipa, because Chris had a short wedding in Palm Springs today. Link had been doing really well the last few days, going to "bed" at around seven (which we're trying to get him in the routine of) and sleeping pretty much through the night, meaning he'd go back to sleep fairly quickly after waking up to eat. Today, however, he's been in and out of twenty minute naps, and is refusing to fall asleep for good, despite knocking down four and a half ounces at "bedtime." It's now 11 pm, and he's been dozing on each of us and suddenly waking up with a vengeance for about three hours. We think he subconsciously knows it's New Year's Eve and is showing his stubborn colors early by fighting sleep to make it to midnight.
So. My plan today, during what would have been his nap times, was to update the blog with all kinds of things. The last days of pregnancy, his birth, the crazy first week of parenthood, and a good ol' reflection of the past year. But I'm calling it now. It's fifty-five minutes to midnight and this blog post is basically just me tiredly writing sentences and trying to be coherent. I'll continue to type until I fall asleep and we'll just see what happens.
Last year (post here), my word for the year was TODAY. Though really it was the phrase, NO DAY BUT TODAY, a line from the last song in the musical Rent. The idea behind it was basically not letting fear of the unknown hold me back on things that I wanted to do. At the beginning of the year Chris and I had decided it was finally time to add to our little family, and though the idea of changing our lives so drastically was a little intimidating (yes, that fear was still there despite the fact that I have been in the "I want a baby" zone for about, oh, 15 years), we obviously went ahead and pulled the trigger on the baby thing. So I'd say that goal for 2015 was a success.
The other being part of TODAY was choosing health. 2015 saw a lot of green smoothies, and some new healthy recipes, but overall food-wise we didn't do so well. Working on that more in 2016 (Hello Fresh boxes will be a big help with that). Exercise was a lot better. I was at the gym way moreI got my FitBit in January, and up until the day Lincoln was born I wore that thing every day, except three days when I forgot it at home in the charger. My goal was set to 10,000 steps for the first 8 months or so, then I lowered it to 6,000 for the last two months of pregnancy. My school went on a big health kick this year, too, with a big FitBit step challenge, which has been awesome, but I did push it a bit too much too often. (It's really hard to take it easy and stay off your feet when your FitBit app keeps telling you all the other people who are passing you up in steps.) When I return to work in February, I am so going to be back in the running for those weekly prizes. I put my FitBit back on today for the first time since Lincoln's birth, and I've even got a set of new, variously colored wristbands to wear it in thanks to Christmas and Chris' parents.
So what's the word this year? I honestly have no idea. I haven't even been able to focus enough to think of what I want next year to look like. A lot of the year is up in the air. I don't know what it's like to raise a baby from six weeks old to thirteen months. That's a big span with lots of changes in the life of a baby! Seriously no idea what to expect on that front. As for teaching, half the year will be spent continuing my study hall/math resource job, but for the fall I have no idea where I'll end up. I could go back to my 8th grade math job, I could stay where I am, or I could get moved to the high school. Really the only thing I can control in 2016 is eating better and getting more exercise.
I'll think of the whole word thing over the next few days. We'll see what I can come up with for 2016.
In my defense, I did have a baby six and a half weeks ago, so that's been keeping me busy.
Here's this little guys' most recent mug shot:
Lincoln has definitely made the last few weeks interesting. We're finally finding somewhat of a rhythm to our lives again (and then re-finding it when Lincoln switches it up on us). Tonight we are out of our rhythm, visiting Chris' parents in Yucaipa, because Chris had a short wedding in Palm Springs today. Link had been doing really well the last few days, going to "bed" at around seven (which we're trying to get him in the routine of) and sleeping pretty much through the night, meaning he'd go back to sleep fairly quickly after waking up to eat. Today, however, he's been in and out of twenty minute naps, and is refusing to fall asleep for good, despite knocking down four and a half ounces at "bedtime." It's now 11 pm, and he's been dozing on each of us and suddenly waking up with a vengeance for about three hours. We think he subconsciously knows it's New Year's Eve and is showing his stubborn colors early by fighting sleep to make it to midnight.
So. My plan today, during what would have been his nap times, was to update the blog with all kinds of things. The last days of pregnancy, his birth, the crazy first week of parenthood, and a good ol' reflection of the past year. But I'm calling it now. It's fifty-five minutes to midnight and this blog post is basically just me tiredly writing sentences and trying to be coherent. I'll continue to type until I fall asleep and we'll just see what happens.
Last year (post here), my word for the year was TODAY. Though really it was the phrase, NO DAY BUT TODAY, a line from the last song in the musical Rent. The idea behind it was basically not letting fear of the unknown hold me back on things that I wanted to do. At the beginning of the year Chris and I had decided it was finally time to add to our little family, and though the idea of changing our lives so drastically was a little intimidating (yes, that fear was still there despite the fact that I have been in the "I want a baby" zone for about, oh, 15 years), we obviously went ahead and pulled the trigger on the baby thing. So I'd say that goal for 2015 was a success.
The other being part of TODAY was choosing health. 2015 saw a lot of green smoothies, and some new healthy recipes, but overall food-wise we didn't do so well. Working on that more in 2016 (Hello Fresh boxes will be a big help with that). Exercise was a lot better. I was at the gym way moreI got my FitBit in January, and up until the day Lincoln was born I wore that thing every day, except three days when I forgot it at home in the charger. My goal was set to 10,000 steps for the first 8 months or so, then I lowered it to 6,000 for the last two months of pregnancy. My school went on a big health kick this year, too, with a big FitBit step challenge, which has been awesome, but I did push it a bit too much too often. (It's really hard to take it easy and stay off your feet when your FitBit app keeps telling you all the other people who are passing you up in steps.) When I return to work in February, I am so going to be back in the running for those weekly prizes. I put my FitBit back on today for the first time since Lincoln's birth, and I've even got a set of new, variously colored wristbands to wear it in thanks to Christmas and Chris' parents.
So what's the word this year? I honestly have no idea. I haven't even been able to focus enough to think of what I want next year to look like. A lot of the year is up in the air. I don't know what it's like to raise a baby from six weeks old to thirteen months. That's a big span with lots of changes in the life of a baby! Seriously no idea what to expect on that front. As for teaching, half the year will be spent continuing my study hall/math resource job, but for the fall I have no idea where I'll end up. I could go back to my 8th grade math job, I could stay where I am, or I could get moved to the high school. Really the only thing I can control in 2016 is eating better and getting more exercise.
I'll think of the whole word thing over the next few days. We'll see what I can come up with for 2016.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Lincoln Meets Santa
Two days before Christmas, I lay in bed one morning while Lincoln was taking his morning nap and the thought popped into my head that we HAD to take Link to see Santa. A quick search on my iPhone told me Santa was hanging out nearby at Parkway Plaza.
Chris thought taking him to see Santa at five weeks old was ridiculous and opted to stay home. So I bundled Link up in a cute winter outfit and we headed to the mall. In winter. Two days before Christmas.
This is something I never do. The malls are always crazy the month of December. I try to not even go down the street the mall is on during Christmastime–people are crazy.
So we went to the mall. The line for Santa wasn't too crazy, but unfortunately we got there two minutes into Santa's break so the line didn't move for awhile. At this point, Lincoln decided it was a good time for a nap.
But Santa finally came back, and the line moved surprisingly fast. I think we were at the front in about 30 minutes. Lincoln woke up about ten minutes before we got to Santa, and he was even doing some of his little attempted smiles. And he was obviously excited for his first Santa meet and greet:
Chris thought for sure he'd be screaming when it came time to sit on Santa's lap, but let's face it, at this age Lincoln really doesn't care who's holding him. He definitely did a double take when I plunked him down, though.
I'm pretty sure his favorite part of the whole experience was getting his special Santa plate at the end. He's been practicing that grasp on my hair lately, and was definitely excited to use those pinchers on his first Christmas present.
First visit to Santa was definitely a success. Next year? Probably not so much. He'll be just over a year old, right when you get the really awesome screaming and freaking out pictures with Santa. Good times to look forward to!
Chris thought taking him to see Santa at five weeks old was ridiculous and opted to stay home. So I bundled Link up in a cute winter outfit and we headed to the mall. In winter. Two days before Christmas.
This is something I never do. The malls are always crazy the month of December. I try to not even go down the street the mall is on during Christmastime–people are crazy.
So we went to the mall. The line for Santa wasn't too crazy, but unfortunately we got there two minutes into Santa's break so the line didn't move for awhile. At this point, Lincoln decided it was a good time for a nap.
But Santa finally came back, and the line moved surprisingly fast. I think we were at the front in about 30 minutes. Lincoln woke up about ten minutes before we got to Santa, and he was even doing some of his little attempted smiles. And he was obviously excited for his first Santa meet and greet:
Chris thought for sure he'd be screaming when it came time to sit on Santa's lap, but let's face it, at this age Lincoln really doesn't care who's holding him. He definitely did a double take when I plunked him down, though.
I'm pretty sure his favorite part of the whole experience was getting his special Santa plate at the end. He's been practicing that grasp on my hair lately, and was definitely excited to use those pinchers on his first Christmas present.
First visit to Santa was definitely a success. Next year? Probably not so much. He'll be just over a year old, right when you get the really awesome screaming and freaking out pictures with Santa. Good times to look forward to!
Friday, December 18, 2015
Lincoln: 1 Month
Linkydink hit one month on December 15. Here are some facts about this little boy at one month old:
Link was not much of a fan of his photo shoot after about five minutes.
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