Ferberizing

Welcome to the P. household, land of the sleep deprived! After being woken up by Nikos an average of three times a night for the past several weeks, both Gus and I were quickly nearing our wits' ends.

Fortunately, the planets seemed to have aligned just in time for us to start what I am calling Super Sleep Training Camp! Nikos is close to the 4-month mark, which means that he should be capable of self-soothing as well as making it through the night with only one feeding (or possibly even NO feedings, though I'm not ready for that). And it just so happens that I am on vacation now until the 25th, so I won't have to get up and go to work after a (potentially) sleepless night. Taking all this into consideration, I decided that last night we would start to Ferberize our little guy.

In his book (Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems), Dr. Richard Ferber talks about establishing "positive sleep associations" and removing negative ones. I had gotten into the habit of nursing Nikos off to sleep in the evenings, then transferring him into his crib. Then, after only a couple of hours, he'd wake up, realize he'd been moved, start crying loudly, and the only way to get him back to sleep was to feed him again... and then transfer him to his crib again... thus perpetuating the cycle. While nursing him had been a very effective way of getting him to fall asleep, he just wouldn't stay asleep-- and that didn't work for any of us! Ferber suggests developing a new and consistent bedtime routine where feeding is NOT the last activity, and then making sure to lay the baby down in his crib while he is still awake. That way, he can learn to fall asleep on his own, rather than relying on external things that he can't really control. If he cries, parents respond by briefly checking in on him at progressively longer intervals-- but they do not pick him up, cuddle him, or feed him (unless it's actually feeding time or if he has a poopy diaper). At any rate, the book seemed very clear and reasonable, so I was so excited to get started with our training!

Last night, I had prepared myself to be awake for the long haul... but was shocked when Nikos fell asleep on his own after crying for less than three minutes! That was at 8:15. Then he woke up at midnight, ate briefly, and fell asleep in his crib after crying for a total of six minutes (I checked in on him at the three-minute mark). He woke up again at 4:40am, ate, and then went back to sleep with NO crying (though he stayed awake in the crib and was babbling to himself for a good 20 minutes). Then, all day long today, he fell asleep at naptime without crying for more than a minute or two each time. And-- most surprisingly-- he just fell asleep for the night after crying for less than 10 minutes. It was so surprising because he didn't seem to really be all that tired, and was protesting vigorously. Still, it just goes to show that our little guy is capable of putting himself to sleep! We just hadn't given him the opportunity to show us what he could do!

Anyhow... who knows if this will keep working or not, but we are quite happy at the moment! Way to go, Nikos! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

One Year Ago Today...

It's hard for me to believe that exactly one year ago today, at 5:57 in the morning, I finally saw two pink lines on a home pregnancy test! I can remember that day so vividly, as well as the weekend that preceded it. I was so certain that I was pregnant, but I didn't want to say anything to Gus or risk jinxing myself!

Anyway, a lot has changed in only a year (obviously). Nikos has gone from being a microscopic cluster of cells to being a 15-pound, nearly-four-month-old boy! I look at him and think to myself: I grew him!! It's the weirdest, coolest thing to think that I grew another person (ok, Gus deserves some of the credit, I guess!). And I'm still technically "growing" him by being his one and only source of all nutrition. He is my life's biggest accomplishment, without question!

But back to my main point: a lot has changed in a year. I realize now that I had no clue about what motherhood would really be like. You can read every book on the planet, but nothing can ever prepare you for that moment when your baby emerges and you realize "he's ours-- forever." It's such a powerful (and sometimes overwhelming) feeling. But the love you feel for your baby is absolutely indescribable. And I can't imagine our lives without little Nikos now. It's just strange to think it all started with those two little pink lines:

P.S. Just for kicks, I added a "belly picture" to the section over there on the right... 55 weeks! :)

Sleeping Freely

So we've made some big progress lately in the sleep department around here... I just realized that last night was the third night in a row that our little man has slept without being swaddled!! Hooray! We started out by swaddling him completely, and then moved on to just swaddling his arms. We stopped swaddling him for naps a few weeks ago, when he showed us he had no problems falling and staying asleep. But when we didn't swaddle him at nighttime, he'd fling his arms around, effectively waking himself up after about half an hour (at which point we'd promptly swaddle him again). On Friday night, however, he was in quite a state. He wouldn't go to sleep OR eat, and I was willing to try anything. I unswaddled him, and he was much happier. He ate until he fell asleep, and then we didn't hear from him again for nearly five hours! Since then, he's been sleeping freely, usually for about four hours at a time! Hallelujah!! (and for those of you who have read this and are asking yourself "What the heck is swaddling??"-- read this)

A Day in Photos: 14 Weeks, 3 Days Old

9am: Nikos seems to notice the cat for the first time (officially freaking Charlie out!)

11:30am: We walked about a mile to our neighborhood park, since the weather was so nice... Nikos couldn't stop staring at the branches of the trees up above us!

11:30am: Daddy made Nikos wear his Cappy's hat, which he was a little unsure about...

3:00pm: Time for a snooze in the swing... Check out his little toes!

Shoes... Sunshine... Sickness...

Things that start with the letter "S"!! Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Seriously, though, those three things are sort of the theme du jour. First we have sickness. Nikos is still sick. That's right, he never got 100% better! Last weekend, after seeming to be mostly better, he developed a really junky-sounding cough, so we took him to the doctor on Tuesday. She said that his lungs were completely clear, and that the congestion was all up in his head. She also had a tough time seeing into his ears (they're small and he's wiggly), but that she *thought* she might have seen a little bit of pink, indicating a possible ear infection. She advised us to just keep an eye on him, but that he seemed to be okay overall (he was happy, eating well, etc.).

Fast forward to a few days later, and suddenly our little guy's nose is just loaded with snot. And no matter how often I spray saline drops up his nose or use the bulb syringe to suction him out, he's still plugged up. This makes breastfeeding a nearly impossible task (try maintaining suction on something with your mouth when you can't breathe through your nose... see the problem?). Milk gets sprayed everywhere, Nikos gags and cries, and it's just generally very stressful. I'm planning on taking him back to the doctor on Monday to get checked out, but in the meantime... it's going to be a very long weekend!

On a positive note, though, the weather today is unbelievable gorgeous!!! It feels more like a day in April or May, as opposed to early February. I have all the windows open, and a nice warm breeze is blowing through the house. Maybe the fresh air will do our little guy some good??

Finally, I have to share a few pictures... Nikos is actually out with Gus right now (they went to the auto parts store... you know, manly stuff!), but today was the first day he has ever worn shoes!! Not that he needs them, really, but they are so cute. Hooray!

Proof!

See? He is mine, after all! I AM the mother! hehe!!!

13 Weeks and 1 Day Old

A video I took last night... Nothing out of the ordinary, just our cute little guy enjoying his jumperoo!

Semi-coherent Babblings

Ahhh... It's Friday afternoon, Nikos is asleep, and I can finally sit down and breathe (and enjoy my chai soy latte). I never thought this week would end!!

From Sunday through Tuesday nights, I think our little man was going through a growth spurt. He would only take short naps during the day, and then was hungry every two hours all night long (like clockwork!). I don't even know how I managed to teach this week, but I dug deep and found some hidden source of energy. It's amazing what the human body can do, isn't it?

And then, early (4am!) Wednesday morning, Gus left on a business trip for Wyoming and Colorado. I got my first real taste of what it would be like to be a single mom... So I can officially say this: I do not know how they do it! Luckily, Nikos went back to a more normal sleeping schedule just in time (THANK GOD!), but I am still completely and utterly exhausted. My back is killing me. And every time he takes a nap, I have about a million things to get done (washing/preparing bottles, setting up his bath, taking my own shower, doing laundry... it never ends!). Gus still won't be home until tomorrow, but I think I've made it through the toughest part. And let me tell you, I appreciate that man in an entirely new way now. Nikos and I both can't wait for Daddy to come home! And Gus' parents are going to come and babysit on Sunday so that we can get out and go to a movie or something. So that will be fun!!

Anyway... I am completely wiped out. I should probably go and just watch some mindless TV. I am seriously having trouble putting together coherent sentences!

One last thing, though, before I go... My highlight of the week! I discovered yesterday that MY OLD JEANS FIT AGAIN!!!!! YAY!!!!! I am so happy, because I really love these jeans (they're trouser jeans from Banana Republic... they're the best!). I really didn't think that this day would ever come, but it did. And I have to say-- I've been really lucky in the weight-loss department. I actually weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant, and I haven't exercised at all. Thank you, breastfeeding!!!

And a final picture... I took this one this morning right before I dropped him off at daycare (I loved the outfit). He gets cuter and cuter every day!!

Three Month Letter

Dear Nikos,

What a month this has been for our little family! It is so incredible to watch you change right before our eyes, and you've done quite a bit of that this month. In fact, I was just looking at pictures of you when you were first born. You are hardly the same baby now!

If Daddy and I were to pick a theme for this month, it would be "HANDS!" It's like one morning you just woke up and realized that you had them. And that you could make them DO things! Suddenly, you started grabbing for anything within your arms' reach, whether it be our faces, my hair, or the little animals hanging from your play gym (you especially love the parrot with the crackly wings). Before, you didn't even seem to notice the little animals, but now you focus on them and swing your little arms at them with all the effort you can muster. One thing we've noticed about you already is that you don't give up or get frustrated very easily. You'll swing at those little animals for over an hour, if we let you! You still aren't very precise with your grabbing, but you show improvement every day.

Perhaps the biggest change in our lives, though, has been my return to work. I didn't want to go back after being home with you for almost eleven weeks, but I wasn't left with much of a choice. Living where we live is very expensive, and we couldn't afford for me to stay home with you any longer. Luckily, our next-door neighbor runs a home day care center, and you are doing well there. You seem to like Miss Bonnie and her family, and you get a lot of attention from everyone (you're the littlest one there!). Your first day there, I spent a lot of time crying. I was so afraid that you wouldn't drink from a bottle, and that you'd starve. But Bonnie has been running her day care for over 20 years, and you had a great first day. And truthfully, I enjoyed being around other adults again for a few hours. You gave me something to look forward to when I returned home, and I discovered that I had more energy than ever to play and cuddle with you. (for the record, though, I think I'd still rather be home with you... I hate missing a single minute of your life!)

Health-wise, we had a bit of a scare this month: you were sick for the very first time! I call it a scare because it was, in fact, scary for us all. You had croup, which made it tough for you to breathe and caused you to make this horrible barking sound. After a long day spent in Urgent Care and the emergency room, though, you bounced right back. We were so relieved to have our happy little man back!

As for Daddy and myself, we seem to have hit a nice stride this month. We've got a nice routine going and you're becoming more and more predictable. You really only cry when you're tired or hungry, and the rest of the time you are calm or smiley. We feel like we know you so much better now, and we don't feel nearly as incompetent as we used to. As your big brown eyes take in information from the world around you, we watch you and learn how to be better parents. So far, you're an excellent teacher!

Just the other night, Daddy was snuggling with you for a few minutes before your bedtime. He looked over at me, and said "I love him more today than I did yesterday!" The truth is, we feel like that every day. Just when we think our hearts might explode with all the love we feel for you, we love you even more. You are an amazing, adorable, awesome little boy, and we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! WE LOVE YOU!!

All Our Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Yup. Definitely Feeling Better!

Nikos went in his jumperoo for the first time today, after I assembled it yesterday afternoon. And he liked it!! His feet don't quite reach the ground, so I put a phone book underneath him so he could bounce. He mostly just sits there and stares at the toys for now, but he's enjoying his new vantage point! :)

Adios, Croup

So it looks like the nasty, barking cough is a thing of the past... Nikos slept like a baby last night (haha!), and when he woke up, the bark had transformed itself into a normal, wet-sounding cough. Hallelujah! Of course, he's still sick, but he seems SO MUCH BETTER than he was yesterday. He's pretty fussy, and he's still napping a lot, but he sounds good, he is showing interest in his little play gym, and his nose has started to run. You wouldn't think a runny nose would be a good thing, but it means he can actually breathe somewhat-- which means he can breastfeed without suffocating! Hooray! I think he realizes it, too, and has been eating like he might never see another meal. Fine by me! :)

Croup!

So it's official... Our little guy has the first of what will likely be many childhood illnesses to come. And did he pick a nice common cold to start out with? Of course not! He has croup, of all things!

He's actually had a mild stuffy nose off and on for almost two weeks now, so we thought he just had a minor cold. It didn't seem to affect him at all, so we were just letting it run its course. Then, yesterday morning, he was so stuffed up that he was having trouble eating (breastfeeding + plugged nose = recipe for disaster). He also seemed warm to me, so I took his temperature: 100.8. That's considered only a "low grade" fever, but Gus decided to keep him home (Gus was already staying home because we had a plumber coming to repair a leak in our main water line). He seemed to be okay for most of the day, but then everything started to fall apart at dinner time. He could barely eat because he was so stuffed up, but he was crying because he was hungry. We did everything we could think of to unstuff him: a warm bath, saline drops, suctioning out his nose, running the humidifier... He finally got enough to eat and went to sleep... only to wake up with the worst sounding cough that I have ever heard in my life!

That's when I knew it was croup. He was completely hoarse, and the cough sounded like a dog barking. He also had this high-pitched wheezing noise (called stridor) in between coughs. It was horrible! I had never been around someone with croup before, but I remembered reading about it in various baby books. It really was exactly as they described! The cough was definitely not normal. For the record, though, Gus thought that it WAS normal, and he thought I was overreacting when I said we should take him to Urgent Care (he now acknowledges that I was right... score one for Mom!).

So we got to Urgent Care at 10:30, and were finally seen by the doctor at around noon. Right away, he identified it as croup (the cough is a dead giveaway). He measured Nikos' oxygen saturation level, and it wasn't great. So he started him on a breathing treatment with a nebulizer, which meant that he had to wear a little oxygen mask. I almost started crying at that point, because he looked so helpless and miserable!! :( After the breathing treatment, they gave him some medicine (a form of steroids) to reduce the inflammation in his airway. And after THAT, they told us that we needed to take him to the emergency room at the Children's Hospital, just to be safe (the Urgent Care doctors weren't pediatricians, and I guess croup kind of freaks them out-- especially when the patient is so young). They called ahead and told them to expect us, so off we went!

After a quick side trip to Taco Bell (and a brief stop to breastfeed in the car), we arrived at the Children's Hospital by 1:30. We finally got out of there at 4:15. All they basically did was confirm the diagnosis, monitor his oxygen level (which was at 100% by the time we left- yay!), and suction him out completely (which was horrible!!! Gus held him. The doctor made me turn away!). They gave us some good advice on how to make him more comfortable over the next few days, but said there was no further treatment needed (the breathing treatment plus the steroids are usually all they do... and it's a one-time thing).

So now we just have to ride this thing out... Croup is what they call a "nighttime disease," meaning that it gets awful at night and sometimes disappears completely during the day. The doctor said that the cough usually hangs around for two or three nights, but then it should go away. In the meantime, our little guy has spent most of the day sleeping (in between all the poking and prodding). I even took this picture of him, asleep on Gus' shoulder when we were in the ER:

Poor little man! I hope he feels better soon!!

Got Milk?

Ah, milk... It seems like my entire life revolves around it these days, so why not dedicate an entire post to it? (Warning: If the thought of breast milk makes you squeamish, you might want to stop here!)

It's funny, in a way... We got off to such a rocky start with breastfeeding, and there were so many moments where I thought that I was a complete failure and would never be able to do it. But then we got over the initial hurdles, and breastfeeding was great! It's still so time consuming, but I really enjoy just having the time to snuggle with Nikos. Lately, though, I've been presented with a new hurdle: going back to work.

Going back to work has actually gone surprisingly smoothly, in most areas. The one area that I'm really concerned about right now is my milk supply. While I'm at work, Nikos has been drinking three 4-ounce bottles of my milk, which means that I need to pump 12 ounces a day in order to break even. I pump before work, after I get home, and during my lunch break. The problem is that I am hardly getting any milk out when I pump at lunch time! It's weird enough just sitting there with my breasts fully exposed and hooked up to a machine, but I am also constantly worried that someone will walk in on me. I have so much trouble relaxing, and I think it affects my production. Add to that the worry that I'm not producing enough, and I'm stuck in a vicious cycle! I am really hoping that this will get easier...

My other milk-related concern as of late has to do with another kind of milk: cow's milk. Those of you who know me well enough know that I am a milkaholic. I love to drink milk-- many glasses a day! However, after doing some research, it seems that little Nikos may not be a fan of the cow's milk protein that he is getting through my breast milk. It all started with some seriously green poop early in December. I did some searching on the internet and in all my baby care books, and thought (hoped!) that the green poop was caused by foremilk-hindmilk imbalance. I switched to block feeding (feeding him only on one side at a time, as opposed to switching halfway through a feeding), which would have solved that problem. And yet the green poops persisted! I did more research last night, and discovered that cow's milk is among the most allergenic foods for newborns. Many babies are very sensitive to the protein in cow's milk (not the lactose!), and this sensitivity can lead to green, foamy poops (all the time!), skin rashes (yup! minor one on his face!), diaper rash (check!), fussiness/gas (check!), spitting up a lot (check!), and disrupted nighttime sleep (check!). So I'm pretty sure this is the problem, and am giving up drinking milk for the week to see if anything changes. If that doesn't work, I'll give up ALL dairy and see what happens. Either way, I hope that one day Nikos realizes what a huge sacrifice his mommy made for him. I am already craving a nice, cold glass of milk!!!

Go Chargers!

Ok, so we're not huge football fans in the P. house... Still, what kind of San Diegans would we be if we didn't watch today's game? It was a good thing we did, too, or we might have been confused by all the screaming (and car-horn-honking) from our neighbors' houses after their big win. It was also an excellent opportunity for Nikos to model his Chargers bib. Check out that smile! Could we possibly have a little football fan in our family??

Now What?

This afternoon, Gus took Nikos over to our friend Tony's house so that I could get some work done... But now that the work is finished, I have no idea what to do with myself! I feel sort of helpless, and I am seriously missing my baby! I am having trouble remembering how I filled my pre-baby days. I can't wait for them to get home, and I especially can't wait to feed the little guy. It's strange... Breastfeeding was so hard at the beginning, and it's still inconvenient in a lot of ways, but I have to admit that I absolutely love it. Feeding him is like a mandated rest period for me. It's a time when I can just relax and snuggle with my baby, and he is so happy and content. Plus, it's something only I can do (no matter how hard Gus might try! haha!). I never realized I'd feel this strongly about it, but I do. And now that I'm missing him, my urge to nurse him is kicking into overdrive. I hope he gets home soon!

In the meantime, here is a picture I took this morning... He is such a strong (and wiry!) little man!

Smiley

He is just so darn cute! He is always especially smiley at bathtime. Love that baby!! (ignore my baby talk... I wish I could edit out the sound!)

Day Care, Day 2

We survived another day! And, to be totally honest, today was much easier than yesterday. I still felt sad dropping him off next door, but there weren't any tears this time. I feel so much better now that I know he'll eat! He had a better day over there, too, taking naps that were a little longer. He still fell asleep shortly after I got him home, but that's nice, too. It gives me time to clean up a little, wash and prepare bottles, make my lunch for tomorrow, etc. Then, when he wakes up, I can focus on nothing but baby! Hooray!! :)

Changing the subject (sort of)... I was so proud of myself this morning! Gus had jury duty, so he had to leave earlier than usual. On a typical morning, I will have Nikos fed by 6:30, and then Gus will take over so I can pump, eat breakfast, and get dressed before we leave. But today, I had to do it all by myself. And I did, with 15 minutes to spare! I got 15 extra minutes of baby snuggling in before work, which was fabulous. He was a happy little camper when I dropped him off at day care, so that made it easier for me, too (I would have a very tough time walking away from an upset Nikos!). All in all, we had a good day. And this comes on the heels of a night where he only woke up once to eat, at 2am. So we even feel moderately well-rested-- yay!

This just occurred to me-- I never thought I would say I felt well-rested after waking up at 2am. How times have changed!

Anyway, I'm feeling better. And truthfully, I have enjoyed seeing all my coworkers and getting to spend some time in the adult world. I'm still trying to find a balance between work and family (for example: how am I ever going to grade papers if I leave school ASAP after the bell rings and don't want to take anything home? haha!), but things will work out. I know it.

Back To Work :(

So this morning was probably one of the saddest mornings of my entire life (I actually got misty while typing that! sheesh!). I had to go back to work, and Nikos spent his first day in day care. I couldn't even drop him off-- I made Gus do it, because I was already falling to pieces. Then I cried all the way to school. I pulled it together before I got out of the car, but then lost it as soon as I walked into the office and got the "awwww..." response from everyone (I swear, sympathy can make things so much worse! I would have been better off if nobody even mentioned Nikos!). Luckily (?), my sadness was soon replaced by irritation. My students were so hyper and badly-behaved today! I'm sure part of it was due to excitement about me being back, but I think they also may have picked up some bad habits while I was gone. I never thought I'd be so happy to be annoyed, but it really did stop me from crying! I channeled my sadness into some serious disciplining!

The good news is that Nikos had a great first day at day care. HE DRANK FROM HIS BOTTLES!!! He polished off three bottles, with only a little fussiness. I called Bonnie (the day care lady-- who happens to be our next-door neighbor) at recess to see how he was doing, and he had finished the first bottle in about half an hour. The other two bottles took about 20 minutes each. Compare this to the hour a day Gus was spending all last week trying to get him to take a bottle, and that's a HUGE improvement! I was so happy-- the bottle issue was upsetting me more than anything else, but it seems to have resolved itself (*knock on wood!*). He didn't nap very well while he was over there, but I'm sure that will take some time. There were too many new things to look at!

As for me, I managed to pump enough milk at before work and at lunchtime for three bottles, which made me very happy (and I'm pretty sure I'll get enough for a fourth bottle this evening). I just want to be able to replace what he's drinking every day. I lost about half of my forty-minute lunch to pumping, but it was actually kind of nice. At least I felt like I was doing something for Nikos, even if it meant wolfing my lunch down afterward. I think I'll get more efficient, time wise, as I get into the routine. I think I need to shove my kids out the door a minute or two earlier. But practice makes perfect!

Anyhow... We survived. We can do this. It felt so good to snuggle with Nikos when I got home, even though he fell asleep shortly thereafter (and is still asleep right now). I missed him SO MUCH today, but I feel reassured knowing that he's going to be okay at day care. And honestly, our day care is right next door-- it doesn't get much better than that!

Growth Spurt? ugh...

Last night, Nikos decided that he didn't want to sleep. Instead, he wanted to eat every two hours! Even during the daytime, he normally goes three hours between feedings, and it's usually longer (four to six hours) at night. So we're all pretty tired this morning... As I write this, Gus is actually still in bed watching TV with Nikos asleep on his lap. I guess they were playing, and the little man just conked out!

Anyway... I'm hoping that this is a growth spurt, and that it's just temporary. In terms of growth spurts, most babies have one at around 3 months. He's only two-and-a-half months, but I'm guessing this could be it (he is outgrowing his clothing pretty quickly lately). Either that, or he's sick. It's so hard to tell with him! His little nose is almost always stuffy, and he always feels warm to me. So I'm going to take his temperature when he wakes up. I really hope he doesn't catch what I had!

So yeah, we're all running on empty right now. I really, really hope that we don't have a repeat performance tonight, since I have to go back to work tomorrow!

So That's What These Things Do!

It seems as if, in the past few days, Nikos has suddenly discovered his hands! If you hold something in front of him, he will attempt to swipe at it with one or both hands. If he happens to make contact, he'll hold on! He especially loves grabbing on to our faces (lips, chin, nose, cheeks-- whatever he can get a grip on). It's so cute! Anyway, it occurred to me that he might get a little more out of his play gym now, so I went and got it out of the closet. Lo and behold:

He likes it! Instead of just lying there and staring up at the toys, he actually swung at them and got a few good grabs! He actually kept himself entertained like this for a good 15 minutes, which is amazing. He seems particularly attracted to the parrot toy (note to self: don't let him grab Corky like that, or he will lose his hand!). haha! Anyway, it is just amazing to see how he changes from day to day-- it's like he wakes up to the world around him, one day at a time.

Our next objective: rolling over. He is SO CLOSE to rolling over from his back to his tummy, and he's making progress toward rolling from tummy-to-back. Exhibit A:
If he would just move his other arm, he'd go right over! *sigh* Soon enough, I'm sure!

Yet Another Video...

I'm sorry, I just can't help myself... We took this one during his bath last night. He likes it when Gus plays with his ears! :)

Misc. Thoughts and Updates...

• Sleep-O-Rama: The last two days and nights have been pure heaven, sleep-wise! The kiddo has been taking awesome naps (2+ hours at a time) and then only waking up once at night to eat. This comes after two weeks of waking up every three hours at night and taking short naps during the day. I wonder if it was because Gus was on vacation, and our own schedule was a little bit off?
  
  
• Music Theory:I have decided to modify my Radiohead theory... It has definitely been proven time and again that Nikos loves my Radiohead CD in the car-- Gus has even witnessed the phenomenon on numerous occasions! However, it turns out that he doesn't love Radiohead exclusively... I think he likes music with human voices (you know... people singing!). The classical music still calms him most of the time, but when that doesn't work, I just plug in my iPod and see what happens... We've been particularly enjoying the "Into the Wild" soundtrack (I ♥ Eddie Vedder!).
  
  
• Bottle Woes: The munchkin still hates drinking from a bottle, and it's really stressing me out! I did everything I was supposed to do, getting him used to the bottle as soon as breastfeeding was firmly established. Everything was going great, until recently! He has decided that he has a definite preference about where his food comes from. While I am flattered, and happy that he prefers me over some plastic bottle, I am also incredibly worried about what will happen when he starts day care on Monday!! It's only 3 days away!!! I am hoping that the new environment, new caregiver, and other kids around will distract him enough so that he eats. I know he will eventually have no problems with the bottle-- I just wish I could leave for work on Monday without worrying that my little one is going to starve himself until I come home! That said, I'm going to come home as soon as I can on Monday... The thought of being away from him is already making me cry!

Family Resemblance?

Ok, so I actually had a few minutes to spare, since Nikos has decided to be a cooperative little napper this morning (hooray!). I was looking at our old baby pictures (mine and Gus'), and comparing them to Nikos. Everyone always says that Nikos looks just like Gus, and nothing like me whatsoever. And maybe that's true now. But I am kinda thinking that he looks like me when I was a baby... What do you think? (I'm on the left, Gus is on the right... in case you couldn't tell by my pink shirt!)
At the very least, I'd say he's a pretty good mix of the two of us... But he changes every day, so who knows what he'll end up looking like? I still can't believe that a little human came out of my belly... that's crazy!

Cutest. Baby. Ever.

Sorry it's so dark, but even so... he is the cutest baby in the UNIVERSE! I can't stop taking pictures of his adorable smile. Yay for Nikos! :)

The Best Medicine

Forget about laughter being the best medicine-- a good dose of cute baby is all I need! I've been in bed almost all day fighting a cold, and Gus brought the little guy for some Mommy time. He's the bestest!!

Happy New Year!

Captain Drool says "Happy New Year!"
So we all stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, got rip-roaring drunk, and danced on the tables to celebrate the new year. Ok, maybe not... But we did go to dinner at our friend Bryce's house, where he and his fiancee, Aditi, cooked up an Indian feast for a small group of friends. It was very nice! Plus, Bryce's mom went into grandma mode and held Nikos practically all evening. He was particularly captivated by their fireplace, which was something new (our house doesn't have one). He was so sweet and well-behaved, which was a big improvement over the first time Bryce and Aditi met him, when he wouldn't stop crying!

Anyway... We got home at around 10pm, collapsed into bed, and didn't wake up again until the munchkin got hungry at 2am. It was the first time in I-don't-know-how-many years that we haven't celebrated New Year's Eve at my uncle's house in Orange County, and the first time in many more years that we slept through the event entirely. And you know what? It was quite alright! I remember back to last year, when the clock struck midnight and everyone started setting off their party poppers and singing "Auld Lang Syne"... I always make a wish at midnight, and my wish then was to become pregnant (we'd been trying for 6 months at that point, and I was starting to think something was wrong with me). And wouldn't you know it-- I got pregnant in January. And here we are, a year later, with a nine-week-old son! I'd much rather be home with my little family than out partying somewhere. So I'd have to say that this was one of the best New Year's Eves I've ever spent!

We did celebrate this morning, though, by cutting the traditional Greek vasilopita ("King Cake") that Gus' mom dropped off yesterday. It's an orange-flavored cake covered in powdered sugar, and you have to cut it in a very specific way: first, you use the knife to gently mark the sign on the cross on top, then you mark where the different slices will be. The first slice is for God, the second is for the Virgin Mary, then the rest are for the people in the household and any other things you want to have good luck in the new year (so in our case, it went Gus-Briar-Nikos-Corky-Charlie-our house). Then you eat your designated slice and, if you're lucky, you find a gold coin hidden inside that means you will have good luck all year. The past few years, I've been the one to find the coin. :) This year, though, it looks like the lucky one is going to be Charlie (the cat). haha!! I think he deserves it, though... It's been a rough couple of months since the baby entered our house and his position in our family shifted (which he was not happy about). Poor little kitty!

Anyhow... that was our New Year's celebration. I promptly got back in bed after eating my piece of cake, because I feel like garbage. I'm sick for the first time in at least a year, which is NOT FUN! So Gus said he'd take care of Nikos all day, and he just brings him in to me when it's eating time. I'm hoping that I can get enough rest and fight off this bug really quickly... I have to go back to work next week!! :( :(

P.S. I nearly forgot-- Nikos met some more family members on Friday! He met his Great Aunt Stacy (my dad's sister) and his second cousin, Nathaniel, who is only about 4 years old (Nathaniel is my dad's other sister's son). Nathaniel really didn't know what to make of him, which was so cute. A good time was had by all!

Somebody Likes Velcro...

Gus was changing Nikos' diaper, and he wouldn't stop smiling... until I brought in the camera, of course. But we still managed to capture a few of his winning smiles (you have to wait for it). Yay!

Can't get enough? I took lots of video today... Here are two more smiley ones from when Gus was playing "Earthquake" with him earlier:
Smile Video #1
Smile Video #2

Christmas Pictures

Playing in Grandpa Jeff's stocking


Visiting with sleepy Uncle Grant


Opening presents with Daddy


Posing with Aunt Maria


Flying Christmas Baby!


YES! A new outfit!


Trying on my new bib


Visiting with Min (Daddy's high school friend, college roommate, and Best Man)

Two Month Letter

Dear Nikos,

Merry Christmas, little man! You are exactly two months old today, which your Daddy and I find difficult to believe. The past month has positively FLOWN by-- so much faster than your first month!-- and it's amazing to see the big changes you've gone through in only a short time.

Right after you hit the one-month mark, you started sleeping in your crib-- first for naps, then at night. You looked so small when we first put you in there, and we had a tough time adjusting to the idea of not having you with us in our bedroom. But it turns out that you really like being in your own space, whether you're awake or asleep! When you're awake, you love to stare at your mobile, the little fish on your crib bumper, your name up on the wall, or our faces (if we're standing there). In the evening, you love watching the shadows that your mobile casts on the side of your crib, and you sometimes squeal when I add my own shadow puppet into the mix. You've been napping better in your crib and sleeping longer at night. We still cuddle with you in our bed for a few hours each morning, so we get the best of both worlds. And we're all happier because of this, believe me!

You've also started communicating with us a lot more, though we don't always speak the same language. You make all sorts of cute baby noises, especially during your bath or when you're on the changing table. You have the most adorable gummy grin that you have started to show us more and more often-- your whole face lights up, and your eyes smile, too! You get especially smiley on the changing table when I have to change your outfit. I honestly think you LOVE wearing nothing but a diaper. Our little nature boy!

Another thing we've noticed this month is that you have suddenly become a drool machine! Right around 6 weeks, you started drooling and making little spit bubbles (often accompanied with smiles and cooing sounds... you are so unbelievably cute!). You like to suck on your hands, and sometimes I catch you licking my bathrobe when I'm holding you. You've also started to show a lot more interest in sucking on your pacifier. Daddy and I are just waiting for the time to come when you try and put everything in your mouth. It should be interesting!

Since the very beginning, you have struck us as quite a strong little man. You love playing a little game we made up called Kangaroo: you stand (with help, obviously), bend your knees and sink down low, then jump! Whenever you jump, I lift you up into the air and you make happy baby sounds. You are the cutest baby kangaroo I have ever seen! You also have really good head and neck control, so we don't worry about supporting them anymore when we hold you. You turn your head to look at something that interests you, or to turn away from something when you're tired. Often, there are so many things you want to see that your little head practically spins as you go from one thing to another. You've even started to show interest in some of your toys. At the top of your list right now is your caterpillar rattle (we've named him Ernie). You smile and make happy noises whenever he says hello to you and gives you kisses on the cheek!

I guess the bottom line is that we're starting to see you as a real little person who wants to interact with the world-- and it's amazing! The first few weeks with you were so hard on us all as you got used to the outside world and Daddy and I got used to being parents. But every single day gets better and better. You are the most important person in our universe, and we love you from the top of your soft little head to the tips of your adorable toes (and then some!). We can't wait to see what wonders await us in your third month!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Merry Pre-Christmas!

Since we're going to be visiting both sets of grandparents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we decided to have our own little Christmas this morning. Yippee! We even decided to try out the Bumbo chair, since Nikos' head/neck are so strong. He sat in it for quite a while without complaining. So cute! Here are a few pictures from our first at-home Christmas (I'm sure I'll have a zillion more after the "real" Christmas):

Great Grandma Patty

Today, Nikos met one of his three living great-grandparents (the other two are Gus' grandmothers, and they both live in Greece):

My Grandma Patty has been visiting with my parents for the past few days, and today all three of them drove down for lunch. We got off to a rough start, though... I had decided to give Nikos a bottle instead of breastfeeding him, since he was hungry and they were due to arrive any minute (I didn't want to be holed up in the bedroom breastfeeding him for half an hour when they arrived). Up until about two weeks ago, we were giving him one bottle of expressed breastmilk a day to get him used to the idea, and he had no problems taking it. So we stopped giving him one every day, thinking it was a non-issue... BIG MISTAKE! The little guy has decided he much prefers actual breastfeeding, and he has refused to drink from a bottle the last two times it was offered. He drank maybe half the bottle today, and then I ended up breastfeeding him. Before I gave in and breastfed, though, we tried for a long time to get him to take the bottle... and he was seriously angry about it. So he cried for a lot of the visit, but ultimately calmed down and got lots of quality time with his Great Grandma Patty. :)

I'm worried, though, about the whole bottle thing... He starts daycare in two weeks! Gus has this whole week off, so we're going to work on getting him back to a bottle a day. I think it might help if I leave the house completely while he feeds him... We'll see...

The Big Kids

So, my little one met the big kids today (translation: my 5th-grade students). I was a little hesitant about bringing him to see them, but I made a promise months ago that I would bring the baby to met them on the last day before winter break. And I knew that if I went back on my word, I would have to suffer the consequences when I return to work in January. Knowing this group of kids, they would harp on and on about it until I went insane. And that's not good!

Anyway, it went well! They were SO EXCITED (I had to stop the shrieking!) to see him-- he was quite the celebrity! One kid even brought his camera JUST to take pictures of him, which I thought was hilarious. Paparazzi! A bunch of them asked if they could hold him, but I ended up only letting one little boy hold him (I used the excuse that we were out of time and I had to go-- one kid who wanted to hold him was covered with orange Cheeto dust. I think not!!). I wanted to let this boy hold him because he is so totally into babies, and has a baby brother of his own that he is so protective of. Sure enough, he's a pro at holding babies! He was even rocking him gently and telling the other kids not to touch Nikos' face or hands because they could give him germs. It was so cute! The whole time, Nikos was calm and alert, and he even smiled at a few kids. Once we left my classroom, I went to visit with my coworkers in the staff lounge, where he promptly fell asleep. So we had a successful visit! After that, we came home, I fed him, and he promptly went to sleep for a two-and-a-half hour nap. Hallelujah!!

Eeeewwww... (part 2)

Well, it turns out that the post-doctor's-visit sleepiness was short-lived. After the munchkin woke up from a nice three-hour nap, things quickly slid downhill... Instead of sleeping for his usual 6-hour chunk at night, he slept for two. And then wouldn't go back to sleep, even after an hour and a half of attempting to get him to drift off! Whenever Gus would stop rocking him, or I'd stop walking around with him, he'd start crying again. Mind you, this was all happening after midnight, and we were dead tired. We decided to bring him into our bed, because we were so exhausted from constantly getting up. It finally occurred to me that his legs might be sore from all the shots, and that the pain reliever must have worn off hours before. So... I gave him another dose, nursed him for about 5 minutes, and he conked out... for maybe two hours! But then he was Mr. Crankypants again. *sigh* Gus eventually got him to sleep at around 5am (note: Gus wakes up at 5:45 to get ready for work, so he is hurting today), and Nikos and I slept until almost 8:00. Thank GOD I got to sleep in a little bit, because I am not sure I would have been able to make it through the day otherwise!

Anyhow... When we got up, I decided to feed him in bed while watching Good Morning America (does this sound familiar?). I stopped halfway through to burp him, and he SPEWED all over me, himself, and the bed. Milk was EVERYWHERE! I am positive that this was vomit (as opposed to spitting up). YUCK!!! My pajamas were so saturated that my UNDERWEAR was wet, too. EW, EW, EW! Anyway, we got cleaned up, and he seemed to be in a really happy mood. I plunked him in his crib to look at his mobile for a bit, and went to read all the paperwork we received all the doctor's office yesterday. Guess what? Two of the shots can cause temporary vomiting for a few days. This is considered a common and mild symptom. Great, huh?? And almost all of them may cause fussiness in 1 out of 3 babies. I repeat: *sigh*

2 Month Appointment

So Nikos is exactly 8 weeks today, and we took him for his two month doctor's appointment. Which means he got shots, and lots of them! :( Poor little guy! He had to get four injections into his little legs: DTP, polio, pneumococcal conjugate, and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b), and they made him drink the rotavirus vaccine. Luckily, we gave him a little bit of pain reliever before the appointment, and he handled everything surprisingly well. He face turned brick red during the injections, but calmed down fairly quickly afterward. He went to sleep the minute I started the car engine, woke up to eat once we got home, and then went right back to sleep. I'm not sure if it's the result of the shots or if it's because he has napped poorly all day (or a combination of the two), but I'll take it! (So nice after yesterday-- he was fussy and wouldn't let me put him down most of the day. My back still hurts!)

At any rate, our baby boy continues to grow nicely. His head circumference and length are both around the 50th percentile, and his weight is at the 75th (12 pounds, 12 ounces!). His pediatrician says he's doing very well and looks really healthy. She asked if he was smiling back at us yet (yup), tracking objects as they move (yup), and if he was lifting his head (he's been doing that since day 1, to an extent!). So he's hitting all his developmental milestones right on target, which is awesome! Go baby go!

Anyhow, time for me to go and watch some TV for the first time in days... Time for a rest! In the meantime, enjoy this photo of the little munchkin that I took this morning! His outfit is a little big for him, but he's still the cutest baby ever! :)

Exhibit A:

"Baby Dry" my a**!! I cannot possibly describe how much I hate these diapers (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read the previous post)!! The poor guy has gone through four (!!) wardrobe changes today! The new ones cannot possibly get here soon enough! AAARGH!!!

*********************************
But on a happier (and marginally related) note... Alayna, my friend since we were in second grade, and her partner, Sacha, just announced that Sacha is pregnant with baby #2!!!!! This is so exciting!!! Congratulations, you two! :) :)

Crappy Diapers (pun intended!)

Ever since Nikos was born, he has used the same type of diaper almost continuously. We haven't had any major problems with this particular type, with the exception of the one time poop leaked up his back (which, to be honest, is partially his fault for blasting it up there!). Anyhow, he's been wearing the size 1's, but seems to be just about ready for the 2's. Gus needed to order a few things from Drugstore.com the other day, and he wanted free shipping, so he added a pack of the size 2's to his order-- they should arrive on Tuesday. In the meantime, we have officially run out of the smaller ones. So, I busted open a pack of another type of diaper (which shall remain nameless!). My mom accidentally bought this pack for us when she meant to get the other kind, and they happen to be size 1's, so I figured they could hold us over until Tuesday. But now I'm not so sure!

The very first one we put on him leaked pee all over my belly as I was breastfeeding him yesterday. Fun! The next two both leaked poop out the leg holes. And that's not even the worst of it (in my opinion). The worst part is that Nikos gets upset the INSTANT he poops/pees in this type of diaper. I was trying to feed him this morning, and he started screaming! He had just pooped, but it was bothering him so much he couldn't stay latched on to finish breakfast! And when he gets all worked up like that, he swallows a lot of air and has to be burped a lot (or else he'll spit up like crazy). As soon as we changed him, he calmed down. But this has NEVER happened with the other type of diaper. So I'm really annoyed... And, strangely enough, both types of diapers are made by the same company. How can one type be so much better than the other???

Anyhow, this brings me to my predicament du jour: Do I go buy more of the good diapers to last me until Tuesday? Or do I tough it out with the crappy ones until the new ones arrive? If I do buy diapers, do I get size 1's (which he might soon outgrow) or do I risk the size 2's (which might be too big)? Gus thinks we should tough it out, but I'm not entirely sure... hmm...

Fly, Super Baby, Fly!

Ok, so I'm easily amused... His little legs get so rigid sometimes!



...and because I was on a filming kick today, a bonus video! This was right after I changed his diaper.


I've been filming him using my regular digital camera... I really should bust out the nice digital camcorder we have tucked in the closet... hmm...

The Littlest Radiohead Fan?

He may not look very much like me, but I think Nikos may have inherited my (excellent) musical tastes! :P I had my follow-up doctor's appointment this afternoon, and it took longer than expected. By the time we got back in the car, it was almost time for the peanut to eat-- and he was NOT a happy camper! Even listening to the Baby Bach CD wasn't working-- and that can usually calm him down (or put him to sleep) in about 5 minutes. He was crying and crying and crying, but I kept playing Baby Bach in hopes that it would work its magic. No such luck! But then the CD finished, and my changer switched over to another CD before I realized what was happening. That CD happened to be The Bends, by Radiohead-- one of my veryvery favorite albums of all time and one that I'd been listening to a LOT in the month or so before Nikos was born. And guess what? He became quiet almost instantly!! I thought maybe he had just worn himself out and fallen asleep, but NO! A quick check at a red light revealed that he was completely alert and calm! He started fussing a little during the second track, but calmed down when I skipped to track three:

Radiohead - High &...

I couldn't believe it! The rest of the ride home was so peaceful... I don't know if it was a fluke, or if the music was familiar to him from when he was still in my belly, but it was so cool! And such a nice change of pace for me (I love Bach and all, but a little grown-up music is good for my mental health!). This theory still requires further testing, but HOORAY for now!

Yay!

THEY FIT!!!!

I had begun to convince myself that my knuckles were simply larger than they used to be, and that I'd need to get my wedding rings re-sized if I ever wanted to wear them again (a depressing thought, especially since the band is engraved). But no! I can totally get them on and off now. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Earlier, I was changing Nikos' diaper, and he was making his happy baby sounds and smiling. I went to kiss him on the head, he looked right at me, and (very softly) said "hi!" I know it's a total fluke, but it was SO CUTE!!!! :)

Eeeewwww...

So we got off to an interesting start today...

Nikos woke up at 8:00 (he let me sleep in a little, hooray), and I changed his diaper. He was acting hungry, so I decided to feed him in my bed while I watched "Good Morning America" on TV. As I was scooting myself back up against the pillows and into my feeding position, he decided to spew. He spit up all over the front of my pajama top and bottoms, all over the front of his clothes, on his hand, and he managed to hit both his feet. He's never spit up that much before-- maybe it could actually be considered throwing up?? I need to look that up. Anyhow, there are two distinct varieties of spit up: the kind that looks like milk and the kind that looks like curdled milk. And of course it was the curdled kind. Yuck!!

Anyway, I really wanted to avoid getting the spit-up on the bed linens, because they're much more of a pain to change than my PJs are. I very carefully grabbed a burp cloth, wiped Nikos off as best I could, and laid him down on the bed so I could take my pajamas off and put on my robe. Just as I was about to pick him up again, he did one of his Power Poops. I needed to change his outfit, anyway, so I picked him up and headed for the changing table. But guess what?? Poop managed to leak out and get onto both the sheets AND the duvet cover. Eeeewww!!!

But wait, there's more! I thought the poop had leaked out one of his leg holes, which is what usually happens when he leaks. I laid him down on the changing table and pulled the onesie up over his head. I left his head resting on it like a pillow. That's when I realized that the poop had shot up his back and out the top of the diaper. The back of his onesie was all poopy. And guess whose head was resting on the wet, poopy spot???

Needless to say, I washed him thoroughly and put all the poopy items in the washer. Oh, that was another thing-- I started the washer and THEN realized that it was already full of clean clothes that I had forgotten to move to the dryer. It's amazing how much laundry I've been doing lately!

Anyway... I had to laugh, because when all was said and done, Nikos was so happy and smiley! As I dressed him again, he was smiling and squealing "ba!!" My guess is that his tummy was bothering him, and he felt much better after emptying himself from both ends.

Fetus Friends!

I went to a small get-together at my coworker's house last night, and was finally able to get some pictures of Nikos with Owen, his fetus friend! They'd met outside of the womb before, but Nikos was super cranky and pictures were out of the question. Anyway, here they are!


What a difference four months makes, huh? Nikos looks like such a shrimp compared to Owen! :P It's strange to think that this time last year, Kori was finally telling everyone she was pregnant. And I was about to become pregnant (in January). How times have changed!!

Say Cheese!

What can I say? Cutest baby in the universe! :)

Superboy

Check out that neck extension! Our little peanut has almost total control over his head and neck now. He also likes to "stand" with me holding him, then he bends his legs and jumps. He's got some serious baby muscles! Go baby go!

As an aside: Today he is exactly 6 weeks old, AND it's his name day-- sort of! He's not baptized, so he doesn't technically get to celebrate yet, but December 6th is the day of St. Nicholas. So Xronia Polla, little pumpkin!

The Light!

Well, it's official. At the risk of totally jinxing myself, I think it's fairly safe to say that our little guy has finally become comfortable sleeping in his crib. We have been putting him in there "drowsy but awake" every time now, and he drifts right off to sleep. He even likes to hang out in his crib when he's not tired, because he gets such a kick out of his mobile (he really concentrates on it, which I find pretty entertaining to watch). Nighttime sleeping continues to go pretty well for us, too, with him only waking up once or twice to eat, usually at around midnight and then around 5am. I can totally handle that!

Now that his sleeping has improved, I am seeing improvement everywhere else... For one, my mental health is 1000% better! Just this afternoon, we were taking a walk through the neighborhood. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I was really enjoying just being outside and feeling the warmth and breathing the fresh air. I thought back to only a few weeks ago, when I took the same walk. I was exhausted, felt stretched to my limits, and walked as quickly as I could, fearing that Nikos would start to cry at any second (and then I would start to cry, too). I was really miserable!! The only way we could get him to nap then was for him to fall asleep on one of us... and since I was the only one home during the day, that meant he took his naps on me and gave me zero time to myself. I still don't have a TON of time to myself, but he's taking much better naps and sleeping in his crib. I actually get time to do things like, say, eat lunch! And post on this blog!

I've also noticed that his crying has changed somewhat. Before, it seemed like all his cries were full-force, "I-am-miserable-and-you'd-better-do-something-about-it" cries. There's a lot more differentiation now. When he's hungry, he puts his fist in his mouth (I think it's so cute!) and makes little coughing-type cries. When he just wants to be held, he does what I call his "fake" cry-- he kind of whimpers, off and on, but doesn't seem to be too disturbed. When he's tired, he yawns... and if I can catch him then, he'll go to sleep without crying. If I don't, he cries really loudly and arches his back, eventually calming down if I hold him and sit in the rocking chair for a while. The worst is his "I'm-in-pain" cry, which he does sometimes if he's trying to poop, fart, or burp. His whole face turns red and he screams bloody murder, but it all ends as quickly as it started once he takes care of business.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's getting easier every day (though it certainly isn't "easy" by any stretch of the imagination!). It's also getting more enjoyable as he notices people around him. I love how he calms down when I pick him up, and how he buries his face in my neck when he's tired. I also love the happy little noises that he makes when he's nursing, and how he gazes up at me and sometimes smiles. I am finally getting something back for all the hard work I've been doing, and it is AWESOME! So there was a light at the end of the tunnel, when I was feeling so depressed a few weeks ago-- I just didn't realize how quickly we'd get there.

And finally, the picture of the day: his best Shrek impersonation:


(yup, that's a baby-sized tie-dyed shirt... so cute!)

Sleeping, Churching, Reading, etc.

So this weekend was a busy one for us! For one, we continued with our mission to get Nikos sleeping in his crib at night-- and it's working! The second night was a little rough, but last night (the third night) was pretty good! He only woke up to eat at around 1am and then slept until 5am. I think he's gradually becoming more comfortable in his crib, which is a good thing. This afternoon, I even tried putting him down for a nap while he was still "drowsy-but-awake," like all the baby books say I should. When I peeked in on him ten minutes later, he was totally asleep. And he has stayed that way for 2 hours now! I'M SO HAPPY!! Not only did I get a lot of my online Christmas shopping done, but I could see that the little guy was so very tired and desperately in need of a nap. So now everyone is happy!

Part of the reason he's so tired, I think, is that he had such a long day yesterday. We drove up to Orange County so that he could receive his 40-Day Blessing, a tradition in the Greek Orthodox Church. Basically, a baby and its mother are not allowed into the church until 40 days after the birth, and then the priest performs a short ceremony to welcome the baby and re-welcome the mother. It takes place after the normal Sunday service, so we got there and had to wait in the entryway until everyone was gone. Then the priest came out and performed the blessing, which took about 5 minutes total. So why, then, was Nikos so tired? Let me tell you about our drive that morning!

The problem with breastfeeding is that you can't (legally or safely) do it while riding in a car. So I defrosted some of the milk I've been storing up and prepared a bottle, thinking I could feed him while he was in his car seat. Well, he was NOT HAPPY about that, and I could hear him swallowing a lot of air. Of course, I couldn't successfully burp him without taking him out of his car seat, and he started screaming (presumably because of some massive air bubble I could do nothing about). So I asked Gus to pull over, and he decided to stop for gas, since we'd need to refuel at some point, anyway. I burped the kiddo, but nothing happened. Then I thought I smelled poop, so I figured I'd take a look in his diaper while we were stopped. I opened the back of the car, laid him down on his changing pad, and saw that there was only a teeny-tiny amount of poop-- generally meaning that the mother lode isn't far behind. So I left the diaper on, but unfastened. Meanwhile, Gus had started filling the gas tank and was helping by getting the wipes out of the diaper bag. ALL OF A SUDDEN, the gas overflowed and started spraying all over the place!!!!! Gus managed to grab the nozzle and shut it off without getting too much on himself (in his nice church clothes). I turned back to look at Nikos, and he had managed to fill his diaper AND do some serious spit-up in a split second. I changed him and wiped the spit-up off his face while Gus went to tell the manager about the problem with the pump. He (Nikos, not Gus!) was crying, so I picked him up and put his head against mine... Only to realize that he had spit-up all over the side of his HEAD, not just his face! So I got spit-up on my face and in my hair. It was truly a fine moment. Truly.

Anyway... the blessing went well, as did our ride back home. He had to have another bottle, which I had brought with me in a cooler, but we stopped to burp him and had no problems. He slept most of the way home! Once we got home, though, my book club members arrived for our meeting, and he was once again surrounded by people. And if that wasn't enough, Gus took him to our friend Tony's house to meet his family, once our meeting was underway. So he met a LOT of people yesterday, and managed to do so without too much crying. I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment!

And, for the record: using a manual breast pump in the back seat of the car while on the freeway is NOT FUN. Though it is an excellent arm workout. Nonetheless, I went out and bought the cigarette-lighter power adaptor for my pump today. Hallelujah!

I Did It...

"I did it," she blurted out, "I tasted my own breast milk!" (Sorry if that was too much information for some of you!) ha ha!! I had been planning to try it all along-- I mean, this is what I'm feeding my baby, so shouldn't I know what it tastes like?? And a lot of books recommend tasting it if you're planning to pump and freeze milk for later on (which I'm doing). That way, you can tell if it's spoiled. Anyway... Despite my curiosity, I still had to sort of "psych myself up" for it. It's hard to get over the fact that, well, it came out of me! But guess what? It's not bad!!! It tastes like cow's milk, only thinner and sweeter. Almost like coconut milk. I can see why Nikos prefers it hands-down over the formula he drank in his early days. The smell of formula alone is enough to make me sick!

And that was my weird-but-true moment for the day. Goodnight! :)

Woohoo!!!!

Up until now, Nikos had been napping in his crib, but spending the night in our bed. It wasn't something we had ever planned on doing (I had originally planned to put him into his crib right away... ha, ha!!), but with all the exhaustion and late-night feedings, we were ready to try anything! It worked out really well, especially once I mastered the art of nursing him while lying on my side-- I could just roll over, feed him, and go back to sleep! We justified it by saying he was still too young to form bad habits, and that Dr. Sears was in favor of a family bed (though it seems like most sleep theorists are NOT). Still, as nice as it was to wake up next to his warm little body, we knew we needed to reclaim our bed and start getting him used to his crib.

So, we put him in his crib last night. We had fully prepared ourselves for a restless night. Gus even planned on just staying up and watching TV for as long as possible (thus making it easier for him to go and get Nikos if he started crying). That plan didn't work, and we both fell asleep at around 9:30. BUT... Nikos slept in his crib until a little after 1AM, when he woke up hungry! We brought him into bed with us so he could eat, then Gus put him back to sleep in his crib (that was the hard part-- it took probably 40 minutes). He slept for another three hours in there before waking up hungry again. At that point (it was almost 6AM), I fed him and he slept in bed with us for a while until it was time to get up.

Anyway, the point is that he slept in his crib for seven hours total last night!! It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. I slept better, too, which made me realize that I'm always a little "on edge" when he sleeps with us (I don't want to smoosh him!). I know that not every night will go so smoothly, but it wasn't bad for his first time! Hooray!