Playdates

Nick has been very social with playdates with new friends.  He loves to flirt with the girls and always reaches out to touch them right away.  He’s not too shy to hold hands with the boys either, though.  As much fun as our little guy has meeting all these new babies, the playdates are really more for mommy’s sanity at this point.  It’s been great to get out and spend time with our playgroup and other friends with new babies.

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3 Months Already?!!?!

How did this happen?  It’s already been 3 months!  How much has changed in 3 months…

Nick spent this month improving his fine motor skills.  He can now get his hand in his mouth whenever he wants to (still working on the thumb, so for now he sucks his knuckles) and he can grab some of his toys and hangs on for dear life once he gets them.  He also loves standing and sitting so he can be more like the big kids.  He’s practising all kinds of new noises and learning all about conversations.  And to think that three months ago he was still curled in a little ball all the time and sleeping most of the day…amazing.

We’ve had a bit of a regression on sleep, both naps and overnight, but we’re hoping that is just short lived.  I’m still hoping that he’ll be sleeping through the night by the time I go back to work in April…wish us luck!  The little beastie hasn’t stopped growing yet…he’s now up to 15 pounds 12.5 ounces and 25 inches.  Wowsers!

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Our Other Baby

Hugo has been ignored once or twice lately so he likes to remind us every once in a while that he’s still here.  Yesterday he reminded us by bringing a live bird into the house and releasing it so that he could show us his hunting prowess when he recaptured it for us.  What a sweet kitty.  He also loves playing with the awesome rainbow maker that grandpa Sam got for Nicky.  You can hear Nicky happily enjoying the rainbows in his crib, while Hugo has a slightly more crazed reaction to the lights dancing around the room.

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Valentines Day

We spent a spectacular day with our little Valentine in Half Moon Bay this weekend.  We fought through the traffic from the Maverick’s surf competition to go to our favorite chowder restaurant and were totally unprepared for the unexpectedly perfect weather at the ocean.  We all stripped down to our undershirts and we bought Nicky a gigantic sun hat to keep him out of the sun.  Even though the hat was far too big for him, we thought he looked adorable.  After lunch we took Nick on his first walk along the ocean, where he had his most scenic nap to date.  It was a perfect day!

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Help!

IMG_1533Today seemed to be going really well earlier.  Sunny weather.  Happy baby.  Productive mom. 

And then my sleeping beauty woke up from his nap after only 45 minutes.  Again…  This has become his new thing.  I am extra vigilant to watch for tired signs and put him down after being awake 1.5-2 hours.  He goes down easily, lately without even needing to be re-pacified and is asleep within minutes, which should be a sign that we’re hitting the perfect state of sleepiness to begin the nap.  The conditions are perfect for sleeping: he sleeps in his crib, has black out curtains, and a nice sound machine on.  There are two closed doors between him and any household noise.  He has a clean diaper and has been fed. 

He sleeps super soundly for 45 minutes precisely, then wakes with a squawk.  In the morning he still looks sleepy but isn’t too cranky.  In the afternoon he’s been having massive fits (totally unlike him).  When he’s freaking out nothing can console him – swaddling, jiggling, shushing, swinging, pacifying, walking, etc.  Today I finally resorted to bringing the stroller in the house and spending 45 minutes rocking him back and forth in the hallway, which finally calmed him.  Now he is a happy little bee making bbbrrrooooom noises and staring at his mobile. 

I’ve found a lot of literature on trouble with overtired babies who won’t go down for their naps, but none at all for overtired babies who wake up too early from their naps.  Any advice from those of you who have been in the trenches???

Super Dad

IMG_1470Super Dad came to the rescue yesterday and narrowly averted a complete mommy meltdown.  After hearing how frazzled I was when he called to say hi, he came home at 2, took over responsibility for all of Nick’s eating and sleeping and sent me to a nice hot bath with a big glass of wine.  In case anyone had any doubt, Sam is THE BEST HUBBY EVER.  PERIOD.  Luckily for me, it’s Nick’s 12 week birthday today.  Not that he’s been a hard baby, but I’ve heard that it starts to get easier after 12 weeks, so hopefully we’ll have fewer of these exhausted days in the next few months??  A girl can hope…