napping house

yesterday ben did not nap at all. that's right. and a day without a nap means a restless night. so we were up and down a lot last night, nursing and watching a steve mcqueen movie in the wee small hours.

today i designated a "nap at all cost" day, including holding him while he sleeps. as a general rule we try to put him in his bed for naps. it's hard to hold a napping kiddo when there's food burning on the stove or clothes shrinking in the dryer because you can't get there. so the plan worked. i held him, and he's been sleeping for two hours (with a short interval to snack). now: a nap for me.

add "sherpa" to my list of titles

my friend katherine let me borrow her baby wrap, made by an australian company called hug-a-bub. it's sort of complicated to use because it wraps around the torso several times and it has to be done just right or it creates pressure points and gets uncomfortable. but after some practice, i've got the hang of it and now like it quite a bit. we use it late in the afternoons, when ben's getting moody and i have to fix dinner. he rides along while i do my work. we talk about what i'm doing and he grabs my fingers and tries to wedge as many as he can into his mouth. it's a good way for us to cope with, and most avoid, the early evening meltdown.

the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs

our little fella is twelve weeks old today! it doesn't sound like a long time, but i don't remember the days before he was born.

he woke up with a red, watery eye, so we went to see dr. lyon this afternoon (she complimented him on his general cuteness and amiable demeanor. we like her obvious intelligence and skills of observation). he's going to be fine and is already looking better tonight. he now weighs 13 lbs, so he's nearly doubled his birth weight!

on a roll

yes, he did!

i like the look on his face afterward the best.

hmmm...

today for the first time, ben fussed not because he needed something, but because he wanted me to come get him. he was playing in his bed while i loaded the dishwasher, perfectly safe and comfortable, and i heard this little whiny sound. i knew immediately what was happening. we had crossed the threshold.

caron said her mother gave her the following advice: let the baby fuss for ten minutes. leave the room. if the fussing bugs you, put on your head phones. ten minutes. then go in. do this every day, maybe a couple of times a day, until the baby learns to be okay in their bed without you for a little while. then she said, you know, mothers in the bible had to get a lot of stuff done. they didn't spend all their time holding their babies. and people like moses and abraham grew up just fine, you know? so don't feel guilty. i suppose this is common sense advice, but it was good to be reminded. if moses' and abraham's mothers and even the virgin mary let their babies fuss a little, i guess that's good enough for me.

benny and the toys

ben digs the jungle gym!

we came home to iowa city today and got settled back into the apartment.

he was an absolute gem (a drooly gem), all chuckles and friendly grins while we unpacked our stuff. now we're watching caucus coverage, and he's sleeping, snug as a bug, in his own room. we decided to move his bed out of our room when we got back from christmas break, and it's a little hard for me, but no big deal to him. :)