in which mommy reasons as to why her son didn’t sleep the night before May 1, 2008

i wonder if there is some inherent truth to that old saying about not going to bed angry with your partner. i mean, where henri is concerned. because he didn’t sleep that well last night. (is this the travesty of him sleeping in our room that i’ve been [nervously] waiting for?)

i’ve come up with some other possible reasons for his lack of sleep, so as not to make myself feel bad:

• it’s freezing in our room at night. in fact, i think our room is the coldest of all of the rooms. i don’t know why this is but my 2 possible explanations are: someone who lived in the house before us shut the vent in our room off, or the gods do not want me to be warm at night, ever, even though i constantly pay good money to be that way!!!
• during the first 3 hours of his [then peaceful] nighttime rest, i was moving furniture and boxes and i wasn’t really being quiet about it. (ooops, this one incriminates me, too…)
• he IS getting 2 teeth (maybe more?) after all
• there’s only so much nighttime sleep a baby can take before he starts losing credo on the baby-internet community forums he’s a part of
• dare i say, he’s ready for his own room and will most likely not wake up as much once he is in there???
• the poor thing (note the omission of “little” in that oft used phrase) is just about to fall out of his cradle–and by “out of,” i mean over the side. when will that damn crib be here anyway???
• his pajamas were too small–and, they really are, if only because he continues to grow at the speed of light
• he didn’t have socks on. he does usually take these off at some point in the night, but–still–he starts out with them on, so this definitely constitutes as a change in routine and is not a lame, last reason because i didn’t want to end the list with how i need to buy him pajamas that fit

sleepy but stubborn… March 12, 2008

(…or maybe he just has gas…?)

now that we’ve upped his formula intake once again, henri has actually somewhat settled into a sleeping schedule on his own. well, i’m not there during the day… but, at night, he falls asleep right after his 9/9:30 bottle and sleeps until 2 or 2:30 AM. we feed him (and by “we” i mean “mark”) 4 oz. and he goes back to sleep right away. then, he usually sleeps until 6:30…sometimes longer, especially if i rock his bouncy seat a little while. (of course, all this goes out the window if his tummy hurts, like last night…but i do not want to talk about that right now!!!).

i guess that’s not too bad of a sleep schedule, even though the doctor did say he should be able to sleep for 5 hours after his last evening bottle.

as for going to sleep on his own, i don’t think we’re quite ready for that one. he is just learning to put his pacifier in his mouth on his own, which is a definite step in the right direction. but, i can’t imagine him falling asleep or falling back asleep without patting or rocking of some sort. besides the fact he has to be swaddled so tight you could throw him like a football without the blanket coming undone to sleep at all. as i may have previously mentioned: we’ve created a monster. but–i believe he will progress to other sleep habits when he is ready.  maybe i have to believe that???

although– mark did buy a couple books on baby sleep this past weekend. i tried to read one, but i was too sleepy to read much past the first page.

no one told me babies were this much work!!! February 21, 2008

ha ha…

now that i have a job again, everyone has their panties in a wad about getting to and fro’ work and how often henri has to leave the house/drive around the city. may i remind you that emma had to accompany her papi to various places to accommodate everyone’s schedule for about the first three years of her life ??? now, i know you all thought it would be different since henri is such a “special” child (and by special, i mean he CRIES WHENEVER THE CAR IS NOT MOVING AT OR ABOVE 40 MPH)…but we are all the same crazy, workaholic, not-so-special family…so, i don’t know why you got your hopes up.

actually, i think he likes leaving the house. s t r a n g e, since no one else around 43 early ave does. but–already–he is such a little individualist. a mother has to be proud of that.

and while we’re on the subject of schedules, or, rather, the lack thereof: i will say that (as with anything parent-related, i’m sure) my rigorous standards have relaxed quite a bit. i think it took a little while for me & henri to get on the same page and in the same groove…but, the more i get to know him, the more i know whether he’s crying because he’s starving to death or because he’s bored or because he’s tired or because everyone in the room doesn’t have their eyes glued to his adorable face.  in general, though, he gets hungry about every 2 hours, 15 minutes (i only know this statistic because of the WONDERFUL Itzbeen), even after we increased him to 4 oz every feeding. but it’s terribly difficult to feed him more than 4 oz, due to his “falling asleep while eating” habit. oh well; he seems [much more] content and he is pretty much a happy baby these days, so i think we’re doing a damn good job. (also, whenever i get around to/have capabilities to post some more current pics–you will see he is not just “happy,” but Fat and Happy.)

i don’t feel bad about those first few weeks of him being a tad bit hungry, though. after what he put me through in the labor room…he deserves it!!! (JUST KIDDING, HENRI)

i demand to continue on a feeding schedule! November 29, 2007

apparently, strict feeding schedules are a hallmark of fundamentalist child-raising policies.  and, yes, i do mean policies.  they have a guidebook–much like the Bible, only God didn’t write this one–that spells out exactly how to raise your child so that they become a Bible-believing, God-fearing, “I-don’t-play-with-my-food” adult.

strict & scheduled feedings are only one requirement among myriad other “I’m the Parent, Goddamnit” type rules such as planned alone playtime and spanking.

of course, it’s all about power: God has power over man; man has power over woman; and parents have power over children.  mmmmmmmmm…family.  it really warms my heart.

fortunately, i hadn’t read this document before following henri’s pediatrician’s advice to keep him on a schedule, or i probably would’ve balked more.  i know “demand feeding” is all the rage among those free-loving breastfeeding moms, but i really think the schedule is the right thing for us.  imagine how difficult it would be to regulate his intake with four different caregivers feeding him whenever he cried or suckled.  t’would be difficult, since, so far, he hasn’t stopped suckling! the boy loves to suckle!  he suckles immediately after finishing an entire bottle!!!

and: lastly…  if demand feeding is so good for breastfeeding moms because it helps them regulate their milk supply, blah blah blah…then, schedule feeding is just as good for bottle-feeding moms, because i need to regulate my budget!

so, yeah. those are my reasons.  and I’M NOT A FUNDAMENTALIST! promise

need…more…clocks… November 27, 2007

now i remember why i resisted momhood for so long…from the moment the kid pops out of you, you’re on a schedule. life is no longer your own; TIME is your master.

the darn feeding schedule is enough to drive you mad. (and IS, in fact, driving the ever-hungry henri mad.) i’m constantly looking at the clock and calculating how many more hours it will be ’til he can have a bottle. when he wakes up wimpering at night, the first thing i grab is my phone (i don’t even *have* a clock in my bedroom…!!) to see what time it is. and, already, we’ve experienced the “plan ahead for the number of hours you’ll be gone” conundrum. as a parent of a bottle-fed baby, you just can’t decide to have lunch out on a whim…unless you’ve brought along extra supplies, that is.

of course, i hate [working] clocks more than most people. but i’d be willing to bet the schedule thing is the #1 biggest adjustment for all new parents. i don’t care how structured your life is nor how rigorous your schedule; you aren’t a slave to time until you have a screaming, red-faced kid who thinks 3-4 hours between bottles really means somewhere around 2 1/2.