sleep strike

It seems Preston has been inspired by the current Writer's Guild strike and has decided to stage a strike of his own- on sleep. The catch phrase in my books and amongst new moms seems to be "good sleep begets good sleep." Which means good naps during the day = good sleep at night. Yesterday he didn't nap well and last night he was up several times and didn't fall back to sleep well. So I don't think it was a coincidence. As I type, he's in the swing- babbling away to himself, so let's just say I don't have high hopes for tonight, either. No naps during the day means no break for mom and that makes for a full day of rocking, soothing, nursing, playing and unfortunately, on mornings like this one- cleaning up dog puke in the midst of being exhausted.

BUT- I don't mean to complain. Every single day he gets easier, and even despite the lack of sleep, he's really beginning to enjoy play and interaction, which we are LOVING! Preston's favorite book right now is "Brown Bear Brown Bear" by Eric Carle. If you are familiar with Eric Carle"s books, you know that the illustrations are perfect for babies. They are large, colorful and almost geometrical which is great for Preston at this stage. I love watching him stare at the pages and change his facial expressions with the cadence of our voices. Ok, ok...I know that every mom thinks her baby is smart, but for an 11 week old, I feel like he certainly focuses for a long time during books and play. He also smiles HUGE now and laughs or talks with us when we are playing. He's starting to like hand-type games like "This Little Piggy," "Pat-a-cake," and "Itsy-Bitsy Spider." And although my IQ has probably dropped a good 10 points in the last few months, I know that his is developing and for now, that's all that matters. It's such a treat getting to interact with him.

He had a doctor's appointment on Monday of this week and he's now up to 12 pounds, 12 ounces- more than doubling his birth weight and his length was 23.5 inches. 4.5 inches longer than he was when he was born. Holy fat baby- this kid is getting big!! Which is easily felt when we pick up his infant seat. We are still exclusively breastfeeding, so I love knowing that every ounce he's gained is because I've been able to meet his nutritional needs.

However, he's getting so big that he's outgrowing some of his DARLING 0-3 month outfits, (which of course breaks my heart) so I decided to set him up in the glider in his room and snap a picture of him each morning when we get dressed in order to remember him at this stage on a daily basis and "preserve" all the cute clothes he won't be wearing much longer. Here's a few of them:


Going to vote on election day:


Can you tell I love this kid in hats?


Treasured:


And just for fun- some love from Ruby:


As you can see, I'm no photographer, which is why I was planning on getting some professional pics taken of him at 3 months old. Not knowing where to turn, I cleverly tricked a newish mommy-friend, Betsy, who just so happens to be a talented photographer in the midst of building a wildly successful photography business, into "meeting for coffee" next week. (insert devious laugh here) Just kidding- the poor thing has kindly offered to take some shots of P, so I am eagerly taking her up on it, while getting to enjoy some adult conversation and caffeine. Caffeine that is badly needed during this sleep strike. Come to think of it, maybe we should be meeting for drinks.

Stay tuned for more- this weekend is a big one... an Erb family gathering on Friday, and his first road-trip to Elkhart on Saturday. Crossing my fingers that Preston decides he LOVES his carseat before we embark on a long drive.