But WAIT!

Okay, here is my next tip. I knew this one would have to follow up yesterday's post since they go hand in hand. I felt the need to hurry up and get this on here so that I do not cause mass hysteria. Plus, the one and only comment yesterday (thanks!) nearly made it a two-post day, but I held off.

The whole "don't ever wake a sleeping baby" thing, it's crap. I see the confusion on your face. First, I am telling you to let the baby sleep, now I am tell you to wake him up?! WTF?!

Here is the deal:
Naps are a must. 1.5-2 hour naps, that is. Anything past the 2 hour range starts getting dangerously close to the baby having his days and nights mixed up. 3 hours of sleeping is a lot for a newborn during the day. Naps need to be consistent, especially for my kid, or his day is all f'd up.

So, let the child sleep during the day - but within reason! Consistency is key and it may take a while, but trust me it works! Here is Mason's daily schedule: (it's not set in stone, because life happens. Times vary daily and we never force him into anything. Most importantly, I follow his cues.) He will wake up, eat, play for a while (1-1.5 hours), then go down for a nap. He repeats this all day long, eating every 3-ish hours. His first nap is usually only 45 mins long and naps after that are between 1.5-2 hours, NEVER LONGER. Then after his last nap in the evening, he will wake up, go through his bedtime routine and then eat right before bed. This works great for us and he has been sleeping like a champ at night pretty consistently.

Of course, every baby is different and this might not work, but I honestly believe that you should wake a baby during the day so that they understand that nighttime is for sleeping and naps are for refueling. That's just a lil' sumptin' sumptin' I have learned thus far that I don't recall EVER seeing during my pregnancy!

I must have missed that...

Let me preface this entry by saying that in no universe near or far do I consider myself an expert on motherhood. Nor do I think that I am a perfect mother, I am far from it. I will however, claim to be a baby-knowledge whore in every sense of the phrase. I read. LOTS. Okay, that is an understatement. I am like a mother-sponge. I cannot get enough. I read books, websites, essays, message boards, etc. etc. etc. If it has to do with infant behaviors, I read it. I was a psych major once in one of my many lives and I remember child psych being one of my favorite classes. One that I don't think I ever skipped, and that's sayin' something.

So being the lovely, wonderful, entirely-too-nice-for-my-own-good blogger that I am, I decided one day (probably a month ago, HEY give me a break) that I should start writing entries focusing on information that I must have missed when I was pregnant. Secret troves of wonderful information that is hidden from pregnant women and new mommies every where that can only be unlocked once you have hit "that wall". You know the one I am talking about moms. The wall that you can only SLAM into once you reach pure crazy. A wall harder than brick, taller than the Empire State Building and wider than the Atlantic coast. The wall that causes you to troll the Internets for an answer ANY ANSWER ohmygodpleasehelpmeIamabouttoloseit at usually somewhere around 3am on a Saturday, just when your young, unmarried, childless friends are stumbling in from a good night of drinking.

I have found out that pretty much everything you read during pregnancy to prepare you for this little miracle will be lost like a sock in a dryer once the crazy sets in. So I am going to help you, oh childless Internets. Take notes. Follow along. BURN THIS INFO INTO YOUR BRAIN.

My first piece of missing info: Sleep begets sleep.

DUH! You might say. Well, I am sure I am not the first half of a new parent couple that decided that "We should keep the baby awake so that he is super tired and sleeps longer through the night". DON'T DO IT. For the love of Gucci, don't do it. You see, babies are born just wanting to sleep. All.the.time. LET THEM. Trust. If you keep a baby up because you think he will work like you do (playing all day and passing out at night) you will pay.

It took us a while to figure out that the more consistent we were with Mason's naps during the day, the better he slept at night. I wish someone would have told me this. I am sure I read it somewhere, or someone DID tell me, but it got lost somewhere between every 2 hour feedings and diaper yeast in those first couple weeks. Just trust me. You will look down at your baby who is napping for the third time that day and think "Great. Now we are going to be up all night" but you won't! It's just how it works.

Now, don't get it twisted here. Healthy daytime naps and having days and nights mixed up are another thing. But that's for another day!

Mom-1 Mason-1

The game is tied. Mason may be mysteriously waking up during the night like he is 3 freaking weeks old again, but I am ruling the daytime nap game. For the past couple days (knock on wood) I have been getting the kid down in 2 minutes flat thanks to my 'oh you're getting sleepy' sixth sense. Of course he pays me back by fighting ruthlessly when it is his last nap of the day or in the middle of the night when his once-a-night-3am feeding has turned into (on Sunday night) 12am, 2am, 5am, up for the day at 6:30am. Or last night: 2:30am, 6am then back down until 8:15am. Seriously, child. WTF are you doing?

I am hoping that the two wakings last night versus the 3 the night before means that he is getting back on schedule. Like, tonight he will be back to his once-a-night feeding. But honestly, he weighs over 12 freaking pounds, you would think the kid has enough fat stores in his cheeks to get him through the night. Obviously not. The only things I can come up with at this point is that he is hitting his 3 month growth spurt a week early, or spending the night at grandma's on Saturday (OF COURSE he slept like an angel) royally f'd him up for a couple days. OR he is getting another cold, but I doubt it because there are no other signs.

This is how I spend my days: Analyzing why HIS HIGHNESS will not a.) go to sleep or b.) stay asleep. Everything else is fine and dandy.

Hey Aunt D

Thanks for the new onesie! Mom and dad say that it explains my demeanor perfectly right now!

Who? Me?! Nah, I would never wake up my parents because OMG IAMSTARVING Wahhhhh.

Love, Mason

The Cuteness

My good friend Colleen took these pictures of Mason when he was 5 weeks old and I thought you all should see some of my favorites (just a couple since they are ALL my favorites and I can't post 93 images here). Yes, she is awesome. Yes, she is for hire. Yes, you should contact her ASAP to photograph your kids, pets, family, whatever. Let me know if you want her contact info by leaving me a comment with your email since I am not sure she wants her info posted on here ;o).

Enjoy the cuteness.

History

It is so cool that Mason is here to witness (sort of) an extremely historical day for our country. With everything that is going on with the economy, jobs, gas prices, the war, etc. it is nice to know that there is still hope out there. My faith in this nation as a whole is starting to be restored. All I want is for my son to grow up in a wonderful world and know that he can be whatever he wants to be as long as he works hard. I want him to feel safe in all realms. I want him to be proud.

Mason's write-in votes for Mommy and Daddy as president and vice-president didn't quite turn out the way he wanted.

Dear Mason - 2 Months

2 Months Old

Dear Mason,

Today, you turn 2 months old! You are such a big boy and you have changed so much this past month. You now smile at us and talk to us all the time, which is so refreshing after a month of you crying! We really started to figure you out this month and learned that pretty much the root of all of your problems was that you just weren't sleeping enough. Now that we have you on a good schedule and you are taking good naps throughout the day, everyone is happier and you sleep longer at night! SCORE!

One of your favorite things is the exercise gym that Aunt Chrissy let us borrow. You especially love the red bird and the lights and music. You also still love Jacques the Peacock and your new friend is the big Caterpillar that plays "If You're Happy and You Know It". You also think it is hilarious when mommy signs along. You also love your sound machine and the raindrop noise. You sleep so much better with that noise on! Bath time, or "tubby time" as we call it is definitely one of your happiest times. You love the warm water and kick your legs and coo like crazy. Recently, you discovered that there was a mirror on your left side and you love to stare at yourself. After tubby time is when you really get going. You talk non-stop while we give you a massage and dry you off. You absolutely love to be naked, but who doesn't?!

You drink 5 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours, play for a little while, then usually sleep for 1.5-2 hours. This is your little routine and it is wonderful! Bedtime for you is around 8pm and you eat one more time around 10:30pm before you sleep for usually 5-5.5 hours straight! Mommy and daddy love you for this!

Today you went for your 2 month well baby appointment, but it turns out you weren't so well. This morning you woke up with a nasty cough and stuffy nose. It is so hard to hear you cough and struggle. Luckily, we had the doctor's appointment and she was able to check you out. Your temperature was 99.9 rectally, which is good. There really isn't much we can do for you except run the humidifier and elevate your mattress to help with your congestion. We went ahead with two of your shots and you only cried for a minute. The doctor also wanted to see how well you hold your head up when on your stomach and you rolled over onto your back for her! You are so strong! You weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces (50%) and measured 22.25 (25%) inches long.

We love you so much and enjoy watching you change and grow every day. You make us laugh so hard with your gas expulsion and the fact that you now know what your bottle is and will stare longingly at it when we burp you. I think you are getting a little too smart for us. Soon you will be balancing the checkbook and doing our taxes.

Here's to another wonderful month big man!