A busy life

Okay, okay, I guess you guys are owed a written update. Life is good here. Insanely busy, but so very good. Our renovations were finally completed this week. We have our beautiful bathroom, complete with new tile floor, shower & bath, sink, toilet, washer and dryer with granite counter above. It is stunning. I can't believe how good it looks (yeah, I know it's only a bathroom but still!) Perhaps more importantly though, we have Dorian's room! We are so proud of it. We got it carpeted and spent the week decorating it. The room looks so clean and colorful. We will post pictures this week.

I have been working from home, though I did make it into the Half Moon Bay office twice (once last week and once this week) to train a colleague on a few things and to pick up projects. Of course, I had to bring Dorian or "Leech Boy" as my boss has taken to calling him! He was a hit at the office, though wasn't entirely well-behaved the first visit. Luckily, James came with me that day and was able to care for him when he wasn't feeding. Poor little guy's teeth are really bugging him. He has actually been in a really good mood this week, but last week was rough. We go back to the pediatrician this coming week for more shots, so it will be interesting to see if he can tell if the teeth are any closer to coming through the gums.

Life is good, as I mentioned, but I think it would be perfect if we could just get Dorian to sleep a bit more! Maybe the pediatrician will have some advice. Dorian is definitely the worst sleeper of all the babies in my new moms group. I feel like maybe I created a monster by always attending to him when he cried, letting him nurse whenever he wanted (which is what you are supposed to do with newborns) and, gasp, loving him too much! Is that possible? I just don't understand why he won't sleep. He won't sleep for naps and he won't sleep at night! We are trying to force naps on him because if we don't, he won't sleep. He only sleeps after nursing and often will wake up if I try to put him down. Makes it tricky to get anything done, of course! I used to just hold him all the time, but now that I need to work, I really need him to sleep in his crib or swing. He doesn't even really sleep in the car or stroller anymore. He doesn't like to sleep! He has been taking about 2 naps a day, maybe 20-40 minutes each. It's a start. We did have a few days last week where he took 2 hour naps! That was bliss for me but we can't seem to get him to do it again. At night, we have a whole routine set up because everyone has told us babies do much better on routines. We turn the lights down low, give him a bath, put him in his fleece pajamas and sleep sack, turn on his bedtime music, and then I nurse him. We're going to start reading to him more before bed too. We put him down in his crib or car seat (sometimes he seems to sleep better more upright). He'll usually sleep for an hour, though some nights he'll wake up every 15 minutes for the first hour. Anyway, he wakes up and feeds again. Then he usually sleeps for 3-5 hours (more often than not, 3), wakes up and nurses, at which point I bring him into bed because I know how the rest of the night is going to be. He gets up every hour after that! It is so much easier to just sleep facing him, side to side, so he can latch on and feed in bed with me. And before some of you say that it's because he smells the milk, that's b.s. He wakes up every hour whether he is in the other room with the door shut or in bed with me. We have tried everything. So I would rather just co-sleep because at least then I can get a couple hours of broken sleep and not have to get out of bed. Once his teething has mellowed a bit, we may possibly start sleep training because I know he needs to learn how to fall asleep without nursing and of course, I need some sleep eventually! I am not sure if I am sold on the whole "Cry it Out" theory though and don't know if I could deal with it. Having said that, I am pretty damn tired. The past few days have been ROUGH. This is the most tired I have been since having him (or in my entire life). I felt physically ill yesterday and today, I felt completely stoned and out of it (and not in a good way). If he wasn't so cute, I'd be pretty annoyed at the situation. But, he is the cutest, so there you go!

Dorian is 100% interacting with us now, and as much as I loved the newborn stage and miss it, this is even more wonderful. He blows bubbles at us after we blow them at him (or blow out our lips, making "Brrrrr" noises). It is soooo sweet. My mom discovered the trick. He is also on the verge of lifting up his arms when he wants to be picked up. James can really make him laugh, by kissing him/pretending to "eat" under his chin. When Dori wants him to do it again, he pulls James head towards him with his hands! It is amazing to watch - perhaps we'll try to post a video soon (but I'm not promising anything because I've done that before!) I am the "comforter" but James is definitely the "player." :) Now before you all get jealous that your babies are no where near as advanced as ours, Dorian hates tummy time and I don't see him being any closer to rolling over. Some of the babies in my new moms group can already roll over and seriously look like they are about to crawl, but Dori is no where near that stage. When we place him on his tummy, he does lift his head up quite well but hasn't quite figured out how to reach up on his arms yet. He only lasts about a minute before he starts crying. Still, he is a talker (babbling all the time!) and very into listening to things, so we just assume we have a verbal baby instead of an athletic one. He does kick his legs a lot and is getting very good at grabbing things though, so who knows?

Dorian is taking the bottle now, though I still don't feel comfortable leaving him because he will sometimes cry for a long time after drinking it. It's like he still needs the comfort of suckling on me in order to satiate his appetite. And when he gets going, boy, can that boy cry! It physically causes me pain. It's horrible. I'd hate to leave him for a day (even with his dad) and find out he cried for the whole day. I know eventually I'll need to let go, but I don't think I'm ready yet. Dorian does drink out of the bottle pretty well, even pulling it closer when he wants a drink and pushing it away when he doesn't! It is so sweet. Twice Dorian has fallen asleep in Daddy's arms after drinking a bottle, so I think we're getting close.

James is in the studio this week, recording with Tempest. They are back to gigging every week-end as well, and of course, he is still teaching 2 full days a week plus some private lessons at our home. We are going to try to have mornings be my time to do my work, because I have been doing it in the evenings and am exhausted. I think I need to go to sleep when Dorian does (around 7pm) if I am going to be functional. I have been averaging 5 hours of very broken sleep a night and that just isn't going to cut it. I am a little frustrated because I had lost almost all of my pregnancy weight, but ever since going to England and getting sick and now with the rain, I haven't been able to walk much. Since Dorian doesn't nap for long, I can't even do an exercise video. And with the extreme fatigue, I seem to be turning to sugar all the time (my cravings for chocolate are incredibly intense at the moment). I am not worried that I have put on weight that I won't be able to take off, but I do feel very sluggish and just not healthy. I do so much better when I am getting daily exercise. So that's something else I need to try to get back into.

In non-baby news, we are going to New Orleans for several days in two weeks. My mom is going to a stroke conference and got a free hotel room, so my dad, James, Dorian and I are going too! My mom has been twice before, but the rest of us haven't been so we're really excited. Dorian is going to be so well-traveled!

Okay, I guess I should probably go brace myself for the long night ahead. Here's a picture I took today...