Saturday, May 31, 2008

Sleep Training...

does not work. While Dorian has slept 6 hours at the beginning of the night the past 3 nights, the following 6 hours have been HELL. He cried for 2 hours STRAIGHT last night. And I had already fed him and burped him. I finally pulled him into bed with me at 5am and he fell asleep on me. Then he woke up 30 minutes later, ready for the day to start. But sooooooooooooooooo fussy. Yesterday was horrible too. That night he would sleep for 15 minutes, then wake up and cry for 45 minutes. He woke up very early that morning too. And then was a pain in the backside all day long. Crying, fussing, not letting me put him down, clinging to me, not napping! He hasn't been napping today either. He had been napping really well for the past couple weeks and now he's refusing to nap at all - just screaming in his crib for an hour before he finally falls asleep for 30-45 minutes. He was doing 1.5 hours-2 hours before we started this round of sleep training! Whoever said sleep training works was a flippin' liar. It seems to have made his sleep so much worse! Apart from that 6 hour stretch at the beginning of the night...if it weren't for that, I'd be throwing in the towel right now. I'll give it a few more days, but I am dying here. I feel as exhausted as I felt back in February when I couldn't stop complaining to you all about my lack of sleep. And I start my program on Monday. And James is gone until tomorrow. THIS SUCKS. Why can't Dorian just sleep? I put him down and he immediately starts crying now...it's like he knows what is about to happen. He grabs my arm and won't let go and just pleads with me with his eyes and cries. It's horrible. He makes me feel like the meanest mother in the world. I can't sleep when he's crying. James can sleep through it, but I can't. Even if I go in the farthest room from his bedroom and put in earplugs. It's agony. I can't take much more of this. So what if we co-sleep until he's 5 years old? What's the big deal? We're both much happier and better rested.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Milestones

I think Dori will be walking in a few months. He's got standing up down pat. He is on the verge of crawling too - we think by the end of this week. He's into everything at the moment. He grabs and reaches and strains to get whatever fascinates him. If he is sitting near a cabinet or shelf, he can now pull himself up into a standing position. We're going to have to childproof the house sooner rather than later. We did adjust his crib to the lowest position this week. He laughs all the time and is constantly sticking his tongue out and making raspberry noises at us. He loves, loves, loves music. James can do no wrong when he has a guitar in his hands. I played piano the other day and Dori was in awe. (So was I that my piano came flooding back!) He loves playing his toy piano and he can now stand up and play it without us holding on to him.

We are doing sleep training again (for like, the fifth time). Every time we have started to do it, Dori got a cold or diarrhea or was teething or we went on a trip or something came up. We did it last night and he cried for an hour straight, two times. This was hell for me, as I'm sure you can imagine. A few other times he woke up and cried but fell back to sleep within a few minutes. I fed him once, about halfway through the night. He was in an okay mood when he woke up this morning, a little fussy, but not too bad. He took two 2 hour naps today though! He fell asleep really easily tonight as well. Progress? We'll see how tonight goes. I'm not getting my hopes up. He'll probably come down with a bug tomorrow!

James is off to Virginia for the week-end. He's playing a festival there. Summer festival season is starting up! Dori and I are going to his music class, grocery shopping, brunch with friends on Saturday and on a couple walks. He seems to be tolerating the stroller again so I'm trying to get some walks/jogs in while I can. I start a 3 week pre-nursing program on Monday and James, my parents and friends in my moms' group will be watching Dori while I'm in class. Next week is also my last week at my job...it's been a great place to work, but the commute is too far and James will be gone for much of the summer. Someone's got to watch the boy. I'm starting school on August 20th so couldn't have worked much longer anyway. I have loved working at the firm and have made some good friends there. I definitely plan on visiting from time to time!

'Nuff talking! Picture time!!!

From almost crawling (he was able to creep to the cabinet) to pulling himself up to standing! Amazing. Clever boy.








For the first time, I really see my mom's side of the family in Dori. His smile looks exactly like my mom's smile in photos of her when she was younger. Dori is slowly starting to look a little less like his Daddy, though he'll always be somewhat of a James-clone, I'm sure. His hair is getting blonde too. It will be really interesting to see what he looks like in a year.

There are pianists on both sides of the family so maybe this will end up being his calling.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Strawberry Summary

We got rained out and left before the festival ended. My parents stayed but James and I weren't brave enough. It was pretty miserable. Wet and cold. And Dorian was getting over a bout of diarrhea. Not fun while camping. I felt so bad because my parents purchased the tickets and a tent for us a Christmas present and we were all so looking forward to the festival. It is a very special festival to James and I because it is where we hit it off 8 years ago! Plus, my mom is the California Bluegrass Association president and was dying to show Dorian off to all her friends. Oh well. At least we managed to make it up there at all!

We still managed to get some good pictures, of course.

Dorian helped drive up.
I love this picture. Mama and Dori.
My boy makes me laugh so much.
He decided the guitar case was a comfy spot to rest. It was the prime spot to sit and make faces at Daddy.
Dori wanted the mandolin.
He really wanted the mandolin.
And the guitar...he was crying because he couldn't have it at that second.
Finally! He got to play an instrument!
Daddy giving Dori a lesson.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Happy Boy!









Can you see the teeth?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Super busy

I worked in Half Moon Bay on Friday. Last night I went out for the first time since before I became pregnant. It was so fun. I got all dolled up and went to a bar with four of my friends from my moms' group. I had a few glasses of wine and let my hair down. I really needed to do this! Today I ran errands with Dorian and cleaned up the house. James has been gigging all week-end. Tomorrow and Tuesday, I am working long days in the Half Moon Bay office. My job there has just about run its course. Only a couple more weeks now. Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, James goes to work. Then Friday we're off to the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite until Monday. My parents leave for the festival on Tuesday, but some of us have to work!

Will post pictures and updates later in the week, before we leave for the festival.

Friday, May 16, 2008

WHY?

Last night was horrible again. And so far tonight is too. Waking up even more than usual! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he just SCREAMS. Why can't my baby sleep?

Thursday, May 15, 2008

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Gosh darn it!!! Last night was the worst night's sleep Dori has had in a long time (and that's saying something). Of course, yesterday he just had to wake up with a cold, right? You're not supposed to sleep train when a baby is sick. We still tried to do modified sleep training last night (letting him cry for a couple minutes, then going in and comforting him) but we had a bad, bad, bad night's sleep. And then Dorian cried so much around 5am that he woke himself up and decided he was up for the day. James was nice enough to let me sleep in a bit longer, then I took over and he went back to bed. This SUCKS!!!!! I was so excited that maybe it had worked...when he is over his cold, are we going to be back to square one again??? I don't think I can handle any more crying. I am so tired of being so tired.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sleep training

Okay, fine. All you cry it out enthusiasts were right. At least, you were for one night (let's hope it continues). After not much fun Sunday and Monday nights (I cried!), Dorian fell asleep on his own, with no crying, in his crib last night at 7pm and slept straight through until 4am!!! There was a little minor fussing for about 1-2 minutes around 11pm, but he fell right back asleep. I fed him when he woke up at 4am, put him back in his crib and he then slept until 6:30am.

Oh please, please, PLEASE say this will be what our nights look like from now on!!!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Busy week for Dori!

The last week has been jam-packed with activities for Mr. D. He went to the doctor last week for a check-up and some shots - he now weighs 20lb6oz (95th percentile) and is 28.5in tall (97th percentile)! We've got us one big baby and yet, he still doesn't fit into those new diaper covers. Grrr. He had a mild reaction to the vaccinations - fever and several large poops (and one diaper-full of diarrhea, just in time for Grandma to change it!) Poor little guy. Plus, we're subjecting him to the old "crying it out" technique at the moment. It's time for this guy to sleep more than 1-2 hours at a time and the doctor suggested that he is old enough and hearty enough to torture him in this way now. Mama and Daddy are so very tired, and I start nursing school in a few months. This boy needs to learn how to sleep better. It's breaking my heart to do this to him, but I have to remember that if we're consistent and rigid about it, we should see results fairly quickly. More on this in a couple days - we'll let you know how it's going!

Picture time:

After arriving home from Karfluki Fest, Dori got to see his Auntie Jess (my good friend who recently moved to San Diego) again.
He even managed a smile for one of the pictures.

Grandpa took him on some walks to our neighborhood coffee shop and got him his first balloon.
He passed out on Daddy later that day.
He's just about outgrown his little foam seat...he still likes to eat it though.
Looks like he's outgrown his bouncy seat too - look at him arch his back to try and get out! He actually managed to get his shoulders and head above the chair the other day, so I have packed it away.
He still loves his baths.
Especially with lots of toys.
He can now grab the hanging toys on his jumperoo.
And eat them, of course.
He's been spending loads of time standing up in his playpen.
He went to music class and met up with his friend Denali.
They even showed some interest in each other.
Dorian played the drum.
Then passed out in the car after class.
He went to my moms' group picnic on Saturday and hung out with all his friends.
He and Abby managed to spend some time alone together at the picnic. They ate toys.
He passed out in the sun afterwards.
We went to see Dori's daddy play at the Whole Earth Festival in Davis yesterday. James loves it when we come to gigs with him so he can play with Dori during his breaks.
It was wonderful to spend time together at an outdoors festival.
Dori played with some older babies at the festival...he's really getting socialized now!
Guess Dori didn't want a hug from Mama on Mother's Day!

Thumbs up, dudes!