Sleep Issues and Belated 10 month update

Whaddya mean NO NO NO?

Since I try to do things in order, I wanted to get all the posts up related to vacation first, though technically a post on the 10 months update should have come before the Hup Holland Hup post...it's a small concession on my part to give up a little control on this...baby steps. As anyone with kids knows, once you have them, any sense of being in control is really just a mirage. The kids are in control. And you can't control what they are going to next, how they are going to respond to a situation, etc. You have to learn to go with the flow. Seriously, probably one of my biggest challenges with my Type A (A+ anyone?) personality is going with the flow and giving up control. I know I need serious improvement in this area. I have this strange need to try to please everyone, be the YES girl, which I know can't continue! I know I can't be supermom, superwife, superworker, superanything to everyone. Except I keep trying, and inevitably, I get stressed out, sick (yup, I have another cold and cough), tired, question my decisions with regards to Tommy, family, friends and work, and that usually results in some sort of breakdown...or would it be a breakthrough, as Kelly from the Real Housewives of New York claims she had? (Off topic, but for those who watch, she is a complete nut job who needs real help after I finally watched the reunion shows over the weekend - I wonder what she's taking?. Me, I'm just venting and my strongest pills of choice is Tylenol though full disclosure I have had some cold medicine the past few days.)


Since we got back from vacation, Tommy's sleep patterns have been in a tailspin. I've read that this can happen after travel, or when baby is sick, or during teething. I don't know what to really "blame" it on (and truthfully, does it really matter unless someone has a solution?), but technically we are 3 for 3 if that's all true.

Travel? Not much to say here that the previous posts on vacation didn't tell you - we were away for a week, he slept fine most of the trip in his pack and play and when he did wake up went back to sleep pretty quickly. Of course, he was in our room that week, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it...

Tommy's teeth have definitely been bothering him a lot more, and he is drooling like crazy. Daycare sends at least one bib home a day to be washed, when previously he hardly ever had to wear a bib. He is constantly gnawing on something - a toy, a teether, his hand/fingers, magazine, book, you name it. He is pretty much doing fine drinking his bottles, but definitely is eating less foods, sometimes refusing them all together, unless it's a biter biscuit, cookie, cracker, or wagon wheel. His new big thing is pickles. Loves the pickles, just like his mom!

Hey mom, I think I like this!

I'll eat these 24/7!




Looks like he is trying to really bite that pickle!

I need a wagon wheel chaser and possibly a biter biscuit after that pickle!

Top this off with Tommy has had a runny nose/stuffed nose/cough since the middle of last week, which Mommy then must have caught from him since I felt the sore throat starting on Thursday. I've been coughing, sneezing, stuffed up, blowing my nose, and just plain exhausted like anyone would feel with a cold. And summer colds are the worst! Poor Tommy wakes himself up coughing a lot too.

Some schools of thought claim that babies get a runny nose and/or a fever (no fever for Tommy) when a tooth is ready to pop; I don't know if I buy that or if this is all just a coincidence - kind of a when it rains it pours thing? His poops have definitely been messier/less solid the past few days too, whether that's a teething thing or has something to do with his cold or his change in eating habits, it's all too much some days for me to be thinking about...because, yes, if you have been following this blog, I tend to overthink and overanalyze these things...

And right now I think I've reached the point of my brain being fried from doing so - thus, I'm thinking this could be my breakthrough (this time...and you know there'll be another one for some other reason, right?).

I admit that I've brought Tommy into bed with me a few nights this past week as a result of this sleep issue. I know I shouldn't, for various reasons - most importanly that I don't want one of us to roll over and smother him. But secondly, I know it's a bad "habit" to get into. However, something is not a habit until you've done it for 21 days - that's how long it takes to develop a habit...no idea where I read that, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Plus, I know John and I will sleep better without Tommy in our bed. Case in point - I have to sleep on my left side when Tommy is with us, and I so miss being able to switch and flip over during the night to my right. I feel so off balance as a result all day. So I truly KNOW why I should not be bringing Tommy in to sleep with us. I am questioning my abilities as a mom these days as a result of "caving" just so I can get some sleep (especially because I'm not feeling well myself). Many people have told me that "they are only young once" and by the time he is 10 (and not 10 months, like now), he won't want me to even touch his head. It's a small comfort to hear people say that, and while I do like the extra snuggling with Tommy, I don't want this to be a long term thing, that is for sure. I'm hoping we have it figured out this week somehow. Monday night, we did have some success. Tommy slept until about 1am in his crib before waking, and after John rocked him briefly, he went in the bouncy seat in his crib, which we thought might help his congestion since he'd be propped up. My alarm went off in the morning and there was no baby in bed with us - yeah! However, it's only one night, so we shall see how things go. If he had another bad night, we were going to call the doctor because we were thinking he could have another ear infection since this whole thing is very out of character for him.

I've never really had to rock Tommy to sleep; usually I could just put him down in his crib after his last bottle, and he'd go to sleep on his own - this is something he was very good about even when he was still in the bassinet in our room. I know all babies go through changes in their routines, especially when going through growth spurts or teething, or just because they can. Many folks have told me that this is a "phase" that he is going through and if he was a good sleeper before, he'll go back to being one once this phase is over. Of course I want to believe that, but believe me, I don't want to be creating bad habits either, so I am really beating myself up over it, even though it's only been a week, and it has NOT been every single night. Maybe more nights than not, but it's not like I'm not trying to figure this out. I broke out the sleep books that I haven't had to refer to in a few months to try to figure out what I can do, but they all just say that when a baby is teething or is sick you sometimes have to retrain them after you get through it. Just like I did when I was nursing and had worries, I'm looking for someone to give me the magic answer to solve the problem. And how horrible did I feel on Sunday night around 1am when I rocked Tommy, put him in the crib, he woke up, he sat up and I rubbed his back and tried to get him to lay back down. He threw his binky at me (kind of funny now that I think about it), and while I searched on the floor for it, he must have tried to stand up but because he was so overtired, he fell and hit the back of his head on the rails of the crib. I caved.

I know I should not be caving like I have been and feel pretty crappy about it since it affects myself, Tommy and John. Done for now with the venting on this topic...not complaining, since this is the "opportunity" that has presented itself to us as a challenge this past week!

Look who fell asleep for a TWO hour nap on Sunday morning (at 8am, no less!) while eating his oatmeal. FYI, the Cheerios are for show. Still haven't seen him put one in his mouth. And yes, he slept for two hours in the high chair. (the thing has a tilt option so we made him more comfy!)

I think this might help me sleep better tonight!

Another pickle fest!

What are you looking at? Yeah, so I'm eating a pickle!

Tommy's 10 month birthday was the Saturday we drove back from the Outer Banks, July 10th. Since I'm admitting things about my control issues, I admit that I've felt guilty about not getting a post up about that until now. Yup, like the kid is going to be in therapy the rest of his life now because I'm over a week late with his 10 month update. In my right mind, I know that is not the case, but in my contol freak mind, of course it's crossed my mind!

He gets more mobile each day - mostly crawling around in his "one knee down, one foot down" mode, but he is SUPER fast. Loves to go right for the outlets (yes, they are covered). He spends a lot of time shaking the gate to be let out from the family room if we aren't in there with him, and if we open the gate, he is through that opening before you can blink. Tommy pulls himself up to a standing position in his crib, by the couch, by a table - whatever item he can grab onto to do so. He is pretty good at dropping himself back down to the floor too. I think he gets bored in the family room after a while so I've brought him in the front living room area a few times to play with some other toys. He gravitates towards a box of cat toys a lot and likes to watch me throw the toy mice at Tux when he is sitting on his perch. Also, he loves the crinkle ball toys that are a favorite of Tails. I am forever grabbing them from him because they go right in his mouth, which is funny, because Tails carries them around in his mouth. Thus you understand why I am quick to take them away. I hide them, but if Tails gets one out and I don't know about it, my son somehow knows where to find it. I've even seen him get into a stealth crouching position on the floor to look under tables and chairs. Who taught him that?

Tails and Tommy are definitely trying to be friends with each other. Tommy cracks up when Tails walks anywhere in the vicinity of him and will crawl after him, talking and laughing. It cracks both John and I up to watch. Tails will even go near him and rub against him, almost to test the waters. Tommy will then usually try to bang Tails with a closed fist on his head or grab one of his ears to try to yank it off his head. Tails doesn't always run away either. My favorite thing so far with these two, however, happened Sunday night while I was rocking Tommy after one of his many awakenings. Tails came into the room and jumped up on my lap, and snuggled alongside Tommy's back so that I could rub his belly/pet him while I rocked Tommy. We all stayed like that for about 10 minutes before Tails got bored and jumped down. I know that might bother some of the non-cat people, but it showed me that Tails has accepted Tommy as his "brother" and loves him just as much as we do. He (Tails) was even purring - I thought it might wake Tommy it was so loud! And Tails still loves me since before Tommy he was my baby, and I felt this gesture was him saying he wanted to be there for/with me as I am trying to figure out how to work through (better choice of words than solve, don't you think) Tommy's sleep issues. (I know, I'm a weird cat lady, right?)

John and I are convinced Tommy's first real word was "cat" by the way. I may have said this in another post, but now, he constantly says "dat" whenever one of the cats is in the vicinity. If you ask him "what does the kitty cat say?", he will make what sounds like a "maahwow" noise but with such a gentle voice! I have made the meow noise a million times in front of him when talking to the cats, so I think that counts as his second word!

Tommy also knows what certain things are if you ask him where something is. The most popular things we ask him, "Where's the fan?" "Where's the cat?" "Where's the button?" "Where's (insert name)'s nose?"

We did have some breakthroughs with table food, namely pickles. I realize there is no nutrition value gained from the pickle, but I was thrilled to see Tommy open his mouth when I offered him one on Saturday, and then take it from me to munch on himself. He also had a very small piece of chicken from a chicken wing we had as an appetizer on Sunday night while out with friends, which he ate, but it might have been a little too spicy for him, as he made some really funny faces while he chewed it. Bad Mommy did not taste it first and it did have a little bit of a kick to it! He also opened his mouth for the pizza crust I was eating but was more interested in the pickles. I also spent a good part of the day on Sunday afternoon in the kitchen making a few of the recipes from the Weelicious website. The avocado went over a little better this time since I added lime juice and salt, and while I though the broccoli potato cheese puree was delicious, Tommy did not care for it, but again, he was distracted by the pickles a bit! I also gave him some apple blueberry puree that I made, which he did seem to enjoy, but by that point he was a bit distracted at the restaurant by all the commotion and noise with the band that was playing. He did enjoy the green bean puree I gave him from fresh green beans that a colleague gave me to try. I admit I'm still a big chicken with the table food - I'm afraid I won't cut the pieces small enough, or else they'll be too small. So I am trying to go with the flow and offer Tommy stuff from our plates and if he tries it, great, otherwise, the puree is there for him.

The big news we received upon returning from vacation is that Tommy would begin his transition process to the next classroom at his daycare this week! I have mixed emotions about this, since he is my BABY...I'm so grateful at the strides he has made in his 10 months with us, growing up, but at the same time, he isn't one of the little ones anymore! He is actually the 2nd oldest in the Baby Buds room right now. He'll be going for 2 hours a day for the first 2 weeks to the Rose Blossoms classroom. Miss Stacy is the teacher in there, and has already gotten to know Tommy because her son is in the Baby Buds room with Tommy right now. She has told me she can't wait to get him in her classroom! It sounds like he will be in the RB class from 9:30-11:30, and he will be doing the transition with another little girl who turned one yesterday. They decided Tommy is ready to start the transition because of certain things that he does - like grabbing toys from other kids, taking binkies, and just the fact that he is more mobile. After the first 2 weeks, it will then increase to 3 hours a day. The plan is for him to transition into the Rose Blossoms completely as of September 1st, just a few short days before his first birthday! It will be interesting to see how he does...and what changes this might result in with his schedule, so stay tuned for what happens next with the sleep situation and Tommy's transition!