Guard duty for fevered and fussy baby

Sydney is one tough nut to crack. While bedtime has been going VERY WELL (knock on wood, of course), naptime has been a rather throw it in our face moment. It doesn't help when he is running a fever and doesn't feel the greatest either. (We're hoping that it is all related to teeth, instead of illness; especially since he REALLY has been biting a lot these past 2 days.)

For months and months, we've seen him throw his head from side-to-side, in an attempt to fight falling asleep. (This kid just does NOT want to miss ANYTHING!)

This little man will stay awake for more than an hour - protesting. Earlier today, he had shown signs of tiredness and I put him down for a nap. Granted, his bedroom IS on the sunnier side of our house, but if you're tired, you're tired, right? WRONG! He ran laps in his crib. He turned his music box on and off... and on... and off... and on... He threw all foreign objects from his crib. (Normally, this week, he also rips off his socks and throws both of those from the crib as well.) But the second that I snuck out of the room while he was looking the other way, he started to yell and scream. So, I say to myself that perhaps he needs a minute of two (make that 20) to calm back down. Then, I went in to try again... lay him back down, lay myself on the nearby mattress... and this viscous cycle repeated itself. So, by the time was all said and done, Sydney DID sleep for a short while; however, he protested naps for longer than he actually slept.

This afternoon, he brought me a book and collapsed in my lap while I read it to him. I read him one more for good measure and then scooped him into my arms to take him upstairs. I started to sing TWINKLE TWINKLE on the way and by the time we reached the crib, his eyes were rolling in his head as he struggled to stay awake.

And then.... the INSTANT that his body made contact with his crib, he started to protest sleep again. This time, I laid down and pretended to be asleep, but found it QUITE DIFFICULT at times to not smile or laugh at him.

Sydney made his laps around his bed, demonstrating his newest skill - running. 

He turned the music on and off a few times. 

He would lay his head down for 3 seconds and hop right back up again. 

He sat and played with his taggie-blanket. 

He played pat-a-cake. 

He played SO BIG. 

With his eyes getting droopier, he nodded his head up and down, as well as tossing it from side to side. Sometimes, he would toss his head too far and would tip himself over backwards.

Back to the pat-a-cake.

Repeat SO BIG.

Lay down, but just for a few seconds.

Where's that blanket thing? Peek-a-boo.

Pat-a-cake.

SO BIG!

I'm just going to lay my head down for a minute...

night, night Sydney! (Mommy is SO HAPPY that you FINALLY gave in!)

The entire time I pretended to sleep, I had to try SO hard NOT to laugh out loud. I also had to fight the urge to smirk. All I could picture was a soldier on an overnight guard duty who had to do EVERYTHING in his power to fight falling asleep.

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall... 98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around, 97 bottles of beer on the wall... 97 bottles of beer on the wall, 97 bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around, 96 bottles of beer on the wall... 96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall...

Creating (and recalling) fond memories

Someday, we can show Sydney this picture so that he can see how much he liked to help Daddy feed fresh grass to our cats - Eddy and Otto. Someday, it will be funny to tell Sydney that he liked to eat the fresh grass, too. (I was a little late taking this picture because I had to run upstairs for the camera... Sydney had been feeding grass to Otto while Daddy fed grass to Eddy; however, Sydney quickly developed the attitude of "one for you, one for me".) Someday, we can look back and this photo and laugh about the fact that Sydney and Otto both weigh 20 pounds in this picture. 

Sydney crawls under the legs of his high chair, but sometimes forgets how to get out. For a brief moment, I managed to capture a look of despair.

But then, when Mommy asked "What's the matter... are you stuck?" he flashed a BIG SMILE as if to say "No, silly... I wanted to hang out here."

I recall fond memories as a child of squeezing inside of the black stepstool at my parent's house. We used to pretend that it was a lemonade stand. Someday, maybe Sydney will do the same.

Sydney picks a paper

We have recently made homemade cards for Grandma Carol and Grandpa Olson's March birthdays. As you can see, Sydney is able to pick out the color selections himself.

For Grandma Carol, his choice was YELLOW.

For Grandpa Olson, his choice was BLUE.

Regardless of the color, we hope you (both) enjoy(ed) your cards.

Not a fan of girl germs

On Saturday, we had our neighbors Will & Kate over for dinner, along with their kids. Sydney was able to play with Claire (3) and Lise (11 months). Both of the girls showered him with hugs and kisses. Sydney was rather skeptical of the situation.

This afternoon, Lucy (12 months old today) stopped by for a visit. We became friends with Lucy and her mom at the breastfeeding support group and are sad that they will be graduating tomorrow. Thankfully, we discovered that they live just two blocks away from us so, we're planning to get together for playdates. Lucy attempted to hug Sydney on multiple occasions this afternoon and he was still not fond of baby hugs. At one point, Lucy ended up sitting on Sydney's lap and he cried. Lucy's mom, Kate, assured Sydney that someday he will like it when a girl sits on his lap.

Happy First Birthday (today) to our friend LUCY!

Poor Sydney... he's not sure if he likes "girl germs." (Thankfully, however, he LOVES hugs and kisses from his mom!)

Another night without tears

Happy Birthday Grandpa Olson!

We made you a card for your birthday. Sorry it is now a belated birthday card. Sydney picked out the paper. He also chewed on, err... I mean... personalized it for you! So, I hope you like it!

• • • • • • • •

ANOTHER NIGHT WITHOUT TEARS

We have been attempting to develop a bedtime routine so that naps and bedtime are not such a battle for all of us. One week ago, I read an article in a parenting magazine that discussed comforting your child from a chair that slowly transitions day-by-day from cribside - to halfway across the room - to the doorway - to outside the doorway - to congratulations, your child should be able to go to sleep without your help anymore. However, our chair isn't the most comfortable considering the strong will and determination of our child to NOT go to sleep. Instead, we placed a mattress on the floor in his room, which has been MUCH more comfortable.

Over the weekend, we got a recommendation on a good INFANT SLEEP book from our neighbor. I am on Chapter 4 and have not yet skipped ahead to Sydney's specific age group. We have learned that we need to be consistent.

This afternoon, at afternoon nap, Sydney did not cry. He seemed to know WHY we were in his room. While I laid on the mattress, I know that I, indeed, fell asleep; however, I can not guarantee that Sydney did. He would lay down for a minute or so and then would cruise all over his crib again. He played with a teething ring, he played with my hand, he played with his taggie-blanket. We attempted to start naps at 3:30pm and I woke at 5pm. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that he slept for a little while, but certainly NOT the recommended timeframe for a child his age.

For bedtime, we read two books in his bedroom. (We now have a nightstand and a reading lamp.) Then, we said NIGHT-NIGHT to all of the family members on the wall. I turned off the lights and we stood in front of his crib where I swayed from side-to-side while singing TWINKLE TWINKLE twice. He almost instantly yawned and put his head down onto my shoulder, which is ironic since he had been WIDE AWAKE just 5 minutes earlier. I gave him a hug and laid him down. I laid down on the mattress next to his crib and hummed TWINKLE TWINKLE.

Sydney laid down with his head up against the crib rails closest to me. Not a peep. No protest.

When Daddy takes a turn, he does NOT sing TWINKLE TWINKLE because he claims that he does NOT know the words. Instead, Daddy's bedtime song is the theme song from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. (That makes me smile.)

Happy 10-month Birthday Little One

Today, we celebrated Sydney's 10-month birthday. Hard to believe how quickly it has gone by. He now stands up ALL BY HIMSELF (without holding onto anything) and we find that he opts to walk (instead of crawl) most of the time. 

The "Frankenstein"-style walking (photographed below) is gone!!! He walks with great skill now and can even make the transition strip UP into our kitchen without stopping to crawl over the threshold now. He is our LITTLE BIG GUY!

Our biggest challenge right now is SLEEP! He goes to bed at an inconsistent time at night, keeps waking for a feeding between 3-4am, wakes anywhere from 6am-9am and protests daytime napping, as well as the battle to go to bed at night. Everywhere we read, they say that he NEEDS a morning and an afternoon nap. (He doesn't want to miss anything, I'm afraid.) 

It would be different if he were fussy or crabby, but this kid is just so darned HAPPY ALL THE TIME!!! 

Our neighbor has recommended a great book about SLEEP and we are now trying to teach Sydney how to fall asleep on his own, as well as sleep better/longer, etc. 

Reading it, we feel like we've done A LOT wrong, but are moving forward... the best is yet to come. (Perhaps, if he takes (a) nap(s), I will have some more time for housework, baking, card making, etc. since most of my time is devoted 100% to Sydney.)

He's going through a goofy period as far as eating is concerned... he LOVES to smash his (soft) food in his hands instead of eating it and tends to hold out for crunchy things like Cheerios... his favorite! He has a tendency to gag on solids so, we still do some puréed foods (contrary to instructions given by the specialist at a recent breastfeeding support group who indicated that we need to STOP giving him puréed foods because we are boring him.) At least we know that he's getting SOME nutrition out of it when we are able to feed it to him still. We're hoping that we can talk to the specialist again in the near future to see what she recommends, as far as the gagging is concerned.

Sydney - YOU are 

SO STINKING CUTE!

Other goofiness, is that Sydney LOVES to be silly. He has adopted a new fake laugh. He smiles almost all the time. He makes car noises with his lips. He can make a clicking sound with his tongue. Mike is trying to teach him how to blow kisses (as if he isn't yet a big enough flirt) while I am trying to teach him to go "Ahhh!" after taking a drink. 

So, maybe he comes by the goofiness naturally... what can we say?

We like to laugh and giggle, as we have A LOT of fun here!

Sydney likes to point now. He points at things a lot. His favorite thing to point at lately are the photos at the bottom of the stairs. We have to check them out every morning when we wake up as well as most of the times that we are going upstairs. He also likes to point at the cats and cars driving by. He had been playing Pat-A-Cake and SO BIG, but has recently moved on to signing the word MILK. He goes in streaks...

Sometimes, we find this goofball chewing on or playing with his tongue. You can see him running it across his teeth or poking it into the side of his cheek. 

Here, you can see one of his cars. He knows that it makes noise(s) when you press its "nose". He is often taking it on tours of the house... from the living room, into the dining room, under the table and chairs and back into the living room. 

My favorite part is how he makes car noises as he pushes it across the floor.

These adorable on-the-go car jammies were just packed away today. They were only a 9-month size, but we would still use them in a pinch. But since his toes sometimes looked crammed inside the footies, we washed them and packed them away. He's been wearing 9 and 12-month clothes, depending on the brand and style. Although, according to the size chart at Target, the 18-month sizes aren't too far off since he is tall. (Sniff, sniff... sad mommy.)

It was SO SAD to look at all of his tiny clothes as I packed them into labeled totes. So many good memories.... but EVEN MORE great memories to come!

Sydney, these past 10 months have been AN ABSOLUTE BLAST!!! We love you SO VERY MUCH!!!

Down without a fuss

We have been attempting multiple things to make sleeptime easier. We have tried daytime naps, but normally run into playtime in the crib and eventually, some protest. Daddy decided that we need to come up with some kind of routine that symbolizes a wind-down of the 10 minutes before bed.

Tonight, we read one of our newest books, which is one of Mommy's new favorite (children's) books: I AM BLESSED. This sweet book goes through the day from waking up, getting dressed, playing with friends, going for a walk with mommy, reading a book with daddy and getting ready for bed.

Then, we said NIGHT-NIGHT to the pictures of Grandma & Grandpa Guard and Grandma & Grandpa Olson (at the bottom of the stairs). We said NIGHT-NIGHT to Eddy and Otto.

Mommy held Sydney for a minute or two, as they swayed gently while mommy hummed an impromptu melody for a minute before she decided to sing TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR a few times. (Sydney kept pointing at the light fixture on his ceiling and Mommy kept saying LIGHT. Sydney would repeat his own baby-version of that word, which had the right amount of syllables.) Mommy and Sydney exchanged hugs and kisses and then, Sydney was laid into his crib.

Mommy immediately laid on the mattress (that we put on the floor by his crib) and continued to hum TWINKLE TWINKLE a few more times. Sydney made two laps of walking across his crib and then, laid down... WITHOUT A PEEP! 

HALLELUJAH! Hoping that each day will continue to get a little easier...

Changing daily

We watch each day, in awe, to see Sydney's advancements and achievements. He changes SO QUICKLY; sometimes, it seems, right before our eyes.

Looking back:

• December 19th, he had just figured out crawling.
  
• January 2nd, we noticed his first tooth. 
  
• February 7th, Daddy discovered Sydney's fifth tooth.
  
• February 8th, he started climbing up the side of the playpen.
  
• February 12th, he took a few first steps without holding onto furniture.
  
• February 17th, he walked alone from one person to another and would attempt short distances on his own.
  
• March 1st, Sydney walks by himself; looks like Frankenstein with his arms extended.
  
• March 12th, Sydney is starting to give up the Frankenstein-style walk.
  
• March 18th, he adopted a new (goofy) laugh.
  
• March 20th, he started to point.
• March 21st, Sydney can stand up without holding onto anything and walks 75% of the time. 
  
• March 22nd, his SIXTH tooth (another upper) broke through his gums. 
  

Sydney also plays Peek-A-Boo, Pat-A-Cake, claps his hands or sways his body to music, and proudly throws his arms high into the air for SO BIG. This past week, he also figured out how to drop the ball(s) into his tunnel toy - causing the toy to giggle; hence, his new goofy laugh was born. He also likes to push his baby-approved cars (or other toys) across the floor.

Thankfully, he still likes to hold onto our hand(s) sometimes.

Sydney LOVES Sesame Street! We watch it a few times a week and he is fascinated with that show and its puppets. (We think it is helping him to be so smart!)

On more than one occasion today, he was signing the word MILK while he breastfed.

We're working with him to establish a better bedtime and naptime routine. He has NOT been napping well for us for quite a while now, but everywhere we read, he SHOULD be napping TWICE daily. We are now ATTEMPTING an afternoon nap, to lay down between 2-3pm and sleep for more than 20 minutes. (Yesterday was 2.5 hours in the afternoon!)

As for bedtime, we are working to make that better, too. We hope that he will eventually be able to fall asleep on his own and will (hopefully) go to bed willingly.

Temper tantrum at Target

This morning, Sydney was a little on the fussy side. Given the fact that he has a visible bump and the bottom edge of a tooth ready to break through his gums, as well as a new urge to bite, it is safe to assume that his new tooth is to blame.

We dropped off a baby gift to Mike so that he could get it to his boss. (Sydney kept finding the pretty wrapped package so, we had to keep moving it.) Then, we went to Walmart to pick up a few items. Sydney rode in his stroller and had a big smile on his face since he could sit back, relax and enjoy the change of scenery. He flirted with countless people in the store while keeping a tight grip on a container of oregano. In the pet department, he got to look at a tank full of goldfish, which didn't impress him like I had suspected it would.

After Walmart, we went down the road to Target in search of 1) a small plastic cup for Sydney, 2) generic infant motrin and 3) a mirror for the backseat of the car so that mommy can watch him while we drive. (Ironically, Walmart had NONE of these items and I refused to pay $7 for name-brand motrin; Target is a nicer store, too.) 

At Target, Sydney walked from our parking spot – all the way into the entrance of the store. The proud look on his face gained LOTS of attention from this walking wonder of only 9.5 months.

We looked for a mirror first. They had an Eddie Bauer one for $19.99 or a musical/educational Baby Einstein one for $29.99. Of course, Sydney was fascinated with the tri-lingual, musical version, but we aren't in the market for one THAT BAD. (We'll hope that the Burlington Walmart has the $15.00 ordinary one in stock since Dubuque was out of it.) From there, we headed to the toy department to admire the aisle of toys that are suitable for 6 months and older.

Sydney smiled from ear-to-ear when he heard one of the toys sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes..." You could just see that AH-HA moment as he realized "Hey, I know that song!" There were MANY TOYS that intrigued the little big guy. He is fascinated with buttons, lights, singing/talking toys.

We also found Sydney a small plastic cup (with monkeys on it), which turned out to work great for his little hands once we got home to try it out. (Ours were too tall; he had to tip them too high to drink from them so, I wanted to find ones that were kid-sized.) 

On our way to pick up the generic motrin, Sydney discovered that his cup(s) make noise when dropped onto the floor. (What a fun game!) Then, at the checkout, I set him down so that I could dig out my wallet and he saw an endcap of wine bottles, which he decided that he wanted to go see. When I wouldn't let him pursue his fascination for beer/wine/soda/water bottles, he screamed and threw himself onto the floor.

"Oh, you're going to try that?" I asked. "Sorry, it's not going to work kiddo." (I was shocked to see him attempt to throw a temper tantrum in the checkout line. He's ONLY 9.5 months old! Where is this coming from? Notably, he has started getting more vocal at home - raising his voice when he becomes frustrated; I guess we've got some work cut out for us.... better break this habit SOONER, rather than later. He'll also SCREAM for 45 minutes straight, protesting a nap, which he demonstrated yesterday before Mike caved in, allowing Sydney to WIN the battle of the nap.)

The woman ahead of us laughed. "Well, it was worth a shot, right buddy?" He instantly turned on his charm, showing off his chipmunk grin and laughing his new-found (forced and somewhat obnoxious, but partially cute) laugh. "You ARE adorable!" (Funny, I think he knows it, too.)

Some people's kids... I tell ya!     :)     Normally well-mannered and well-tempered, he still is darned cute!

Flirt Alert

Today, at breastfeeding support group, Sydney was accused of being: A FLIRT! (This is not BREAKING NEWS to us, since he had also demonstrated his flirting skills at all 4 airports and on the 4 plane rides during last month's vacation.)

He proudly walked around with the other (older) babies; him, being the youngest of them walking. He held onto an 11-month-old, whom he outweighs, for stability... or maybe it was to pull the bow from her Maggy Simpson-style hair. He sucked on almost ANY toy that he recognized as NEW, while the other babies sucked on HIS toys. (Funny how they ALWAYS know which ones are "new" to them.) With all of his walking and crawling as of late, as well as our colds, he LOST weight, but it is nothing alarming.

Sydney made friends with a nurse who was visiting the group today. She decided that he was one of the cutest kids she's seen and even asked if he ever stops smiling. He made his way onto her lap a few times during the day. 

He also enjoyed the necklace of one of the moms who was sitting on the floor; THAT was intriguing to him on more than one occasion.

On one side of us, the new(er) mom had braces on her teeth. Sydney got right in her face, staring at the shiny brackets adorning her teeth. He reached to put his finger in her mouth. (I explained that we think he might be a dentist someday because he has a fascination with putting his fingers in our mouths to inspect our teeth.) She was a good sport about letting him admire the shiny objects, while I kept his hands to himself.

On the other side of us, a mom was nursing her 3-week old baby. I had been standing up holding him and he happened to notice that she was nursing a baby. As soon as he saw her exposed breast, he started in with his excited panting sound. (We had wondered for a while now if he was just excited to see mommy's breasts or if anyone's would do. Turns out, this breastfed baby is, indeed, a BOOB MAN.)

When it was our turn to introduce ourselves, I explained how he has recently stopped liking finger foods and likes Cheerios and crackers because they crunch. They (lactation consultants) said that it is because he wants to use his teeth now, hearing the crunch, because he is a big boy. I acknowledged that he DOES think he is a big boy. I asked "How big is Sydney?" On perfect cue, his arms flew high above his head and he grinned from ear-to-ear. (Everyone laughed.)

Yeah, we think he's pretty cute, too!