Sunday, August 21, 2011

Monkey Mom

Friday morning I was woken up by a punch in the nose.

Tim leaves for work an hour before I do, to accommodate Levi's daycare schedule, and he brings Levi in to our room to nurse right before he leaves. He usually just lays him down next to me on the bed, and Friday Levi selected that exact moment to pull one of his characteristic intense stretches, and bopped me in the face.

He's also starting to be a bit more awake in the mornings - he used to fall right back asleep after eating and not wake up until I was up and ready to go and changing his diaper before we left. Now he hangs out and chats with himself/imaginary friends until I'm ready (note: "until I'm ready" is a maximum of 20 minutes, and that's on a bad day).

I've been working on my monkey-like reflexes as a mom. And by monkey, I mean holding a four-month child, and by reflexes, I mean ridiculous ways to accomplish things. Last week I was trying to bring a load of laundry downstairs. Levi would not be put down, so I picked up a load of laundry in one arm, scooped him off the bed in the other, and proceeded to walk downstairs. However, I was not carrying the laundry in a basket -- just my arm. So I kept dropping little items. Which resulted, instead of the sane method of putting the load down by the washer, and then coming back to pick up the few pieces I dropped, I reflexively picked up the items as I dropped them. At one point, I dropped the same pair of baby pants four times. Each time I picked them up and threw them back onto my arm-holding-pile area, and then would lose my grip and drop them again.

The manner in which I accomplished this intense "picking up" is that I would use one of my feet to try to scoop the item of clothing high into the air, at least to shoulder height, and then swing forward with my baby-holding-hand to try to grab it out of the air, then fling said item into the pile barely held in my other arm.

Needless to say, it took me awhile to get downstairs with the laundry. Levi was happy on my shoulder though, which makes it all worthwhile :)

We have stopped swaddling the boy. He was starting to break out of them sometimes, and I've heard pediatric experts say that around four months you should wean the swaddle because babies start being able to move around a lot more, and moving around in their crib at night is actually exercise.

However, Levi sleeps not as much without the swaddle holding him still throughout the night. It's not terrible, but he was sleeping entirely through the night (yes, other moms, you can punch me when you see me for that if you'd like), and now he wakes up at least once to eat and usually two to four other times because he's concerned and can't go back to sleep by himself. We just stop back in, rub his tummy and put his pacifier in (and wrap his right arm tight in a blanket so he doesn't try to yank it out). He still doesn't really move at all when he sleeps, stays prone on his back, appendages outstretched.

Levi is getting better at holding his pacifier in by himself, however, he is also getting better at holding onto it with his hands. He loves to grab stuff - his clothes, my clothes, things laying nearby, and so on, and his paci is a fun object to hold. However, he doesn't seem to equate that when he grabs the paci when it's in his mouth and moves his arm, that the part inside his mouth is inextricably connected to the part outside of his mouth, and if you yank on one, the other moves as well. so he doesn't want to let it go from his waving-about hand but he also wants it back in his mouth. Brilliant, this one. He'll probably figure it out the week before we wean him from the paci entirely (yes, we'll be removing the soother from his existence in about another five months. I have a soapbox about toddlers and older children with pacifiers).

We're also working on introducing the Bumbo. Levi likes to stand, but hates to sit. His legs are super strong, he can pretty much hold his weight up by himself, but he has no core control when he's sitting at all. So we try to practice with the bumbo, however, Levi has been surrounded by very soft fabrics his whole life, and the plastic feel of the bumbo upsets him. Plush is what this guy needs, apparently. 








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