Mr. Messy

Jonah has been at this eating thing for a little while. I can't quite remember how long, but at least since six months or so. Yet somehow he still manages to get food all kinds of places that aren't his mouth...
Despite (or maybe because) of that, it's a lot of fun to feed him. Although he isn't feeding himself yet, he does occassionally try to "help". Most of his help consists mostly of opening his mouth like a little bird, which is very cute. But sometimes he "helps" by grabbing the spoon, stabbing himself in the mouth, and decorating his face and hands with food. Then he really gets to be Mr. Messy!

We're Back!

Summer is racing by, and Jonah is growing fast! He's sitting up - and no doubt will soon be crawling everywhere too.


And yes, we've been a little delinquent in updating the blog. We have excuses - not that you want to hear them - including a broken computer that Matt decided to (try to) fix by rebuilding a new machine from scratch. That took a while...let's just say that the undocumented Microsoft Windows installation process (who knew it when they ask for disk 3 they really mean put disk 1 back in again) engendered some delay and much cursing. In any event, the time for excuses is past, and we'll try to be a little better about updating the blog from here on out. In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures from our summer so far.

Summer 2007

Sleep Training

It's the question everyone seems to ask: "So, is he sleeping through the night yet?" For the last two months, our answer has been a resounding "no". (Actually, our real answer has been largely unprintable, but for purposes of this entry, let's just stick with "no".) For a while, we coped surprisingly well. But somewhere along the way, our patience and adrenaline ran out, and we were left irritable and exhausted.

Ruth Ann, perhaps thinking that this would all be of interest to anthropologists of the distant future, took detailed notes of our day to day experiences of waking and sleep. Here's a taste, this from Monday, April 2: 8pm to bed; 10pm wake up crying, nurse back to sleep; 2am wake up crying, try to nurse back to sleep, cry some more, pace floors playing CD of hairdryer noise at maximum volume until 4am, finally go back to sleep; 6:30am, wake bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to begin day!

Apparently there are some babies who magically fall into a regular, sane sleep routine on their own. But Jonah clearly wasn't in that category, and so our options seemed limited. Between sorting through the information available from the internet, the profusion of books on "sleep training" for babies, and the limitless advice of well-meaning friends, colleagues, and pretty much anyone with two lips and working jaw muscles, we concluded that it all boils down to one of three options: co-sleep, cry it out, or walk around like a zombie.

After trying the walk around like a zombie option for a few weeks too many, Ruth Ann's resistance finally waned and we switched to cry it out. We had some differences of opinion on how to implement this method and so, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit, after a few false starts we ended up hiring a "sleep consultant" (who knew there was such a thing?!), who more or less instructed us to put Jonah down awake at bedtime, each nap and each night waking, let him cry for up to 45 minutes.

This was not fun. When you listen to your own baby cry, the minutes truly seem like hours. But the funny thing was that although we were agonizing over the crying, Jonah didn't seem to mind a bit. He'd sleep longer than he ever had before - night wakings went away in a couple days and he now sleeps 9-12 hours in a stretch! - and best of all he'd wake up full of smiles. Everyone seemed to notice his change in mood and new sense of contentment. And that for us was the proof in the pudding: happy baby, happy parents!

Kill the Bear!

OK, let me explain: So back when Ruth Ann was pregnant, my thoughtful assistant Michelle gets us this cute little miniature blue teddy bear - a Gund, very nice and all. The bear has a relatively uneventful life, until one day our babysitter Lucia hangs the bear up in Jonah's swinging chair. This is well and good, as Jonah can now look at the bear, except that Lucia has hung the bear by its neck, which makes it look a bit like we're in the old west and the bear ended up on the wrong side of the law. Thing is, Jonah really likes looking at the hanging bear. And now that he's getting control over his hands, he constantly tries to grab the bear and - what else these days? - stick it in mouth. So far, the bear seems to be holding up all right, but some days it takes quite a thrashing! Pictures and video attached - enjoy!

Aloha from Hawaii!

We're recently back from Kauai, Hawaii, where we spent a week getting some well-needed rest. We didn't get out for quite as many adventures as we hoped, but we did spent lots of time enjoying the beautiful view from the condo where we stayed and catching up on our sleep. Jonah was a great traveller - he barely cried at all on the plane. And we learned that if he can be "convinced" to close his eyes and take two or three naps during the day (and believe us, lots of convincing as needed, as Jonah finds the world a very interesting place and is very reluctant to stop looking around at it long enough to fall asleep) then he turns into quite the smiley, happy baby boy.

A few pictures from our trip are linked to above. Matt, in collaboration with our neighbor Mark (the products editor for Wired magazine), finally convinced Ruth Ann to spring for a new camera, and we're all quite happy with the results. If you're curious, it's a Nikon D40, which is their new, low-end (but still not cheap!) digital SLR. It looks like a "real" camera and makes a satisfying real-camera "click" each time you press the shutter button, but also has a bunch of fully-automated shooting modes for when you don't have the time or interest in fussing with all the controls. If you buy one, let me know so I can collect my free toaster... and in the meantime, enjoy the new pictures!

Mama writes!

Mama is at last adding to the blog! Between the sleep deprivation and other demands of an infant I have been too exhausted to write. But Jonah is now watching his mobile (which I lovingly refer to as kiddie k(c)rack) and I have a few moments.

Things Jonah has done recently (he is now 16 weeks old but these ideas were joted down a few weeks ago).

Apparently at week 12 there is a huge developmental leap and Jonah seems to be in the thick of it (along with the requisite fussiness!).

Recognized himself in the mirror and smiled at himself and mommy. This happened at a shoe store in our local mall – see it pays to go shopping.

Smiled at and patted his teddy bear.

Petted Ella and laughed.

Laid on the grass in our backyard and looked around.

Shook and held a rattle.

Recognized the pattern on a lampshade and pillow.

Wrote his graduate thesis (just kidding, wanted to know if you were still reading!)

We were able to turn his frown upside down!

Drolling a lot and keeping his hand and other things in his mouth constantly.

Rolled a little (not yet on his back).

Learned how to shriek!

Hugs!

I'm Getting Bigger!

And wearing Matt and Ruth Ann out! Sorry we haven't been posting to the blog lately. March came and went like a whirlwind. Jonah has been growing a lot, and is starting to hold his head up on his own (see the picture!). However, to his parents dismay, he's not yet sleeping on his own, at least not very well. But hopefully that will come in time. We'll try to be a little more regular in posting to the blog, but for now, stop complaining and enjoy these pictures for the last month:

Month Three