Ups and downs

The day after I last posted, after another really rough night, Ben and I decided to take a hard line on the sleep problem.  We resolved not to pick Jack up during the night so that he would get used to falling asleep in his own bed.  We didn't leave him to cry alone but instead stayed by him each time he woke up and patted him on the back until he went back to sleep.  I had looked at the Andrea Grace website again and realized that we were doing everything else she suggests there, so I figured we should try a little of that on our own.  No sense in paying $350 just to hear that we should be doing that, and it's not as if there's some magic solution that would make him sleep well immediately.  The first day of this new system both of his naps were preceded by a 45 minute struggle involving almost nonstop crying.  The first night he woke up at 3:30 (among other times) and couldn't fall asleep again until 5:30.  The next day wasn't much better, and I was starting to get really discouraged.  And I had an aching back--several hours a day of bending over Jack's crib wasn't pleasant for either of us.

I wouldn't say Jack's sleep problems are cured, but his nights are generally much better than before.  His sleeping is still somewhat unpredictable, so I fortunately haven't come to expect a lot of uninterrupted sleep.  That, I have found, can lead to feeling even more sleep deprived.

A few nights have been fantastic.  One night he woke up only twice in 10 hours!  He went to sleep at 8, woke up at 11:30, and then slept until 6, giving Ben and me 6 1/2 hours of uninterrupted snoozing.  Fantastic.  After an hour of trying to get him to go back to bed after that, we decided he was up for the day.  But I'll take an early wakeup call over several midnight ones any night.

So teaching Jack to sleep again was the all-consuming project of week before last, and last week's project was nursing Ben back to health after he caught a horrible stomach flu.  I have never seen Ben sicker, and he said he wasn't sure he'd ever felt sicker.  He stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday.  Unfortunately it was the kind of staying home sick that involves only sleeping and trying not to puke, not the fun kind of staying home sick where you read books and watch movies all day.  Somehow Jack and I managed to escape the worst of it, but we all had early bedtimes for a few days.

We have had time for a few new fun tricks in the past two weeks, though.  Jack is really into taking things out of containers.  He plays with his shape sorter toy that Nonna and Pops got him for Christmas a lot, although he hates having the lid on because he hasn't figured out how to put the shapes through it yet.  But his favorite thing to move around is clothes.  Jack now helps me unload the washer and dryer, and he frequently empties the hamper in both our room and his.  The washer and dryer help is 

He hasn't shown any interest in putting things in, just taking them out.

Another toy Nonna and Pops got Jack for Christmas has been a particular favorite the past few weeks.  It's a set of half-spheres that stack up, nest into one another, and click together to form wobbly balls.  We have spent hours and hours hiding toys under different pieces, forming balls of different sizes with different objects inside them, and practicing putting objects into the pieces when 

they're upside down.

Last Friday, as I predicted in the last post, Jack stood up by himself for the first really long time.  Stacy and Kaia were over for a playdate (Stacy has Fridays off, so we have taken to spending most of the day together), and Jack was crawling through his highchair after Kaia, when he stopped, turned, and looked at us, then let go and stood.  Stacy and I looked at him, at each other, and back again several times, and Jack must have stood there for 15 or 20 seconds before wobbling and dropping down on his bottom.  Quite impressive.  Since then he hasn't done another long stand, but he does several short ones daily.

Jack also loves the walker we got him for Christmas.  If I didn't offer him other toys and occasionally hide the walker from view, he would spend all day every day practicing on it.  (By the way, if anyone knows all the words to "The Farmer in the Dell," could you please send them to me?  All I remember is the basic first verse, the farmer takes a wife, and the cheese stands alone.  Everything else is out the window.  Since I hear it a good 20-30 times a day, it would be nice to have a little more to sing... )

As you can see, he concentrates really hard (see open mouth), seems to enjoy it a lot, and has gotten pretty fast.  I know, I know, he'll be walking before we know it.  Actually I really do think he'll be walking on his own by mid to late February.  He's already cruising around the room with only one hand on furniture like it's no big deal.  It's lots of fun, but sometimes I long for the days when sitting in his swing was his favorite form of "active" entertainment.  That took a lot less energy.