Peace

This has been a terrific week for Jack.  I mean, really wonderful.  He has been eating and he has been sleeping.  Sounds basic enough.  But he's been doing both really, amazingly well.  At nap time (around 10:30 and 2:30, although he's pretty flexible about it), I read him a book and then Good Night Moon, sing the lullaby Ben wrote for Jack, then put him in his crib and close the door.  It's as easy as that and I don't hear a peep from him for at least an hour!  Bedtime is just as easy with slightly more ritual before we start in on our books.  I can't tell you how much easier this is making my life!

And mealtimes are much better, too.  After discussing with Stacy the stress of meals, she suggested that I pay close attention to any tension I might be communicating to Jack.  I realized that there were some clues I was giving that might make him a little nervous, but I wasn't quite sure what to do to relax.  Then last weekend Ben pointed out that even though Jack's weight looks less than stellar on the percentage curve of the growth graph, he's really only about 3 pounds away from what would be considered perfectly normal growth.  Even on a 17 pound baby, that's nothing!  It could be a difference caused by weighing him pre- as opposed to post-meal or pre- or post-dirty diaper.  So I've relaxed a ton, and, at least partly due to that, Jack has been a spectacular eater this week.  He's started to love oatmeal with yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and today and Wednesday (no-meat days because of Lent), I had fish and chips and gave him an entire fish of his own (with breading peeled off) to eat.  Both days he's finished it!  I feel a growth spurt coming on, so I'm getting serious about lifting weights again.  Hopefully he'll give me a little lead time.

Oh, and Jack's wave has now added a new dimension of urgency to his "pick me up" signal.  When he's on the floor wanting to be picked up, Jack gets up on his knees and thrusts his arms over his head repeatedly--a fairly universal sign for "pick me up."  But now that he's learned to wave, he's started bouncing up and down and waving his left hand, as if to indicate that he's really serious this time.  Adorable.  I've been trying to get good video of it but have thus far failed because as soon as he sees the camera, Jack's desire to grab it supercedes his desire to be picked up.

This afternoon we're off to playgroup.