Hurricane Sandy

Oh we are ready. We returned late last night after an awesome weekend in NH. Jeff went to the grocery store and got essentials and water. We filled up our cars. We did all our laundry and dishes and started in disposables. I don't want any dirty cloth diapers hanging around for over a week. We have our flashlights  out and ready. And we packed an overnight bag (ok bags) in case we need to head to my parent's house if we lose power. We have a plan for moving frozen milk if we lose power. And lastly we went to the liquor store because nothing says hurricane preparedness like a glass of wine.

Good thing we returned home when we did. My hospital declared a "Code Disaster" which means all essential employees are required to be on standby and come in if needed. Yup, I'm considered essential but have not been asked to come in yet.

I made Adam his own little play spot in a corner of the living room. There are foam pads underneath to protect him from the hardwood floors. So far I think Adam doesn't mind the hurricane.

I hope all the people in the path of Hurricane Sandy stay safe and warm.

7 Months

Well, time is certainly flying by! Adam is now 7 months old. He is sitting up unassisted and makes tons of new sounds. He likes to say ba, da, ga, and dee. And plenty of other sounds that I'm not sure I can spell out phonetically. He's doing really well at daycare and his teachers tell me how happy he is every day. Which is a good thing because some days he doesn't like to nap but he still remains happy. Most days I can leave work for 15 minutes and walk over to feed Adam a few times a day. I LOVE this! He gets the benefit of breastmilk and I get to see my little boy!  The past two weekends Adam got to see his Great Oma, but we forgot to take any photos :( This past weekend we also went up to New Hampshire to visit Jeff's family. We had lots of fun, enjoyed home cooked meals, Adam got plenty of snuggles, Jeff and I got to sleep in a little bit, but we had to return early because of Hurricane Sandy.

Happy (Belated) 7 Months Adam!!!

Out for a walk and stopped to have a chat with Gianna

Big boys play with trucks

 Happy Birthday, Dad!

Just modeling my new hat that Aunt Judy made!

Sleep Training

So the day finally arrived. We started sleep training this past Friday.  Before you get all judgy (no, that's not a word but it sounds like it could be), Jeff and I were starting to lose it after 6 months of constantly getting up. I knew I would be sleep deprived having a baby, but getting up 5, 10, sometimes 15 or 20 times per night is not healthy for anyone. Especially when it's night after night after night after night. Jeff and I feel like walking zombies.  The goal of sleep training is to teach babies to return to sleep when they lightly wake up through out the night.

On Friday, Adam's crib was moved into his own room. We did his night time routine like normal, naked time and lotion for his eczema, nursed him in the glider in his room, put him in his sleep sack, and then placed him in his crib without his pacifier. I was expecting lots of tears.  Nope. Very anticlimactic. He just rolled onto his side and fell asleep. He woke up and cried later in the night, and then he cried, fussed, and slept on and off for 2 hours with Jeff checking on him every so often.  But after those two hours he fell back into a deep sleep. I fed him at the designated times, but he had to be asleep when I fed him so that he no longer associates crying and eating. Not that eating at night is a bad thing, but often at night he uses me as a pacifier to fall back asleep. Little Dude woke up at 7:30 in the morning all smiles.

Knock on wood, but so far he's done very well.  He now goes to sleep without crying and only slightly wakes up when I feed him.  And Jeff and I are getting WAY more continuous sleep than ever before.

Adam had his 6 month appointment today. My big little boy is 17 lbs 4 oz and 27.75 inches. He is in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. His head is still measuring in the 95th percentile ;)

On a lighter note, it's now October and it's ok to wear Halloween outfits!

Such a boy

Personally, I think Adam is such a boy. His favorite activities, listed in order:

1) Jumping- preferably in the jumparoo but he's happy to bounce standing in someones lap. He even tries to bounce when he's sitting and laying down.

2) Splashing- loves, loves, loves to splash. He was splashing so vigorously today that he splashed 80% of the water out of the infant tub!

3) Banging- he takes any object, grabs onto it in his tight little fist, and bangs away. On the floor, on himself, he doesn't care.

4) Fast movement- he loves if you pretend to throw him. Like a swinging motion as if you were going to throw him into a pool.  And he also likes to be tossed in the air. He's a little daredevil.

A new one just emerged in the last few days, yelling and shrieking!

He's all boy :)

A rare moment when he wasn't splashing tonight

All clean!

Adam is 6 months old!

Happy 6 months Adam!

End of my rope...

Daytime is lots of fun, Adam loves to smile, laugh, "talk," and jump in the jumparoo. But night time is a different story. Nights are hard in the Sonneborn household. For the last 6 months, Adam has slept 8 hours straight on one occasion.  I can count the number of times he has slept 6 hours in a row on one hand.  On a good night, Adam gets up 2-3 times per night. On a bad night, Adam wakes up 15-20 times per night.  Adam will get up 5-6 times on a typical night. I know that babies are exhausting, but Adam's lack of sleep is really taking a toll on Jeff and me. We both find it hard to concentrate during the day. And I'll be honest, we can be a little snippy at times ;)

For the past few months we've been able to transition Adam from his rock'n'play to his crib and we can put him down drowsy but not quite asleep. Adam has learned to go to sleep by himself. However his problem is that he can't stay asleep. The last two months I've been really torn about doing sleep training. Sleep training is controlled comforting that teaches infants to self soothe and fall asleep (and stay asleep) by themselves. I'm so worried that doing sleep training will break Adam's trust in Jeff and I. But on the other hand, Jeff and I can barely function. Trying to coax Adam back to sleep night after night after night after night has resulted in Jeff and I getting 3 to 5 hours of broken sleep most nights (some nights less).

What convinced me is a recent article published in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal. The article was published one week ago, Hannah actually found the article and I'm so glad she sent it to me.

http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Infant-Sleep-Training-is-Effective-and-Safe-Study-Finds.aspx

Give me food!

Hi Grandpa Hank

Hanging out with my cuz.
Check out my baby legs!

Brunch with Grammy Sue

Lunch at Bartaco

Playing with my new toy from
Jonny and Cleo

Waking up from a nap

The carrots on my face match my outfit!

5.5 Months

Wow, I've been a bit delinquent in posting! 2 weeks ago Adam started on solids, he's really enjoying it. So far he has had sweet potatoes, peas, and apples. At first he wasn't sure what to make of food, but now he knows that it's time to get down to business when he is in his highchair. When he sees the spoon coming, he opens his mouth and often wants to grab the spoon to "help" feed.  He gets really upset if you wait to feed him his next bite.  He wants his food and he wants it right away!

I've been really fortunate to become friends with two other new moms in the area.  I met them through a class offered at my hospital. We've been been getting together weekly since Adam has been one month.  Usually we go for a long walk, 4 to 6 miles, once a week. It doesn't really seem like exercise when you get to chat the whole time.

Last weekend we traveled up to Rye to visit the Sonneborns, especially Brian and Angela who returned from California.  Adam enjoyed seeing his grandparents and especially likes spending time with his cousin, Keira.

A hodgepodge of photos

Time for a hike

My new mommy friends and their babies. 

Dawn and her baby Jackie on the left, and Becky and her baby Gianna in the middle. 

Adam was camera shy.

Love going for a walk

Another day another walk (and another photo op)

From another visit, love those babies :)

 Happy boy

On our way to NH

Hannah and Keira could not wait to see Brian and Angela!

Showing off his Toms

Dining al fresco with Uncle Brian

Next year lil guy, next year you can have some lobster

Nice to see you Uncle Brian 

Snuggles with Grandpa Hank

Adam at the beach

Not so sure about going in...

My parents came over this past weekend and Oma really enjoyed feeding Adam