For the first five weeks of your life, you were very predictable. From birth, we put you on a "flexible schedule" called E.A.S.Y (based on Tracey Hogg's book, Secrets of The Baby Whisperer). Basically, you would Eat, be Awake, then Sleep until it was time to eat again. In three hour cycles (except at night, when you went stretches of five and six hours). Predictable. E.A.S.Y.
At about five and half weeks, the diaper hit the fan (not literally, thank goodness). All of a sudden, my good sleepy baby didn't seem to want to sleep anymore. No, that's not true. You were still willing to fall asleep. But you started waking up during your naps. Not the kind of waking up that told me that you were getting too much sleep and wanted to be more awake during the day. No, this was a cranky, fussy waking up. After twenty minutes. Then ten minutes later. Then five minutes after that. At first, you still slept well at night, but eventually, not getting good naps started affecting your sleep at night, too. I tried so many different things (one thing that has stuck is singing to you--your favorite to hear is "Be Thou My Vision"). For a few days, whenever you would nap, I would go to my room and wait for you to cry so I could give you your binky every ten minutes, just so you would get some good sleep, and I wouldn't have to run up and down the stairs (though it did give me a decent workout). I thought I might never leave the house again because you wouldn't sleep at all if we were out and about during nap time, and that just kept escalating the problem. Finally, I came across a suggestion to move your bedtime--not later, but EARLIER. Apparently, the natural sleep rhythms of your little body want to sleep when that sun goes down, and once we started putting you to bed earlier instead of letting you take a late afternoon nap, it made it so much easier to get you to nap during the day. And you are so much more smiley and cooey when you are well-rested.
Smiling and cooing--those are some new tricks for month two! That, and holding your head up. You are so strong. I've even started putting you in your Bumbo seat for a few minutes at a time. I like those tricks much better than the whole not sleeping trick.
Even though you now go to bed at 7pm (or sometimes earlier), we have still managed to have some fun in the last month. We took a day trip to visit your Great-Grandma. When she held you, she kept saying, "If you keep looking at me like that, I'm gonna kiss you again." And then she would give you another kiss.
We also spent two consecutive weekends in Rochester with the Petrone family. One weekend, Daddy helped Grandpa build a screened-in back porch while you and I hung out with Grandma and your aunts.
And the next weekend, your Aunt Melissa and Uncle Korey got married. On the same day that you turned TWO months. You wore a pretty dress and spent almost the whole day with Daddy so that I could stand up with my sister as she vowed to spend the rest of her life with her best friend. It was a beautiful day!
Now, the count down begins until I have to go back to work in a month. I'm still not looking forward to leaving you. Being at Melissa's wedding was good practice for spending chunks of time away from you. It showed me just how much I will miss you.
I love you, Laidey Bug!
-Mama
