Night night...

I am so proud of my son. I can now OFFICIALLY say that he is sleeping through the night. Not just through the night, but halfway around the clock!!! He is ready for his bedtime routine by 8:00 p.m. and most usually in bed by 9-9:30... then he sleeps until 7:30 a.m.!!! I've been amazed at how quickly he falls into a routine. But I guess all babies thrive on routine.

Baby is sleeping through the night...
Mommy is sleeping through the night...
The world is a much better place!!!

Good night!

Daddy is so funny...

My ABSOLUTE new favorite thing is Cade's laugh... I could listen to him laugh all day!!! Hope you all enjoy it as well!!! Maybe this will brighten everyone's Monday!

Looking Back...

I uploaded this video of Cade and wanted to share it! We are still in the hospital here so he's probably only 1 day old. I can't believe how tiny he was!!!

credits: this video is being narrated by Cade's grandmomma ;)

Teething...

Cade must be teething. I am convinced. For the past few weeks, he has been a drool monster, chewing on his hands constantly, chewing on EVERYTHING actually. He is SO MUCH MORE fussy than normal... it's just not like him to be so fussy. The Tylenol seems to help... as well as the teething tablets... but sometimes he cries like it hurts so bad, I want to cry with him.

Last night was tough. On him AND on mommy & daddy. We were up rocking & trying to settle him for 2 hours. He was pitiful. I think that it has affected his daytime napping schedule as well, and if he doesn't sleep well during the day, his night time is wrecked.

Thought this picture was appropriate for the week we've had...

Cade's Motorboat

For the past month or so, I have been making the "motorboat" sound, much to the delight of my son... it's amazing what we do to entertain infants! He is so cute though... he's finally figuring out how to do it himself! Here he is showing his Nana & Poppy... (I have a feeling in the next few weeks, he will drive us crazy with this)

Cade Watching Cartoons

I think we already have a TV junkie on our hands! He LOVES to watch cartoons. I'm not sure how great that is for a 4 month old... I usually only let him watch one or two cartoons a day, so maybe not too bad. Anyway, here he is watching Little Einsteins, one of his favorites!

Cade's New Toy

A video of Cade playing with his newest toy! His head is still wobbly, but he LOVES sitting upright, like a big boy, playing with his toys!

(and by the way, that electric outlet isn't as close as it looks in the video... looks like he could stick his finger right in it. Not hardly. And yes, we will baby-proof when he becomes mobile.)

4 Month Wellness Checkup... and shots...

Cade had his 4 month checkup today... and yes, that includes shots. It was horrible when he had his 2 month shots, but this set was even worse! Maybe because he knew what was coming... Maybe it was because they did one shot in each leg (at the same time) and then had to give a THIRD shot in the left leg... Or maybe because he has perfected the most pitiful puppy dog face that I have ever seen on a 4 month old. He was crying so hard, by the time we got him settled down & in his car seat, his little bottom lip was quivering. My heart broke.

Except for the crying... and the fact that we were there, basically waiting for 3 hours... things went pretty good. Cade is 15 pounds and 6 ounces. That puts him in the 50th to 75th percentile for weight. He is 25.5 inches long, which puts him in the 75th percentile. Quite a leap from his 1 month checkup, when he was in the 10-15th percentile for height and weight!

Doc was very happy with my decision to start him on solids at 3 months. She said that I read his cues perfectly! I was proud... and relieved that she didn't scold me.

We still have to get two things checked out. One, the doc discovered that Cade has a Sacral Dimple today. She has ordered an ultrasound but is certain that it is nothing serious. (they rarely are) But better to be safe! We also have an appointment with the children's hospital cardiologist in August. He will listen to Cade's heart and determine whether he needs a 2nd EKG for his heart murmur. Once again, the doc seems to think it is the type that will correct itself (which is also what the 1st EKG concluded)... but like I said, better to be safe, and they want to see if it has indeed corrected itself by then.

I am just glad that today is over. Cade doesn't follow the norm when it comes to shots. Most babies will sleep the days away after their shots. Sleep lots and eat little? Not Cade! He's the opposite! Sleep little and eat lots! I hate seeing my baby in pain... we've done a lot of crying today (and I do mean "we")... and we've done a lot of rocking and cuddling. I just want to make my baby's pain go away.

Growing so fast...

I just can't believe how big Cade is getting. Me & Derek both always talk about how much of a little boy he's becoming, and less of a baby. He watches cartoons, like he completely understands them (I am sure it's the music & colors that sparks his interest)... He tries to sit up when we have him laying back... he is sleeping so good, eating so good... he is just the best baby! And I say baby NOW because I won't be able to say that for much longer. My little baby boy is growing up so fast!

Check out this comparison shot... He was so tiny in his glider when we first brought him home... it swallowed him up! NOW look!


And everyone really seems to love the "timeline" header that I did before (which is at the bottom of the blog, if you're wondering)... here's another I've played around with.

CSE: Night 3

Well, I think that I can officially put this sleep experiment to bed (pardon the pun). Cade slept for a full 10 hours last night without having to get up! He went to bed at 9:00 p.m. and we didn't get up until 7 a.m. this morning! I am so happy & excited that he's starting to sleep through the night... and I feel a little silly that I didn't figure this out sooner... I blame it on being a first time mommy.

CSE: Night 2

I just can't believe it... Cade slept until 7 a.m. this morning!!!

The thing about Cade (and probably most babies)... is that he usually always follows his BBB routine... Bath-Bottle-Bed. Last night, he opted to stay up late with mommy & daddy. Just refused to go to sleep. I think this was partly due to the fact that I had put him in a new sleeper that he hadn't worn before, and I didn't realize that it was holding ALL of his body heat inside. (wierd fabric) When I went to change his diaper at around 11, the heat just flowed out of it! Once I got him cooled down & fed a little more, he was in bed by 11:30. Not bad, especially since he slept until 7 a.m.!

And I'm sure that he would have slept longer... he ALWAYS gets up around 7 a.m., regardless of how long he's been asleep. I think it has something to do with the sun coming up & brightening his room. Maybe I should invest in some darker curtains?!?!

I am so proud of my little man! I REALLY hope that this is the beginning of "sleeping through the night" for us.

Now to celebrate... here are 2 pages for today...

Cade's Sleep Experiment: Night 1

I've really been thinking about Cade's sleeping habits lately & why he's not sleeping through the night. He's only 4 months old, but he naps so well during the day. He's eating solid foods frequently throughout the day. He SHOULD be sleeping longer than 4-5 hour stretches at night.

My conclusion... it's MY fault!!!

Every night, Cade will wake up between 2 and 3:30... seems like he gets earlier every night. He will stir, cry enough to wake me up... I promptly jump out of bed and run to his nursery, scoop him up and take him into the living room, where I feed him while he's half asleep. He's never really *awake*... probably not hungry either. He will take a full bottle most times but it's like he's drinking it in his sleep.

Last night, he woke up at 2:30... so I laid & watched him on the video monitor. He wasn't really crying hard, just fussing and grunting and tossing around... it took less than 10 mintues and he was back to sleep!!! (normally I would have gotten him up & fed him at that time)

So that lasted until 4:30... I did the same thing and he did go back to sleep pretty quickly... but then he woke up at 5:00 and his cry was "different"... I could tell he was REALLY mad. So I got him up. He ate & went back to sleep!

5a.m. is still early, but I figured 9 to 5 is a pretty good stretch for him for the first night of our "experiment". 8 hours is a record for him!

So hopefully a few nights of holding myself back and he'll be sleeping through the night without waking up at all!!!

We'll see how night 2 goes!

4 months...

Fun with Cade & Mommy...

I am so thankful that I can be at home with Cade, seeing everything new & experiencing all of his firsts... that said, I've come to the realization that I'm quite the expert at entertaining a 4 month old! He laughs at all of my jokes, all of my funny voices & funny faces. He is definitely my number one fan!

Today I thought it would be a good idea to get down in the floor with Cade and take some pictures of Mommy & Baby together, having fun.

Laying in the floor, smiling nice for the camera:


Another good shot of Mommy & Baby:


I then realize that Cade has a handful of my hair! The kid has quite a grip!!!


He had me laughing so hard when he started trying to EAT my hair! How could you not laugh at that face?!?! He was determined to eat hair!


All of that cuteness deserved a KISS!


I guess he thought *I* deserved a kiss to!


So I turn around, with an attempt to try to get another good shot...


And look who joined us! Brodie!


MOMMY, THAT WAS FUN!!!

Cade in action...

Thought I'd post a video of Cade "talking"... sorry that the vid is so choppy. I edited some clips together (mostly to cut out my baby-talking to him in the background) and my video editing skills are obviously novice.

Also, if you can hear a cat meowing in the background, that is Brodie. He was standing at the nursery door, meowing his head off. I swear, he does that every time I get out the video camera!

So here's Cade!

Sleep deprived mommy...

I feel like I'm going backwards with Cade & his sleep habits. I almost had him into a routine... go to bed around 9:30... get up around 3-4... and get up again around 7:30. He did that for WEEKS. This week has been another story. Last night, I started our nighttime ritual at around 8:30... bathtime, a little playtime, put on his jammies, and give him his "nighttime" bottle, which is essentially a bottle with cereal. Normally he would go to sleep right after his bottle, at around 9:30... not last night! He fell to sleep for about 10 minutes in his crib... long enough for me to shower (thank goodness)... then for some reason, woke up... wide awake! I could tell right off that he was in no mood for sleep! So he stayed up past his bedtime, and mine... finally fell to sleep at about 11:30. I had no clue what time he would get up for another feeding. Thankfully he slept until 5:30 - an early day for me.

I have read that babies who nap well during the day and stay rested are better able to sleep at night. Maybe he was just overtired last night. He fought it for an hour... his little eyes would roll back in his head, then they would POP wide open! He tried so hard to stay up with mommy & daddy!

I just hope that he's sleeping through the night sometime in the near future. I really would like to sleep through the night myself! I feel like a zombie!