Can I get one of these pictures up for my profile- let's see! :)
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
September Pictures Are Up!
I'm a month behind, but I finally got a few of our favorite pictures from September up on our Picasa site. Watch for September videos - coming soon!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ahh, the Quiet
It's been a while since I've posted an update. It's been a crazy (but fun) few weeks. The first week of October we took Benjamin on his first airplane ride, and his first trip out of Houston. We went to Colorado for a friend's wedding. We arrived home, where the Grandparents (my parents) were waiting to help us out for a week. I was supposed to have this big, week-long event that week for work- thankfully, it was postponed until December (especially thankfully since I am the one planning it, and am still nowhere near ready) - but my folks already had plane tickets (we had asked them to visit/watch Benjamin while I worked), and it was time for them to see their grandson again, so we stuck to the original plan. They were a huge help, I got some work done, AND we laid sod in my backyard. Not bad!
That brings us to this week. My folks were supposed to leave on Monday, but couldn't get out of town until Tuesday. Then Wednesday Benjamin had his four month check-up. Then Wednesday night all hell broke loose.
Okay, granted, I'm exaggerating a bit. As you know from previous posts, sleep is something we're always trying to figure out with Benjamin. But then Wednesday it hit an all time low. Was it the trip to CO? No, I don't think so, because although we had some rough nights there, Benjamin returned to more or less the same sleep patterns when we returned home (except a few less naps, since the grandparents are way more exciting than going to sleep). We even had a few record between-feedings - 7.5 hours one night! Was it having someone different take care of him most of the day? Still no, I think, because he slept well while they were here. Was it their departure again? Was it the immunization shots from the doctor on Wednesday? I'm a little more prone to think it has something to do with this. I think his leg was really sore on Wednesday night, and that contributed to being uncomfortable as he was trying to go to sleep. But then why such madness Thursday night, and Friday night, and again tonight? I really don't know. Deep down my irrational fear is that the immunizations messed with his brain (there are theories going around that the immunizations cause autism). While I don't really think it is that, there is definitely something psychological going on with sleep. I think it's also seeped into nap time issues, but somehow we're getting around truly dealing with that, though, because it seems that we go on a walk or run an errand periodically enough that he takes naps in his car seat.
So, you are wondering, what does a tough sleep night look like in the Griffith house? Well it begins with whining. Benjamin is starting to get sleepy. So I try to put him to bed. It seems that as soon as he figures out that's what is going on, he starts SCREAMING. The all caps is NOT an over dramatization. I can begin to understand the pain/fear/overwhelmingness that caring for a colicky child during a meltdown can be. So then I decide he's not really tired enough, so I get him up to play again. He seems relieved for a few moments not to be going to sleep, but then starts whining again because he's tired. Repeat sequence. More screaming. Repeat sequence. Same. Wednesday night I was successful in nursing him to sleep, thinking this was a one time thing because his leg hurt. Thursday and Friday night, not such luck. I thought maybe he was hungry, because his feedings are starting to spread out. Last night, I tried feeding him at 7, 8, 9 and 10 pm. He'd be happy to nurse - until my milk would let down, and he'd start crying. Wasn't hungry. Was he uncomfortable? I tried rocking, then swaying him different ways. Nope that wasn't it, either.
Of course, like all baby (or otherwise) issues that rise up, they always happen to do so right before Mark hits a busy time at work. He had/has concerts Thursday - Sunday nights this week. Four long nights of figuring out this thing solo. Last night, Mark actually did put him to bed. Because the boy was still up at 10:30 when he got home. I had been trying to get him to bed since 7:30. It was maddening and heartbreaking. Tonight, Mark thought he would give it a try before he went to work. But after about 1/2 hour of listening to Ben scream, I had to intervene, because it was driving me crazy.
So we found a solution, for tonight at least (hence the title - finally a quiet night in the Griffith household - at least for now). I took him into bed to nurse him middle of the night style (both of us lying down). After he ate, I held him there by my side. He squirmed for a while, then settled in, then went to sleep. No crying. No screaming. I waited until I was sure he was good and asleep before getting up and returning him to his crib. That was 45 minutes ago, and he's still asleep. A MUCH needed break. So tonight I broke another ideal of how I was going to raise this child "Ideal 4: He'll learn to fall asleep on his own so that he develops good sleeping habits, and doesn't have sleep issues as an adult." Hopefully this is not an iff (if and only if for you math nerds out there - this ones for you Lara!) statement. I figure though that screaming himself to sleep is not a healthier way to approach sleep. So we'll try this method for a while, and see if it works. And then try to go after Ideal #4 again.
In case your lost, Ideals #1,2&3 went out the window within the first week of his life. Those were: #1 - no formula (still have only given it to him once, but that once was on the evening of the third night when my milk hadn't come in, he was hungry, and we were panicked & exhausted). #2 - no pacifier. I think this was the night after we broke #1. Or maybe it was the other way around. #3 - no co sleeping. I think he was in our bed around the fifth or sixth night.
So I guess that's not bad to go about 4 months between breaking this latest parenting ideal? One thing Benjamin has taught me so far is to never judge another parent. Those ideals are great, but you have to be willing to let them go too!
Anyways, I'm still blogging away. And our house is still quiet. What a beautiful sound. Good night everyone!
That brings us to this week. My folks were supposed to leave on Monday, but couldn't get out of town until Tuesday. Then Wednesday Benjamin had his four month check-up. Then Wednesday night all hell broke loose.
Okay, granted, I'm exaggerating a bit. As you know from previous posts, sleep is something we're always trying to figure out with Benjamin. But then Wednesday it hit an all time low. Was it the trip to CO? No, I don't think so, because although we had some rough nights there, Benjamin returned to more or less the same sleep patterns when we returned home (except a few less naps, since the grandparents are way more exciting than going to sleep). We even had a few record between-feedings - 7.5 hours one night! Was it having someone different take care of him most of the day? Still no, I think, because he slept well while they were here. Was it their departure again? Was it the immunization shots from the doctor on Wednesday? I'm a little more prone to think it has something to do with this. I think his leg was really sore on Wednesday night, and that contributed to being uncomfortable as he was trying to go to sleep. But then why such madness Thursday night, and Friday night, and again tonight? I really don't know. Deep down my irrational fear is that the immunizations messed with his brain (there are theories going around that the immunizations cause autism). While I don't really think it is that, there is definitely something psychological going on with sleep. I think it's also seeped into nap time issues, but somehow we're getting around truly dealing with that, though, because it seems that we go on a walk or run an errand periodically enough that he takes naps in his car seat.
So, you are wondering, what does a tough sleep night look like in the Griffith house? Well it begins with whining. Benjamin is starting to get sleepy. So I try to put him to bed. It seems that as soon as he figures out that's what is going on, he starts SCREAMING. The all caps is NOT an over dramatization. I can begin to understand the pain/fear/overwhelmingness that caring for a colicky child during a meltdown can be. So then I decide he's not really tired enough, so I get him up to play again. He seems relieved for a few moments not to be going to sleep, but then starts whining again because he's tired. Repeat sequence. More screaming. Repeat sequence. Same. Wednesday night I was successful in nursing him to sleep, thinking this was a one time thing because his leg hurt. Thursday and Friday night, not such luck. I thought maybe he was hungry, because his feedings are starting to spread out. Last night, I tried feeding him at 7, 8, 9 and 10 pm. He'd be happy to nurse - until my milk would let down, and he'd start crying. Wasn't hungry. Was he uncomfortable? I tried rocking, then swaying him different ways. Nope that wasn't it, either.
Of course, like all baby (or otherwise) issues that rise up, they always happen to do so right before Mark hits a busy time at work. He had/has concerts Thursday - Sunday nights this week. Four long nights of figuring out this thing solo. Last night, Mark actually did put him to bed. Because the boy was still up at 10:30 when he got home. I had been trying to get him to bed since 7:30. It was maddening and heartbreaking. Tonight, Mark thought he would give it a try before he went to work. But after about 1/2 hour of listening to Ben scream, I had to intervene, because it was driving me crazy.
So we found a solution, for tonight at least (hence the title - finally a quiet night in the Griffith household - at least for now). I took him into bed to nurse him middle of the night style (both of us lying down). After he ate, I held him there by my side. He squirmed for a while, then settled in, then went to sleep. No crying. No screaming. I waited until I was sure he was good and asleep before getting up and returning him to his crib. That was 45 minutes ago, and he's still asleep. A MUCH needed break. So tonight I broke another ideal of how I was going to raise this child "Ideal 4: He'll learn to fall asleep on his own so that he develops good sleeping habits, and doesn't have sleep issues as an adult." Hopefully this is not an iff (if and only if for you math nerds out there - this ones for you Lara!) statement. I figure though that screaming himself to sleep is not a healthier way to approach sleep. So we'll try this method for a while, and see if it works. And then try to go after Ideal #4 again.
In case your lost, Ideals #1,2&3 went out the window within the first week of his life. Those were: #1 - no formula (still have only given it to him once, but that once was on the evening of the third night when my milk hadn't come in, he was hungry, and we were panicked & exhausted). #2 - no pacifier. I think this was the night after we broke #1. Or maybe it was the other way around. #3 - no co sleeping. I think he was in our bed around the fifth or sixth night.
So I guess that's not bad to go about 4 months between breaking this latest parenting ideal? One thing Benjamin has taught me so far is to never judge another parent. Those ideals are great, but you have to be willing to let them go too!
Anyways, I'm still blogging away. And our house is still quiet. What a beautiful sound. Good night everyone!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Loud Mouth
So Benjamin is learning how to talk. And he likes to talk LOUDLY. I can hear him all the way across the house. It's pretty funny. I've taken one successful video (I think). Everytime we come near him with a camera (video or still), he gets real quiet and just stares. But he's really funny to hear when he gets talking. It's mostly shreiks, some "ahhs", some "goo's" and even a few "Buh's" every now and then. He's definitely got the volume, and his voice has some melody to it, as he goes up and down. Just thought I'd share.
And the sleep thing - perhaps many of you are wondering how our plan is going. Well it's isn't. Not because the methods failed, but because we haven't given them a really good try. We went on a date one night, had a visitor another night, and then a friend came to visit from out of own (didn't stay with us), but we were out late yet again. Plus I really, really like my evening strolls - and am just not ready to give them up . I can't seem to get out of the house early enough to make it not an issue of interfering with his sleep.
But I've also made another discovery. At least for the time being - he changes so fast, it's hard to make any real-lasting discoveries. He does pretty well getting himself to bed if I put him down in the right window. If I get him too close to sleep, he gets frustrated being put down. If I put him down too early, he's just not tired and wants to party. Last night I found the window, and he went down pretty easily. But then I had to pick up Mark and a friend at 10:15 from Downtown (long story of poorly planned evening (although a very fun evening!)), so I had to wake him up and take him with me. Then he REALLY didn't want to go to bed.
But -good news. Tonight is my first night off from bedtime duty in 4 nights. So Mark gets to figure out the secret for one evening. Ahh, how nice! :)
I tried to post a few new pictures, but I'm getting error messages - so those will have to wait until the next entry. :) Happy week to you all!
And the sleep thing - perhaps many of you are wondering how our plan is going. Well it's isn't. Not because the methods failed, but because we haven't given them a really good try. We went on a date one night, had a visitor another night, and then a friend came to visit from out of own (didn't stay with us), but we were out late yet again. Plus I really, really like my evening strolls - and am just not ready to give them up . I can't seem to get out of the house early enough to make it not an issue of interfering with his sleep.
But I've also made another discovery. At least for the time being - he changes so fast, it's hard to make any real-lasting discoveries. He does pretty well getting himself to bed if I put him down in the right window. If I get him too close to sleep, he gets frustrated being put down. If I put him down too early, he's just not tired and wants to party. Last night I found the window, and he went down pretty easily. But then I had to pick up Mark and a friend at 10:15 from Downtown (long story of poorly planned evening (although a very fun evening!)), so I had to wake him up and take him with me. Then he REALLY didn't want to go to bed.
But -good news. Tonight is my first night off from bedtime duty in 4 nights. So Mark gets to figure out the secret for one evening. Ahh, how nice! :)
I tried to post a few new pictures, but I'm getting error messages - so those will have to wait until the next entry. :) Happy week to you all!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Yeah for Benjamin...
And yeah for sleep! Last night Benjamin slept like a rock star (maybe it's because he wore his tie dyed "I'm with the Band" t-shirt. He only got up once at 3 AM to eat, and then went right back to sleep, leaving us to continue sleeping until the luxurious hour of 7 AM! And a double yeah because last night was the first night that Benjamin slept in his room ALL NIGHT!! Perhaps this is no coincidence - maybe Mark and I are the reason he keeps waking up during the night? We'll try this trick again tonight, and see if it works again...
Our current routine is that Benjamin takes his naps and is put to bed in his crib. When he wakes up for his first feeding, we put him in our co-sleeping bedside crib thingy, and continue to return him there after each nighttime feeding. Last night we decided to return him to his crib after the 3 AM feeding, which means he slept there all night, and Mark and I finally had our room back to ourselves. Yeah!!
Now before you think we have this whole sleeping thing figured out (which we don't by the way, which you'll probably learn in a future blog post where I complain that he is up every two hours again), he's napping well, sleeping pretty well at night - but bedtime has become this huge struggle - often lasting 1+ hours trying to put him down. We had been trying to get him to sleep at 9 pm, and sometimes he would even go down as early as 8 or 8:30. Lately, though, it's been creeping closer to 10 pm, leaving Mark and I with no alone time together at night.
To remedy this, we're going to try two approaches. One is we're going to start waking him up in the morning. He'll often sleep until 8 am or even 8:30. Today is the first day we were going to try to wake him up, but he woke up on his own out of hunger at 7. It's going to be hard - anyone who has a baby knows that waking a sleeping baby is hard. And no, it's not just because they are cute when they sleep (which they are), but because you are faced with this situation of consciously giving up some of your own free time. I could take a shower and eat breakfast - or - I could wake up Benjamin. Not that I don't love seeing our little cutie in the morning (first morning smiles from his crib are one of the most adorable, heart-warming things I've ever experienced), but if I wake him up, I'll have to change his diaper, feed him and entertain him for at least an hour while I drag myself around hungry and smelly. I'm rambling...
The second approach, which I'm not totally committed to yet, is to either nix the evening walk or move it earlier in the afternoon. I don't like this for a couple of reasons. One is I love my evening walks (often using them to catch up with friends and family on the phone - and no one will be home in the afternoon), or Mark and I get a chance to chat if he can come on the walk. Secondly, it's still pretty hot here in the afternoon. But Benjamin seems to think the stroller is his crib during our evening walk, and gets a pretty good nap in while we're walking. This could be delaying his bedtime - particularly because if he falls asleep during our walk at 7 PM, he's refreshed for several hours - and if we are at home, I wonder if there is a chance that he could go to sleep for the night if he were in his crib.
Anyways, we'll keep trying to figure out this bedtime thing, and we'll keep you posted if we have any success. If you have any handy tricks for getting your baby to sleep at night, let me know! I find it strange that he can go down just fine for a nap, but that somehow he knows when he goes down for bedtime that it's for the long haul and he wants to fight it. Curious...
Because I can't resist, here's a few new pictures of the little guy:
Our current routine is that Benjamin takes his naps and is put to bed in his crib. When he wakes up for his first feeding, we put him in our co-sleeping bedside crib thingy, and continue to return him there after each nighttime feeding. Last night we decided to return him to his crib after the 3 AM feeding, which means he slept there all night, and Mark and I finally had our room back to ourselves. Yeah!!
Now before you think we have this whole sleeping thing figured out (which we don't by the way, which you'll probably learn in a future blog post where I complain that he is up every two hours again), he's napping well, sleeping pretty well at night - but bedtime has become this huge struggle - often lasting 1+ hours trying to put him down. We had been trying to get him to sleep at 9 pm, and sometimes he would even go down as early as 8 or 8:30. Lately, though, it's been creeping closer to 10 pm, leaving Mark and I with no alone time together at night.
To remedy this, we're going to try two approaches. One is we're going to start waking him up in the morning. He'll often sleep until 8 am or even 8:30. Today is the first day we were going to try to wake him up, but he woke up on his own out of hunger at 7. It's going to be hard - anyone who has a baby knows that waking a sleeping baby is hard. And no, it's not just because they are cute when they sleep (which they are), but because you are faced with this situation of consciously giving up some of your own free time. I could take a shower and eat breakfast - or - I could wake up Benjamin. Not that I don't love seeing our little cutie in the morning (first morning smiles from his crib are one of the most adorable, heart-warming things I've ever experienced), but if I wake him up, I'll have to change his diaper, feed him and entertain him for at least an hour while I drag myself around hungry and smelly. I'm rambling...
The second approach, which I'm not totally committed to yet, is to either nix the evening walk or move it earlier in the afternoon. I don't like this for a couple of reasons. One is I love my evening walks (often using them to catch up with friends and family on the phone - and no one will be home in the afternoon), or Mark and I get a chance to chat if he can come on the walk. Secondly, it's still pretty hot here in the afternoon. But Benjamin seems to think the stroller is his crib during our evening walk, and gets a pretty good nap in while we're walking. This could be delaying his bedtime - particularly because if he falls asleep during our walk at 7 PM, he's refreshed for several hours - and if we are at home, I wonder if there is a chance that he could go to sleep for the night if he were in his crib.
Anyways, we'll keep trying to figure out this bedtime thing, and we'll keep you posted if we have any success. If you have any handy tricks for getting your baby to sleep at night, let me know! I find it strange that he can go down just fine for a nap, but that somehow he knows when he goes down for bedtime that it's for the long haul and he wants to fight it. Curious...
Because I can't resist, here's a few new pictures of the little guy:
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Three Months Old!
It's hard to believe that Benjamin is already three months old! I believe that pulls him out of the category of newborn. He's really quite fun now - smiling and interacting a whole lot more, and he has a new trick - rolling over! He can't quite do it all the time (although I see him trying as he rolls to one side and grunts as he tries to complete the roll), but he's getting increasingly better. The only thing is that he rolls from his back to his belly. And he hates being on his belly - so once he completes the roll he whines until you turn him back over on his back - from where he proceeds to try to roll over again. :)
Sleeping -
This can be a challenge. Sometimes. And other times he's amazing about it. Once he went to sleep at bedtime within 5 minutes of putting him down. One night he went to bed at 6:30 pm. But the average is 20-30 minutes of trying and a bedtime around 9 pm. He's usually good about naps, but then again, that also changes, as I'm having a terrible time getting this blog entry done, since he woke up 30 minutes into his normal long nap, and won't go back to sleep. Yes, he'll go to sleep in my arms, but then he gets very agitated when I try to put him in his crib, and we have to start all over. This may be partially due to the fact that we're trying to wean him from swaddling. Now that he can turn over, I just don't think it's safe to have his arms bound by his sides. Last night Mark went to get him in the middle of the night for a feeding and he had turned himself onto his belly.
Work -
I started back this week - on a part time schedule. The ExxonMobil policies are great - but we'll just have to see how effectively they are put to work. I'm supposed to be working 4 days per week 4 hours per day (total of 16 hours per week). I thought that sounded pretty easy, but I've been surprised at how difficult it actually is - and I've not even been keeping to that exact schedule (ie just finding time whenever I can to get a little done). I only have to go to the office for 2-3 days out of the four. My biggest concern though, is not being able to get the hours in - but of having unrealistic expectations of what I'll be able to get done during those hours. I've returned to my exact same job, with no additional help yet (they are looking for someone else to also work on the project to supplement what I get done - but I've been given no time frame for when this will actually happen). Additionally, I was supposed to have a month long transition back to my job with the girl who replaced me - and that has been shortened to 2.5 days. She's now on another project in Paris. I'm trying really hard not to stress about the whole thing, but I'm walking back into a job with a ton to do and not a lot of support. I even got a call last Thursday night (I wasn't even back to work - didn't start until Tuesday) to work on something. I feel like I'm being set up for failure, but I probably just need to do what I can and hope the rest works itself out.
Anyways, we've posted some new pictures & videos from Ben's third month. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/griffith.photos
Sleeping -
This can be a challenge. Sometimes. And other times he's amazing about it. Once he went to sleep at bedtime within 5 minutes of putting him down. One night he went to bed at 6:30 pm. But the average is 20-30 minutes of trying and a bedtime around 9 pm. He's usually good about naps, but then again, that also changes, as I'm having a terrible time getting this blog entry done, since he woke up 30 minutes into his normal long nap, and won't go back to sleep. Yes, he'll go to sleep in my arms, but then he gets very agitated when I try to put him in his crib, and we have to start all over. This may be partially due to the fact that we're trying to wean him from swaddling. Now that he can turn over, I just don't think it's safe to have his arms bound by his sides. Last night Mark went to get him in the middle of the night for a feeding and he had turned himself onto his belly.
Work -
I started back this week - on a part time schedule. The ExxonMobil policies are great - but we'll just have to see how effectively they are put to work. I'm supposed to be working 4 days per week 4 hours per day (total of 16 hours per week). I thought that sounded pretty easy, but I've been surprised at how difficult it actually is - and I've not even been keeping to that exact schedule (ie just finding time whenever I can to get a little done). I only have to go to the office for 2-3 days out of the four. My biggest concern though, is not being able to get the hours in - but of having unrealistic expectations of what I'll be able to get done during those hours. I've returned to my exact same job, with no additional help yet (they are looking for someone else to also work on the project to supplement what I get done - but I've been given no time frame for when this will actually happen). Additionally, I was supposed to have a month long transition back to my job with the girl who replaced me - and that has been shortened to 2.5 days. She's now on another project in Paris. I'm trying really hard not to stress about the whole thing, but I'm walking back into a job with a ton to do and not a lot of support. I even got a call last Thursday night (I wasn't even back to work - didn't start until Tuesday) to work on something. I feel like I'm being set up for failure, but I probably just need to do what I can and hope the rest works itself out.
Anyways, we've posted some new pictures & videos from Ben's third month. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/griffith.photos
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