Daycare Ups and Downs

Having a 200,000 mile car has been anti-climatic (uninterestingly, it drives much as it did before).  Laurie's return to work has not been.  Jake was pretty easy going about the hand-off to day care and they took great care of him, but as feared, he wasn't much for sleeping there.  And he got a cold in the first week.  He'd go down for his naps, but sleep between 20 and 75 minutes, instead of the 2 1/2 hrs we shoot for here.  The main difference is that we can let him cry for a couple minutes until he's back asleep.  At the daycare, with other children sleeping, playing, eating, and what-not (for that age group, I think only pooping is left), the caretakers are compelled to pick him up and soothe him.  Which in Jake's case is the end of the nap.

Mr. Bun-Bun is a favorite at the changing table.
Or wherever he turns up.  (Thanks Tim & Jill!)

He did quickly show signs of exhaustion in the evenings, but happily not a return to the fussiness from before.  It probably helped that, because of snow days and Laurie's new schedule (Fridays off), his first week had no more than 1 and a half consecutive days at daycare.  And this last week I took Wednesday off to stay with him.  But after two full days at daycare, he did struggle with sleep (an hour of crying at 3 am), and had a solid hour and a half of angry Wednesday afternoon.  By that time, though, the search for a nanny was well underway.

Mr. Bun-Bun handles unfortunate treatment with great grace.

After quite a bit of sifting resumes, calling prospective nannies and references, and several interviews, we've hired Milisha.  Her first day is this Thursday.  She doesn't have the experience of SuperNanny Krystal, but she does have our trust and confidence.  More on Milisha later!

Chubby arms, finally!

Of course, daycare wasn't all bad:  he'd get silly-happy when Laurie would go down to visit or pick-him up for the day.  There's no doubt now that he knows exactly who Mom is!  And he really seemed to like the environment there - toys, other kids, other adults.  It also reminded us that flexing the schedule is okay, as long we get back to good sleep before too long.  Oh, and we got through his first cold No Big Deal.

Okay, this may be posed.  But we were
excited that he could even stay upright
on his own.

In other Jacobian news:  he's gradually progressing towards sitting on his own (though that's still a ways off), and has graduated to hanging out in the bouncer.  He has a decided liking for animal noises (especially monkeys/apes).  He's starting to get some insulation to deal with the Boston weather (note pic above).  His herniated belly button (extreme outtie) has withdrawn now that he's calmer.  Also, Laurie has finally introduced a few things back into her diet with no ill effects for Jake - good news for her!

Side notes - for anyone not following Mumblings from Mumbai, Greg and Twyla just hit 6 months in India.  And Grandma Tibboel (Jake's G-ma, that is) gets her first visit there soon!

3 months, 1 week

This week's exciting news: Laurie's 2001 Subaru Impreza turned 200,000 miles. And, in a stroke of good luck, it was able to reach that milestone in the White Mountains, on the way to go skiing . A good sign for the next 100,000!

But you're here to read about Jake, so I'll get on with it. He's still sleeping well, and is generally either attentive or playful when he's awake. Except during mealtime, during which he still tends to get a little worked up. He added "ooh's" and "oh's" to his repertoire this week, and seemed to start taking notice of the interesting phenomenon of the mirror, watching his hand touch itself (might have just been enjoying the feel of the smooth surface, I suppose).

3-month Lobster Shot!

This upcoming week is Laurie's last before she returns to work, so it will have some inevitable anxiety. Will he get along there? Will they keep him on his sleep schedule? Will he start getting colds and other bugs? (he managed to dodge mine and Laurie's in the last couple weeks) Will Laurie survive her own guilt complex?

Here Comes the Crank!

I imagine that after some transition pains, this will work out okay. The daycare is on-site in Laurie's office, so she'll be able to see him during the day. And I expect that, like Krystal (the very helpful Nanny), they'll be better at keeping Jake well slept and fed than we are. They, surely, also do not want a cranky baby. Mornings will likely be the hardest part to learn - so stay tuned to find out how we (mostly she) get through it!

We Got A New Baby!

Well, it's been  awhile.  I didn't feel like I had much to share - the on-going saga of a fussy baby and frustrated parents ('specially Mom).  We did have a good Christmas - a couple days on the Cape with Nana Mimi and Papa Lyle, a great visit from his cousins (courtesy of Aunt Jen and Uncle Scott), visits with local friends, and a Grandma Tibboel cameo in the new year.  But he continued to cry a lot and not sleep much.  Laurie continued to not sleep much or eat much.

Cool Cousins

But, lo and behold, a new year and a new baby!  I suspect the elimination of an as-yet-unidentified allergen and a bit of maturing contributed, but on Monday, the 3rd, the miracle nanny Krystal paid a third visit and provided us with a major turn around.  Krystal has a full time job with another family, but had made a couple previous visits.  Each was well worth it: she's got Jake's number, and teaches us better parenting techniques each time.  But this third visit was a watershed event.  Jake's now on a pretty strict sleep schedule, and he's a content baby.  He was even heard to giggle the other day after a bath.  But it's not the highs that are so noticeably different.  It's the absence of lows.


Our duplex neighbor stopped by in wonderment at his new quietness (perhaps she was worried about what had happened to the neighbor baby?).  And we've been skyping heavily to show off the goodness that is now Jacob.  He goes to bed much easier (he smiled as I left him to sleep this morning).  He wakes up calmly (again, often with a smile).  He, for the most part, eats better.  He hardly even cried when he got vaccinations on Friday.

I really hope we're not just riding with the wind again, but it's been a week, and the difference is monumental.  I'm optimistic! 

In other Baby Jake news:  he's learned the soothing power of his own fists, and they find their way to his mouth a lot now.  Jake's also learning to grab things on his own - definitely fun to watch.  New Jake is content to sit in laps, and has started to take a passing interest in the books we read him.  However, not nearly as much as the TV, which he watches with rapture.  The up-side is, he finds the same interest in the computer screen when we skype.

So, for 2011, out with the old Jake, and in with the new.  Out with flustered parents, in with delighted ones.  Out with the dirty diapers, and in with crates of new ones!

(excited baby parent note: see him grab the bunny rattle on his own? How cool is that?)

9 weeks

Did I say last time that it felt like we were making progress?  It reminds me of the oh-so-many times that I've been out on my bike, thinking "Wow, I'm getting in good shape.  This feels great,"  only to find out I had a tail wind.  At which time I think, "Wow, I fell for it again," as I head back into the head wind.  We are still able to get him to sleep, but it's typically restless, and with periodic "resets."  Walks and car rides still do the trick most of the time.  Prime suspects are acid reflux and/or an allergy.  Laurie's now down to eating chicken, turkey, corn, peas, potatoes, and squash--largely constrained by her own dietary habits, in add'n to the key allergy suspects.  If it works she can try adding items one-by-one.  They can't do allergy scratch tests until 4-5 months.

In the meantime, Jake continues to develop and grow.  He's got an award winning smile (fatherly conjecture - we haven't entered him into any contests by which to take the awards yet), his eyes track like a hawk, and he's getting slowly more vocal.  He's putting on inches and pounds, and his current favorite awake thing is to stand and jump - with a little balancing assistance.  He's also quite the flyer now that he holds his head up well.

Uncanny . . .

Okay - here's the update.  More pics and a video (sorry - it's not of Jake this time).  First - after a couple months of waiting, we now have evidence that he looks more like me!  The next shows that Jake is a big fan of hooters (not the restaurant, which is, however, under fire for marketing to children/families).

See the resemblance?

Okay, so he's only 1/4 Irish. 

Bundled for Blustery Boston

He doesn't last long in laps, but we're finding
other ways to get some reading in.

Compare to the earlier lobster shot.
(This is clearly a Maine lobster)

Top 3 cutest?  Or . . . . #1!  Yeah, baby!

And now, dah-da-da-daaahhh:  the video.  With all the noise in the house, Laurie and Monster have had to find a way to work out some stress and anxiety.  Fortunately, they've been able to find a mutually beneficial way to do that!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming . . .

This week, let's just start with the pictures.  Mmm-kay?

My Mom's a good Mom.

Happy Days Are Here Again

This can lead nowhere good . . .

He loves baths!

Jake is still very vocal, and can wear on nerves (few things give me headaches, but he's given me a couple now), but with help from Nana Mimi (Laurie's Mom) and additional reading, the last few days have felt a little like progress.  Most "solutions" only last a couple days, and I'm not sure we're past that, but we think part of the problem is that he's underslept.  Solving that isn't necessarily strait forward.  Let him sleep, right?  Uh, yeah, but we're getting better at it.

Really, we've had pretty good success the last few days with getting him to sleep, with a greatly expanded repertoire of techniques.  Among them:  more ways to hold him, and many variations on those;  talking, singing, music, sh-shhing (though he's not particularly fond of that), and/or white noise; walking, rocking, telemarking (he loves that);  patting, rubbing, gently joggling; pacifiers, warm and cold.  And we're getting better attuned to his signals, to include how his eyes, arms, and head are moving.  That helps us get our timing right.

So, as it turns out, he may not have an attitude problem.  He may just need better parents, which we're working hard on.  And in case Mom was worried, here's this weeks' video (using Corel VideoStudio - 1/2 off on Friday!):

Is there a light at the end?

Actually, there's a light each day.  Little smiles, eyes following you (or the jingly piggy) around, and the occasional coo or gaa.  But we're still trying all sorts of things to get/keep him calm, or occasionally asleep.  More schedule.  More feeding.  More effective feeding.  Better burping.  Cold pacifiers.  Gas medicine.  Acid reflux medicine.  Ritalin.  Talking super nice (in lieu of the usual shhhh'shing).  Just kidding about Ritalin. 

Laurie is tireless.  Necessary since the kid is tireless, but she never loses her patience or cool.  In fact, she's getting more patient and loving.  Mom instincts are pretty amazing.

So, nothing new, except he's a little fatter (and I forgot to post this blog on the 20th).

1 month

Today, Jake is 4 weeks. 9 lbs, 10 oz. Cuter, still (smiling sometimes - not just gas). And healthy. But crying most of the time when he's awake. And some days he's awake a lot. I don't think he actually qualifies as collicky, but he sure does have a loud streak. This morning, the neighbor asked me if the screaming hurt him. A great amount of our time is spent trying to keep him calm (primary reason for the late blog entry). But he's doing great, still loves walks, loves visitors, and tolerates photo ops.

His Grandpa and Grandma Tibboel made it out to meet him, and to help us out as I went back to work. I think they enjoyed the QT - you can judge from the photos. Papa Lyle and Nana Mimi also made it out to see him again, though on one of his fussy days. Still, he had some good moments, and Nana Mimi is a good calmer. As is Jen (Laurie's older sister), who with Hubby Scott gave a valued helping hand this weekend. Local visitors generally put him in good spirits, too, at least for awhile.

Grandma

Papa Lyle

Being very safety concious, we invested
in the heavy duty stroller. The GRACO
car seat snaps right in. Super easy.

Our Mastif Pumpkin got carried away - forgot he was supposed to be protecting the family.  And we were worried about the cat.  Sheesh.

For those that haven't heard, we'll be moving to Montgomery, AL next summer - the AF is sending me to school - it's an AF-run school for Majors. Sad to be leaving Boston, but 10 months later we'll be off again; don't know where, yet. In the meantime, he'll be spending the start of his formative language period in the south. We'll see how that works out (I adore his Great Aunt Beth's accent, but I imagine him with something more like Larry the Cable Guy).

Jen and Scott

Final note to enhance your blog experience: Greg taught me the way of RSS. Instead of having to check the site for updates and being disappointed, you can set up an RSS feed that will let you know when I've made an update. For cool-kid Mozilla users, you should have an RSS symbol (orange with "radio waves") on the right side of the address bar. For Internet Explorer, the icon should be next to the "home" icon. I'll give part B of the tutorial once I have a clue.


 Oh, and a little video for Mom:

 

Serenity now. Serenity now. Serenity now . . .