Working on another milestone

As you all know, I have been working extremely hard on my tummy time. My head is so heavy sometimes, but I'm getting better at holding it up. While I'm on my tummy playing, I've found that if I tilt my head slightly to the right, my arms start to come with me. Then, all I have to do is give a good kick with my left leg and I can roll from my tummy to my back!!! As Charlie's mommy always says, I've learned "a new trick!"

My First Wrestling Match

Weighing in at over 13lbs, I decided it was time to challenge my good friend Charlie to a wrestling match. Of course, our parents had to take pictures of us in our matching outfits first, but afterward we had so much fun. Charlie has the upper hand because he is able to roll, can control his arms better than I can, and even has two teeth! Not very fair... BUT, I managed to give him a light punch in the eye before he nibbled on my toe!

My Busy Day

Today, Mommy and Daddy took me to church and Sunday school. I behaved for most of it, but Mommy had to carry me out during the sermon because I became hungry. Later, Mommy received a call from our friends requesting that we pick up their puppies for them, so we did! While the puppies played outside, Daddy and I worked on my tummy time... oops, I spit up a little!

My Daddy Is Going To Be A Doctor!!!

Ethan wanted to say congratulations to his daddy on his recent acceptance to medical school! Yay! Daddy's going to be a doctor!!!

Rainy Day

My cousin accused me of not updating Ethan's blog enough, so this is for you, Paige!

Ethan and I are hanging out today due to the rainy weather and thought we'd take some pictures. Ethan would like acknowledgement for all the hard work he has put into building his neck muscles so he can hold his head up.

Look At Me!!!

Me, Daddy, and My Puppies

Our New Nanny...

Before I tell you about our new nanny, I just wanted to comment that our sleep plan is working! We are seeing a much happier baby who falls asleep easily, eats well, and is even playing well! We are doing daily tummy-time (near and dear to my heart) and Ethan is holding his head up fantastically! Okay, so maybe it's short-lived, but he's doing great and tolerating it well. He has been visual-tracking for awhile, but it just keeps getting better. He also loves for me to carry him around facing away from my body so he can see what's going on. He's very observant!

Now onto news about our new nanny...

When I put Ethan down for a nap, I check on him constantly like the overprotective mother that I am. I want to know at all times if he's breathing, make sure he isn't choking, etc. (ha! New mom syndrome!). Anyway, I have noticed that each time I check on him, I have found our chocolate lab lying in front of Ethan's doorway guarding the entrance. I have even noticed our lab walking into the room to sniff the crib, check out the entire room, and then lie down again at the doorway. So, now Ethan has his own personal nanny who will one day become his own personal horse! What a lucky kid!

Sleep Deprivation

I wanted to share some new thoughts or revelations we've had lately while raising Ethan. All this time, people have been giving us special attention and asking us how we're doing and if we're sleep deprived... oh, the poor parents! Of course, we've talked about ourselves and said we're doing okay, getting about 6-7 hours of sleep total each night, etc. Well, as parents, we have felt pity for ourselves and for our loss of sleep without even considering whether or not our own child was getting enough sleep. We always told people that Ethan is just fussy or even suspected colic or even blamed his mild case of reflux. Guess what... we were wrong! We found out Ethan has been overly tired.

Poor Ethan has been sleep deprived. Did you know that children his age are supposed to sleep 14-18 hours a day? Did you also know that most babies DON'T do this naturally? We certainly thought they did and we didn't suspect that he wasn't sleeping well until I began adding it up. Our baby has been averaging 9-10 hours of sleep per day. That's pretty bad. So, we began a new schedule, finally introduced Ethan to his crib (mostly for naps), and thanks to our friend Emily (who loaned us a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," Ethan is on his way to obtaining the proper amount of sleep. We have really noticed a difference in his whole demeanor... he smiles more, is calmed more easily, AND falls asleep very quickly! I'm a big fan of this book!

So, we have some new house rules that are highly effective in keeping our baby happy:
1. NEVER wake a sleeping baby. "Let sleeping babies lie! Never awaken a sleeping baby. Destroying sleep continuity is unhealthy."
2. Naps promote optimal alertness for children. So, no one can interfere with Ethan's naps anymore! (including ourselves)
3. Ethan is going to bed early EVERY night because "Small but constant deficits in sleep over time tend to have escalating and perhaps long-term effects on brain function." And "A regular bedtime is better than an irregular bedtime."
4. If Ethan fusses for a few minutes while in the crib, carseat, etc., no one picks him up ...a little fussing is normal. If you pick up your child, it can arouse them too much and you may cheat your child out of a good 45 minute to 2 hour nap. I can't even begin to count how many times we made this mistake.

And only a couple more of my favorite quotes from this book:
"When your child does not nap well and you keep him up in the evening, he suffers."

"Junk food is not healthy for our bodies. Neither is a 'junk sleep' schedule. You try not to let your child become overly hungry, so don't let your child become overly tired." We have paid the price for this every since we brought Ethan home.

Babies are a lot of work and definitely don't come with instruction booklets. We are learning so much every day!