Easily Amused

After yesterday's nap I'm convinced that Benjamin is just far too curious about the world around him to sleep. Sleep is boring.....everything around is not. Yesterday I put Ben down for a nap and thought he was asleep when I left the room. I turned the monitor on and heard "oooooo oooooo" and screeching laughter from upstairs. I peaked my head in the door and saw creature rolled on his side and his pudgy little hand grabbing at the dots on his cribsheet. There are little blue and brown dots on his white cribsheet and he was fascinated by them and was trying with all his might to pick them up. Why sleep when there are dots to be removed from the sheet?

Anyway- last night- I'd give it about a B. I was gone at choir rehearsal until about 10:00 so Brian put Ben down alone. He went down at 7, was up crying at 7:45 but Brian got him back to sleep. Up again at 10:15 but only for a few minutes. Up again at 11:15...same story. Brian has this down to a science after 3 nights. No joke....it only takes him about 5 minutes now and Ben is back to sleep. HUGE IMPROVEMENT. Up again at 12:30 when I fed him. Up again at 3:30 fed him again because he didn't take much at 12:30. I picked him up and he dive bombed my chest like he hadn't eaten in days so I knew he was actually hungry. He ate. He pooped. I gave him "lovey" and he fell back asleep. Yes...."lovey." That's what this new books calls any soft comfort object. Ben's "lovey" is a soft blanket thing with a bear's head sticking out of the middle of it. The bear only has arms and a head and the rest of him is blanket....if you've had a baby or babysat you might know what I'm talking about. I gave him "lovey" and he held it in one hand near his face and fell asleep. He slept until 7 this morning.

Overall I see improvement. Ben no longer needs to nurse every single time he wakes up. He also is able to fall asleep on his own. We put him down while he's still awake and he's able to fall asleep. 2 weeks ago he couldn't have done either of these things. So.....improvement!

By the way- Ben had a playdate again with his friend, Clare. The moms got to work making babyfood while the babies did what babies do....they slept, they pooped, they cried, they played. It was remarkable to see how much they've both changed in a month or two. Instead of just laying there ignoring each other they actually were interacting (as much as 4 month olds can interact). It was very sweet. They were very good....the peas we made were not :) Ben was however quite pleased with the sweet potatoes. (I'll post a picture tomorrow of Ben and Clare....my camera is at home. )