That's My Boy

Given the choice between his favorite toy or a bag of cookies, Spencer chose the cookies.

(Make sure your volume is on)


That's my boy!

To Sleep... or Not...

I don't normally use this blog as a place to whine... but I need help. I (naively) thought that I would be granted never-ending patience when I gave birth. I never dreamed I could yell at my kid. But sleep deprivation makes you do some crazy stuff...

I'm going to preface this post by stating the obvious- I love Spencer. Every time I think about just how much I love him, I get all teary-eyed. And I get really defensive when someone (other than me) calls him "fussy" or any synonym of fussy. I give my standard response "he's such a good baby- he's just tired." And it's true- he is a good baby. He's got such a cute personality and he's a joy to have around... except when he's tired. Which brings me to the reason for this post...

Spencer is having difficulty sleeping. He's never been a fan of sleeping, not since day 1 of his little life. All the books and articles I've read say that babies' sleep is pretty disorganized for about the first 3-4 months of life. I think I was subconsciously thinking that once he hit 4 months of age, all his sleep problems would somehow be resolved. Now that he's hit 4 months (and is a few weeks past 4 months), I'm finding that's not the case. And I'm going crazy.

I've got 2 friends that have little boys the same age as Spencer. They are able to fall asleep on their own, take nice long naps, go down to bed early and are generally great sleepers. Spencer does none of those things. And when they talk about their awesome-at-sleeping babies, I find myself thinking bitter and resentful thoughts (which in turn makes me feel like a horrible person).

Spencer can't put himself to sleep yet... I have to rock him to sleep, until he's passed out cold. If I just lay him down when he's tired, he screams. Bloody murder. And instead of screaming himself to sleep, he gets more and more upset, 'til I have to go pick him up. His naps last only 30-45 minutes (which is barely enough time for me to brush my teeth and shower, let alone sleep myself). If we put Spencer to bed earlier than 8:30pm, he either cries forever, or he sleeps for 30-45 minutes, then wakes up. He thinks he's just had a nap and stays up for hours more, until he finally passes out.

He's been sick for a week, which I know hasn't helped. Then I got sick. Then Cory was out of town. Then Cory was sick. It's not been a fun week. But now we're all finally getting better, I'm going to try the "sleep training" again.

I've read lots of articles on sleeping tips, online and in various other baby books. I've read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. All of this only makes me feel like the worst mom in the entire world. I feel like I'm failing my child. I want him to be well-rested, so he can continue to grow and develop. I feel awful, because I know he's so tired. I feel guilty for being unable to get my kid to sleep. I get all these emails about how much sleep babies need and then I stress out over it, until sometimes I can't sleep. He rubs his eyes all day and by the end of the day, his eyes are so red. He can't seem to get over his cold, because he won't sleep. Poor baby!

Like I said... I've got major mom guilt and one overtired child. I want him to sleep. I don't know what to do. We can't seem to get on any consistent schedule, despite me trying every day, all day. I've come to dread nap time, because it's usually a battle. I spend 30-90 minutes (depending on the day) trying to get him to go to sleep. And then he's only asleep for 30-45 minutes. It's extremely frustrating. And meanwhile, I'm ready to pull out my hair and he's getting more and more tired.

Like I said, I need help. Advice. Or words of comfort. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's gone through this. How do I help him learn to fall asleep on his own? What time do I put him to bed? How do we get on a schedule? What am I doing wrong? Please help :) You all are experienced moms (and dads) so must have lots of good tips. Help us!

Professional shots

I know it seems that all I do is put up pictures of Spencer... but these were too cute not to share. We did an impromptu photo session a couple of weeks ago with a friend who's a professional photographer... Cortney from Bouncin' Baby Photography, and the photos are just so cute.

Love this one

His favorite activity... drooling!

Chiropractic Open House

Cory's new office is having an open house and everyone is invited!

Details:
Saturday July 31st
9am - 3pm
1525 N. Main, Suite 100, Bountiful (where the old JCPenny was -- bottom floor, southeast corner of the new complex)

Free drawings, FREE FOOD (who doesn't love free food?!), and booths by other local businesses. You can also take a tour of the new office and let me tell you- it is nice.

Also, free health screenings being done by Cory.

Cory's been working really hard on the their new website, and the more people look at it, the higher google ranks it (or something like that) so please click on the link and go have a look around. http://www.completecare-chiropractic.com/

Hope to see some of you at the open house!

July - 3 months old

Here's some pictures from some of the fun stuff we've done in the month of July.

At the Centerville parade. He seems to really like parades, except for the loud noises (hence, the earplugs).

Rocking the earplugs at the parade

Swimming on the 4th of July

Utah Lake boating fun

Too much fun

Hanging with cousin Fisher

Farmington parade with my mom.

Playing with Dad

He loves his playmat. He's got excellent head control and loves to roll over.

He's got better hand coordination and can now grab for objects. He loves this lion dangly toy - his favorite.

Smiling in the bumbo

My Little Buddy

Spencer has now been part of our lives for over a year. From the very beginning, he's been my little buddy, my constant companion for nearly 10 months. Wherever I went, whatever I did, he was there, with me. I got to hear his little heartbeat, I got to feel him moving around, and I got to feel him kick. I talked to him all the time... and now, a year later, nothing has changed. I still talk to him... only now he jabbers back at me. He still goes everywhere with me. At the current time, I'm his favorite person in the world. He's still my little buddy, a perfect gift from God.

Now that I'm three months removed from being pregnant, I can appreciate what a miracle it was. From a small egg came this beautiful child. He's growing and changing so much every day. He's now laughing and it's adorable. I caught a short video of him laughing - too cute.

3 months

Well, I was intending to do a post for Spencer's 2 months, but our computer broke. We ordered the replacement part twice and both times they sent us the wrong thing. Finally, after like 3 weeks and mounting frustration, we finally got the right part. So... we finally got internet and our computer is working again. Knock on wood :)

He'll be 12 weeks old on Monday. I can't believe it. Everyone always says they growp up so fast, but it's different seeing it firsthand. Spencer is developing quite the little personality. He's very smily and very chattery. He loves to make noise and loves to drool. He's doing better sleeping at night, though he does like to wake up at 5:30 am (I however, do not!) He's finally taking naps during the day and we're getting a little more on a schedule.

Here's some recent photos.

Groovin' in his bouncer

Love this face... I think he tires of us taking his picture all the time...

Right after a bath, which he loves

Hanging with Dad on the couch

Such a hilarious pose

So cute

His hair after he wakes up

A different angle

Trying to figure out how to roll over

Just chillin'

Sitting in the box with all his diapers

First time in the bumbo

Sitting with mom

What can I say... we love him!!!