PJ Update

This entry is dedicated solely to PJ - who, as #2, has very little dedicated solely to him.

Tuesday marked PJ's 5th month, if we are going strictly by date...April 25 - Sept 25. But, if we are marking time by weeks - Wednesday marked PJ's 22nd week. If we consider a month to be 4 weeks, as it generally is, then PJ is 5 months, 2 weeks. I suppose it doesn't matter all that much...unless you are a parent who is waiting until PJ is 6 months old to start solid food. (I know I *can* feed him solids whenever *I* want, but all research indicates that it is not necessary, potentially causes/intensifies allergies, won't make them sleep any longer, etc.) With LJ (I promise not to mention him too much in this post dedicated solely to PJ), I counted down the time until I could give him solid food because feeding an infant solid food was such a novelty. With PJ, I counted down the time until I could give him solid food because he seems to want it so desperately. He intently watches every morsel of food go into people's mouths, he grabs at anything he can on my plate and tries to shove it in his mouth, he'll claw his way across the floor if LJ has something PJ deems to be food and at a level which he can feasibly army crawl his way toward...this kid just seems to be ready to eat. So, we did it - we gave him his first solid food - Sweet Potato. He opened his mouth and swallowed it down as though he's been doing this for months. In fact, RJ was feeding him sweet potatoes while he (RJ) was eating chocolate cake. RJ turned his attention toward LJ for a split second and PJ went after that cake. We have it on video - it is hilarious - you must ask to see it when you are at our house. So, PJ is on his way to a diet that includes more solids. Sweet potato passed the 3 day allergic reaction test, now he's on day three of rice cereal, and then we'll try squash.

PJ is going to crawl any day now. I know it seems early and we can't believe it ourselves, but he's going to do it. He's been flipping from back to front for a good long while now. Once on his front, he's pretty good at manipulating himself around and he shows zero desire to flip from front to back. He can do it, but I don't think he sees any point in it...I mean, no one ever got anywhere (ie - toward any food) by lying on their back! In the past couple of days, PJ has pushed himself up on his hands and feet - aka bear crawl position - and then he lowers himself to his knees and rocks back and forth. I suppose he could maintain this for quite a while without any forward movement, but I think he is ready to get around and he seems to be a very physically determined child.

PJ now has a crib in his room. We had to go buy one as LJ still loves sleeping in his - and we are in no hurry to have him out of it. It was a hand-me down from my sister, so we have only had to purchase one crib over the course of two children. This crib is a "convertible", so we'll have to figure out what to do when LJ is in a bed...do we convert this crib to a toddler bed and put PJ is LJ's crib or what? But, we'll make that decision when we have to! PJ's "theme" is jungle animals - very cute sheet, bumper, and blanket. The greens coordinate well with my super awesome green rocker/recliner in his room. The whole set-up looks really cozy and I wish I could curl up in there and sleep. We're hopeful that it will be a soothing sanctuary for PJ and that he'll love his crib as much as LJ loves his!

As LJ Says...

There are several noteworthy things that LJ has said of late. I submit the following for your reading pleasure:

After dinner last night, RJ said, "It is time to clean up" - meaning, it is time to clean up the dinner dishes. To this, LJ replied, "Why? Who is coming over?"

See how he is already trained in the art of our cleaning habits...we just have people over often enough to keep our house from getting really out of hand as that is the only motivation strong enough to encourage us to use our "free" time cleaning.

In the car a couple of evenings ago, LJ took a toy away from PJ. I told LJ that was not nice and to give the toy back to PJ. To this, LJ said, "I want you to go away PR. Go back to the doctor where you belong."

I struggled very hard not to laugh out loud while RJ explained that we are all a family and we belong together - not with the doctor. Very funny stuff.

And, just now - as I'm typing this, LJ came over, patted my wet, freshly-washed hair and said, "your hair looks pretty nice Mama"

- and we'll just leave it at that for now.

Impulse Control?

Where to begin? I'm going to try to create a picture for you - but I doubt you will truly grasp what I'm going to tell you...since many of you haven't seen LJ's room.

1:00 - nap time. All goes normally. When LJ goes down for a nap, he usually plays for a bit (sometimes up to an hour) in his crib, but he eventually falls asleep.

Around 1:45, PJ wakes from his nap and I start feeding him.

2:00 - I hear a thump and then LJ crying. I put PJ in his bouncy seat - (he was none too happy about being cut-off mid-meal) and go to LJ's room.

I open the door and the first thing I see it a puddle on the floor and a tipped over bottle of rubbing alcohol. This had previously been on the chest of drawers next to LJ's crib. This is a tall chest of drawers and everything has been put out of his reach...thanks to the "band-aid" incident a few weeks ago. My eye goes from the puddle to see that LJ is standing in his crib with the front of his shirt pulled over and behind his head, but his arms are still in it. He has taken off his pants and his diaper, so he is void of clothes...except on his arms. The clock radio, lamp, piggy bank, and various pictures and frames (notice I list them separately - they were separated...and one, ripped in half) in his crib. And, remember LJ is crying...he is upset because his pacifier is on the floor - As if I'm going to come in, see this sight, pick up his pacifier, hand it to him and walk away.

I scolded him pretty harshly as I cleaned up the mess and re-clothed him...telling him that the lamp is dangerous, I'm really sad that he ripped the picture, etc. and he cried and cried all the while telling me that he doesn't know why he did it. Finally, he yawned as he said he was sorry. I took all fun things out of his crib (toy and book) and told him he'd be wise to just go to sleep.

PJ finished eating while I called RJ to tell him about "his son". We laughed about it and concluded that LJ just couldn't help himself. He likely got one thing off the chest of drawers and then kept going...I guess he must have hoisted himself up onto it a bit - that's the only way he could have reached everything. I guess we should be thankful that he didn't hurt himself or drink the rubbing alcohol - (there, I said the required things, so don't chastise us :-) )

I had to go wake LJ up from this nap - I think he figured he'd better wait until I came to get him. I asked him to tell me what we talked about before his nap and he pointed to the chest and said, "those things do not belong in my crib" - then I asked about his diaper and he said, "it does not belong in my crib either." (we told him last week that he cannot take his diaper off in his crib, so I was glad he repeated it - we'll give the potty training update later) I was satisfied, but I bet RJ will have a few words to say when he gets home.

WHAAA!

This is me crying - something has possessed PJ and it is not something good. We've had major sleeping issues for the past 5 days and I'm so sleep deprived I fear there will be ramifications in other areas of my life. I'm sure RJ feels the same way, but he's generally more optimistic (we won't go into the pros/cons of such an approach in this post) than I am. PJ, not being our first child, has the benefit of our wisdom, but - PJ, not being our first child, does not respond to our wisdom in the same manner as our first child did. This is monumentally frustrating.

Let's see, where to begin? Wednesday night was a horror show as PJ woke (no joke) every hour. See, up until now - he'd been going from 8:00ish to 4:00ish without waking, so this was our routine. When he wakes up every hour - this deviates from the routine in a rather significant manner. RJ is "on duty" until 3:00, but I think (my brain is foggy) that we relented and I fed him around 2:00. So, all was well until 3:30 when I took him out to the couch and we slept (fitfully) until 6:00 when I relented and fed him again. Thursday was not much better, but I managed to get PJ to take an hour-long nap while I slept next to him on our bed. Thursday night was a tad better, but still - he was up several times and I think I fed him 2x that night. At this point, I'm hoping he's just going through a growth spurt and if he gets enough to eat, he'll pipe down. This suspicion seems to be confirmed as Jfer had a rather sleepy time with him on Friday (Jfer, correct me if I have Wednesday and Friday confused because I'm seriously brain dead). This follows the growth spurt formula. A day or two of inconsolable fussiness and wanting to eat all the time followed by a day or two of "unwakable" sleep. Terrrific! Problem solved. And, Friday night was rather normal - original normal, not most recent normal.

Saturday, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom Mom (great grandma), and great aunt and uncle came for a visit and that all went well and was a nice time. LJ managed to get a shortened nap time in, but PJ's nap time was shortened as well and we were already working on a sleep deficit...not good for Saturday night...back to horror show. Sunday was a busy day of finishing up laundry and going to the grocery store all before 3:30 when Jfer arrives for 3 hours of sitting while RJ and I go to work (this is an every Sunday thing and, while it sounds no fun (well, it isn't that pleasant), it is a great help to the regular work week). PJ had napped in a normal way on Sunday, but I think he needs a late afternoon nap and sometimes he doesn't get it/allow himself to go down for it. So, he was ready for bed when bedtime came...until 11:30 when he'd have no part of laying down. I believe I fed him and he was ok, after MANY attempts to put him down, until 4:00, when I fed him again.

Look, he's basically crying every hour or two at night...for the past several nights. Sometimes, he passes some gas and then settles down...sometimes, he's just not happy and we can't tell why. Maybe he has an ear infection? Growth spurt? WHAT???? Remember how PJ was "the happiest baby"? WELL??????