He stayed in his crib all night and slept through the night!
5 1/2 months
Reminder: "Sleeping through the night" in baby terms means sleeping for 5 hours straight.
So here's what happened: Jerry put the boy down at 7:15 with no tears, Evan rolled onto his tummy, sucked his thumb, and fell asleep. At 10:15 he woke up, I briefly rocked him and put him back down, and he fell right back asleep. Then we went to bed at 11:00. At 2:30 he woke up, ate, and fell back asleep, then didn't awaken again until 7:30.

7:30!! Jerry and I were so shocked when we woke up at 7 that I had him quickly go look at the boy. We thought surely there must have been something wrong. He was sleeping like an angel.

This is the first time he stayed in his crib all night long. Usually he wakes up so frequently that I break down and take him back to our bed so I can get some sleep.

Just a few months ago, he refused to sleep in his crib. We'd get him into a deep sleep, then gently place him into his warm crib, and he would immediately awaken and cry. A month ago he would sleep in his crib, but only for one hour at a time. It was as if his brain was programmed to awaken once an hour, and if he was not in mom or dad's arms, he'd scream. By 11:00 we would be so tired of putting him back down every hour that we would take him to bed with us.

Co-sleeping worked really well when he was a newborn. He woke up so often to eat (once every 1.5 hours) that the baby and I both got more sleep with him next to me. But by three months, he was moving around more at night, eating just as frequently but only out of habit, and I was sleeping worse than ever before. Jerry and I also needed our space back. Getting him used to his crib has been un-fun. Jerry and I feel like we've come to a turning point. We both feel the improvement has happened because Evan was ready, not because of anything we've done (though I'm sure our consistency in putting him in the same place every night has helped, but it really seems like there's been a fundamental change in Evan).

Let's just hope he continues to be a good sleeper. We are very hopeful.

Evan and I are both sick now, so New Year's Eve will be celebrated with just the three of us. I'm going to buy brie cheese and good crackers and other frilly things like cider and party hats. I wanted us to go out with friends, but we'll have to postpone that. I'm all stuffy.

Poor baby... he's sick & teething
After getting home from Christmas vacation Saturday, we had a restless night because Evan's nose was stuffy and he kept waking up (moreso than usual). Turns out he has the common cold and he's teething. The doctor said he'll get his first teeth within the next month. I can feel his top front teeth edging in. Baby Tylenol has worked wonders. Today he seems better, as he has a lot more energy.

He's trying hard to crawl. Today he got up on all fours for maybe 3 seconds, and rocked back and forth. A few times he got up on his knees and used them to push himself forward (then fell flat on his tummy). It won't be too long until he's all over the house...

Evan in Nana's Garden

Merry Christmas!
Evan had his first Christmas. It was wonderful. We stayed with Bob, Katie, Ben and Jilli (my brother's family) in Bakersfield and ate great food, played games (I got the 20th edition Trivial Pursuit for Christmas), went on long walks, and relaxed. We drove almost five hours down there -- the longest we've ever had Evan in the car. He did great. He slept a little but played with his toys most of the time.

I admit, one of the greatest things about the holiday was letting other family members enjoy the baby. It gave Jerry and I some much-needed breaks. We got to read our magazines and books, take naps and shop while he was in the loving arms of Aunt Katie, Uncle Bob or nana and papaw.

Evan got a kick out of Aunt Katie. I don't know what she does, exactly, but she gave him the cackles. He also loved the attention from his cousins. He was the center of attention and he loved it.

Opening gifts was fun for us, but Evan didn't get it, of course. He tore a little paper, but mostly he seemed to like being surrounded by nice people who smiled and made funny noises at him. We didn't take more than about five pictures of his first Christmas -- I guess we were living in the moment.

Nana taught him to make "Indian" noises. When he would make "aahhhhh" sounds, she would pat her hand over his mouth to make the noise. By the end of the holiday, he got it. Now he makes the "aahhhhh" sounds in anticipation of the game.

He's trying hard to crawl. At one point, he got up on his hands and tippy toes for a second, with his butt going straight up in the air. Other times he got on his hands and knees, but couldn't stay in that position for more than a few seconds. He seems to be close.

We came back from our vacation today, and Evan slept almost the entire way home (it took 6 hours this time because we stopped for a leisurely lunch). I think he was exhausted because his naps at Bob's weren't very long... there was too much excitement going on. Anyway, even after those naps today he was pretty exhausted. Tonight I rocked him for 5 minutes then put him down in his crib when he was still wide awake, and he fell asleep on his own... no crying!

Two steps forward, one step back...
5 months
Last night our success continued. We put him down at 8:15. I hate to write in all caps but: HE SLEPT THERE UNTIL 11:45! That's a 3 1/2 hour stretch in his crib. And while I hate to overuse explanation points: !!!!!
Tonight he has been in his crib for a little over an hour and is still asleep, so I can't say yet whether we'll have more luck. But getting him down was unfun. He fought sleep. This is how it usually goes: I (or Jerry) rock him and he starts fussing. He puts his hands on my chest and pushes his body away from mine, his back stiff. Then he twists his body and tries to look behind him at the lights on the stereo. I redirect his body towards mine. He sucks his thumb, rests his head on my shoulder, and seems to calm down for ten seconds, then his head pops up, he grabs my nose like a piece of ripe fruit to be picked, then pulls a strand of my hair and tries to eat it, I redirect him to my shoulder, he starts crying, then sucks his thumb, then pulls away and cries harder, his eyes squinted and mouth in the shape of a rectangle...
This went on for 30 minutes before he collapsed in exhaustion.
So the weekend success of putting him in his crib and then walking away (without having to rock him) is no longer. At least for now.
The only thing that was different about this weekend is that his naps ended earlier, like at 4:00. During the week, I pick Jerry up at work and sometimes he falls asleep in the car around 5:00. So maybe if we can eliminate that last nap...

He did it again!
Evan was acting sort of cranky, sucking his thumb and whining like he does around naptime, and Jerry just put him in his crib and walked away, and Evan lied there, contentedly sucking his thumb. No crying. No whining. He fell asleep on his own! He's still sleeping 45 minutes later.

For those of you who haven't been keeping up, or who have been keeping up but don't have babies so you have no idea what all the fuss is about, we used to have to go through a whole routine to get him to sleep... rocking him, waiting until he's obviously asleep and limp, then carefully placing him into his crib, causing him to awaken immediately and cry, followed by our picking him up & rocking again... easily a 30 minute ordeal each time.

Now we just need him to do this at night and stay asleep, all night long.
One thing at a time...

Best Christmas Gift EVER!!
I was watching The Boy while his momma slept-in and he was getting rather fussy, but didn't seem sleepy. So I put him in his crib with his disco ball (a good size plastic ball that lights up and plays mid-90's style dance music when you touch it) and left him alone. I was cooking and realized that he wasn't making as much noise and sure enough, I walked in and he was laying down sucking his thumb. I turned on his music box and didn't hear a peep from him for 45 minutes. In other words, Evan laid down and went to sleep all on his very own !!!!! No rocking. No singing. No hand-wringing by the parents. Just boom. Asleep.

It's a christmas miracle.

Make that TWO!!!!! Christmas miracles. He went down for his 3rd nap all by himself. Didn't even fuss. I don't know why he chose today, but his disposition on the matter is completely different and this has to be one of the best days ever.

He's turning into a big boy.

"Let me tell you what I think of stinkin' CARROTS!"

Just posted the November and August pictures. Check 'em out of in the Image Galleries.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Here's a closeup of The Boy with Santy. It's kinda like a jolly ol' mugshot, huh.

re-visiting peas
He seemed to like peas more today. After giving him a bite, he actually leaned forward for the next bite. My boy is growing up.

New veggie: peas!
He feels the same about peas as he does about carrots. Not too excited. Most of the bites came right back out.

Today: yellow squash!
He likes yellow squash only slightly more than carrots. He actually swallowed it a couple of times, but still made the icky face.

first solid food: carrots!
Today we gave him carrots. He made the most sour, upset, disgusted face I've ever seen. Really crinkled it up. With each bite, the carrots came right back out.

he's getting cuter.
5 months today
Increasingly, the boy can play by himself, allowing us freedom to do other things. He loves to sit in his walker (he doesn't actually walk in it) and play with his links (little plastic things that link together). One of his favorite things is to stick his thumb through the middle of a link and suck it. He is becoming a huge thumb sucker (and seems to prefer his left thumb).

He's starting to hold his arms out to us. The other day, Jerry was holding Evan, and Evan put his arms out to me. Jerry said Evan "loves his mommy," but as soon as I took Evan, he held his hands out to Jerry. I think Evan enjoyed being able to tell us what he wanted and have us respond. He can communicate and be understood and that seems to make him happy.

He still makes cute "aaaaaa" noises. It's cute even when he does it in the middle of the night awake (though it's less cute then). When he speaks to us this way, he has a very serious look on his face, often furrowing one brow, as if telling us a very important story.

He is rolling all over the floor now. He spins three-sixtys on his tummy. Yesterday Jerry said he inched forward on his tummy, like a worm, to reach a toy. He also raises his tummy high off the floor in a pushup position. He's trying hard to crawl (though that's probably a couple months away).

first play date
I took Evan to my friend Maureen's house. Her girls are seven months and two. The seven-month old, Grace, napped most of the time we were there, but Evan got to play with Claire. Well, they didn't really play, but Evan enjoyed very gently touching her pretty blonde curls, and smiled flirtatiously at her. Maureen had a ton of toys in the living room, and he played with the musical pianos, legos and blocks. He seemed to like taking apart the big legos more than anything. After two hours, he looked exhausted and took a long nap on the way home.

sleeping
His sleeping habits are still in need of improvement, to say the least. He went 5 hours without eating last night (a very good thing), but then was awake from 12-2 (a very bad thing). We did everything to induce sleep in him, but he was awake. We're trying different things with his naps during the day, and thinking he may be napping too late in the day, which is affecting his sleep at night. We still don't want to try the cry-it-out method. It's a last resort.

I've started going on walks at exactly the same time every day so that he'll sleep consistently at that time (he always falls asleep within 10 minutes). I often leave the house for his next nap of the day so that he'll fall asleep in the car. I've never been a very organized person with my time, but I'm motivated to have us sleep well again at night.

Other than that, we can't wait for the holidays! Evan won't get much out of it, but I suspect he will enjoy crumbling and eating all the Christmas wrapping paper. We can't wait to spend time with family and have time off. Today I am writing my very last final, and then I'm free for 6 weeks until my final semester begins. Since Jerry has been watching the boy exclusively while I go to school and study on weekends, he is just as giddy as I am about me being done. I'll graduate in May. :)

Good shopper
almost 5 months
Today I took Evan grocery shopping with me, and I had him in a front carrier. He put his little hands on the cart handle in front of us, helping me push! He is a great shopper. He never fusses. He just looks around at all the people and things and enjoys pushing the cart.

Friday he sat unassisted for about 15 seconds.
He also rolled over from his tummy to back a few times.
He scoots around when put on his tummy. He'll start out facing one way and then he'll do a 180. Wonder when he'll be crawling?

He's at this age where you can't just hold him. He sort of climbs all over us, grabbing everything in sight. He also enjoys grabbing our noses, poking our cheeks, and sticking his fingers up our noses and in our eyes. He's not terribly graceful with his hands yet.

Ugh.
The Boy took a dump in his bath the other night.
:-|