First 8-Hour Sleep: Yippeee!!! Last night Soren slept 8 hours without waking for the first time in his life -- which is fairly dramatic even though he is only 10.5 months old, because
guess who else has also
not gotten to sleep a solid 8 hours in that same time period...?
One week ago we had to transition him from his baby hammock to a crib (OK, a pack 'n' play) because he was wanting to roll over and sleep on his side or belly, and that just doesn't work so well on a concave surface. That newness, coupled with his great mental and physical excitement over learning to walk (see below) meant he was not sleeping soundly at all. A helpful discussion at a mom's support group convinced me we had to make a change in our nighttime routine, and to make a long saga short, last night was the first night I refused to nurse him back to sleep at his first waking, 1.5 hours after he first went to bed. Boy, he was not happy about this turn of events, and wailed and arched his back and scratched my face -- but I held firm and just held and rocked him back to sleep. It took two tries of laying him down in his crib (he woke up the first time, and we had to repeat the whole process), but then he amazed us and slept without a peep from 10:45 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. OK, I didn't sleep soundly the whole time, because I would wake up and wonder why he wasn't waking, but I restrained myself from checking on him. So we'll see what tonight brings... I'm not counting on another 8 hours, but anything more than the 2-4 hour stretches he's been sleeping would be much appreciated!
First Potty: I mentioned in an earlier post that we've started incorporating the practices of "Elimination Communication" (a.k.a. Diaper-Free). If you want to know more, here's a
helpful link. Again, to make a long saga short, after some early success in teaching Soren to pee standing up in the "bathtub urinal" (!), we ordered a Baby Bjorn Little Potty chair and a separate toilet-seat reducer of the same brand. The day after the potty chair arrived, he sat and peed in it (see photos here), and the day after that, he sat and pooped in it (this was when he was 9.5 months old). I was super excited about
that, but alas, that feat has not been repeated. However, Soren is getting diligent about pooping standing up and then not sitting down until I have changed him, which helps keep the mess to a minimum. Just this week, he peed while sitting on the toilet seat reducer for the first time. The whole experience has put me much more in tune with his elimination schedule and needs, and while Soren still wears diapers most of the day, I am using about half as many disposables as I did before we started "EC." We use more cloth, since it allows him to feel wet, and he also gets quite a bit of bare-bum time, outdoors and on our tile floor. As you can see below, Soren is just as excited about moving toward diaper freedom as I am. (Yes, there's pee in that potty!)
First Strawberry: OK, strawberries are potential allergens, but as Soren has shown no food sensitivities to date, we couldn't come up with a compelling reason
not to share the jeweled bounty of our June-bearing strawberry patch. They're heaven bundled into a berry. Soren
loves them.
First Steps: Soren's birthday present to me on June 22 was to take his first steps unassisted: about three tottering paces from Jeff's arms to a chair. He occasionally practices steps here and there, but mostly is getting faster and faster at sidestepping as he "cruises" around our house. First he had to hold on to built-in furniture, then he progressed to movable furniture that might slide around, and now he just supports himself on the walls or cabinets, so he can go all the way around a room. Yep, he's pretty pleased with himself.
Too much to tell here: there's also Soren's First Stair Climb, First High Five, First Bubble Blowing...
Splashing with Tayla in the mini swimming pool (a.k.a. dish tub). Tayla is Soren's agemate, only 11 days older, and her mom is one of my best mama friends!
Soren showing Ella his cardboard box "house" for his stuffed animals. Check out Ella's shoeless foot and her adorable ballet-slipper sock! She's a couple of months older than Soren.
Gazing out the window with 3-yr-old Zia, who has been fascinated with Soren since before his birth. Apparently she had the "how are babies made?" discussion with her dad, a doctor, after they saw me at the food co-op in the last month of my pregnancy!
