Cruisin'

I think we've reached cruising altitude with Drewby. We've got him on a good schedule, John and I have reached some sort of "divide and conquer" approach to getting everything done, and our family is in what I call Domestic Bliss. The bliss is aided by the fact that Drew has remembered how to sleep through the night. We a couple of great months of 7-8 solid hours of sleep. Then the ear infection hit and there was no sleep. Gradually, he's gone from waking up twice a night to once, then to just waking up early. Now he sleeps from bedtime (usually 9:30) until close to 7:30. I think he often wakes up earlier than that and occupies himself til he goes back to sleep. I put him down on his back on the sleep positioner and he's often still there when John leaves the house at 6. By the time I go in at 7:30 or 8, he's scooted so his head is at the other end of the crib, or he's inched his way into the corner or has rolled over and is on his tummy. One morning he managed to get to his soother that's attached to the side of the crib and turn it on. I heard the soothing cricket noises through the baby monitor and snuck in to check on him. Sure enough, he was wide awake, smiling at his toy. Of course once he saw me, there was no sneaking back to bed, but he's so happy to see me in the mornings that it's worth getting up early for.

Drew's done great with day care. He doesn't nap very well during the day, which is probably why he crashes at night. He gets moved from toy to toy a lot, so he's a master at the exersaucer, bouncy chair, and bumbo seat. He's having his rice cereal twice a day now, and his appetite for veggies now includes green beans, carrots, and peas. Next week, he'll take on sweet potatoes, which are one of my favorites. I bet his aren't as good without all the yummy butter and brown sugar, but luckily he doesn't know what he's missing.

Activity-wise, he is still reaching those all-important milestones. You hold up a toy in front of him and he reaches for it, grasps it, and then usually puts it directly in his mouth. The other day he was on his activity mat in the living room and when John went into the kitchen for a couple of minutes, he managed to roll onto his tummy and scoot a ways across the floor. He hasn't duplicated this effort, so I think crawling is still around the bend. He's doing great sitting up -- he can sit unassisted for about 10 seconds before he tips over. It's kinda funny -- he'll want to pick up a toy in front of him, so he moves his arm and the head goes forward. Or he looks to the side when Sadie makes a noise and over he goes. He ought to get the hang of it soon. He is still loving the jumperoo and bath time. He also still has some obsession with my hair, and whenever he gets upset, I pick him up and he immediately grabs my hair and tries to eat it. I'm not sure why that's soothing, but maybe it lets him know that Mommy's got him. Overall, he's just an easygoing, agreeable kiddo.

I'm lobbying John to get some family pictures made in the next couple of weeks, since Drewby's smiling and cute so much of the time. I want to capture that grin and frame it! So, if you talk to John, tell him what a GREAT idea it would be to have some pictures made. If I'm successful, I'll be posting those before long.