In the stretch of the last 2 weeks so much has happened that pictures of Wyatt simply aren't enough of a communication milieu. I do realize they are necessary though, so, have no fear, they will continue regularly. It is time for some text from mom/dad to give you more detail as to what is goin' on behind those cheeks!
Well, Saturday marked the end of a wonderful visit from our beloved Nana Weller (Elaine). Elaine came in on Saturday the 21st, and, stayed for a full week graciously helping out a very tired set of parents. The week was full of hugs, cuddles, home made dinners & treats, and just ole plain fun! Her soft touch really helped Wyatt calm down when he was feeling bad from his vaccines, or, was just having some grizzlies. After we dropped her off at the airport, it was expected that a tear or two would appear in my eye. Like clockwork it showed up, but, the emotions weren't so strong since we'll be seeing them in a short 5 weeks!
That night, I was feeling pretty confident about things, and, encouraged Amy to get out and meet a friend for a drink. I knew she'd be just around the corner, so, if anything went wrong, or, we needed some food (given our bottle track record), she could make it home in lickety split. I put Wyatt down around 7pm because he looked legitimately sleepy, and, Amy left shortly thereafter. Around 7:15 or so, I heard him squeak on the baby monitor, so, I went upstairs to check on him. He was kicking his legs like crazy, and, really upset. I first tried to soothe him in the co-sleeper by petting his head, belly, and, telling him that he can go to sleep because he's tired. That didn't work, so, I gently took him out of the swaddle and walked around with him. His screams & cries got progressively worse and sounded more and more painful, so I held him a little tighter and talked to him the whole time. We sat back down on the bed in the same way he and mom sit after a feeding, to give him a sense of familiarity (or something), and he WAILED like I've never heard. He never once asked for food, so I knew he might be in pain. It was so sad. However, I gently patted him, held him securely, and, just told him that I was here with him and that I will be with him for as long as necessary. He could cry for hours and I'd still be there with him...all was going to be ok. For the next hour, we just sat together in the dark...together. He cried and I talked to him. He eventually settled down and just passed out, but, I held him for a little longer just to let him know I was still there with him. I put him in the co-sleeper, swaddled him up, and, quietly walked downstairs to relax on the couch. While that was probably one of the hardest hours of our (he & I) lives, it was SUCH a boost for both of us...Wyatt learned his dad was going to be there for him whenever he needed, and, I learned that I COULD do it. Up until then, Amy had been the master of calming him down in those periods of fussiness, only because he was either hungry, or, had grizzlies and needed to eat. When she walked in and saw me sitting on the couch, she had such a smile on her face because she thought I'd been sitting there all night, when, in reality I'd come downstairs about 5 minutes before she walked in. I broke the news to her, and we talked about how positive of an experience it was for both Wyatt & I. I felt so good about everything, and, Elaine's comments around how "we were doing such an amazing job, and, we're such attentive loving parents" rang like echoes. It's such a confidence boost to be able to get through something like that, only because it's stressful for both parties. He can sense if I'm stressed out, or, feeling helpless, and it just prolongs his fussiness/discomfort. Phew!
In other news, Wyatt finally was able to take a bottle for a bit on Sunday. Since our check-up, we've been shooting to do a bottle a day...even if it's an attempt, and we fall back on to eating the boobie. Little man has got to learn how to suck the bottle for when mom goes back to work. Anyway, we struggled for the first 20 or so minutes, and eventually he lost his mind as started crying. I think a lot of it was in the way I might have been holding him...I'm not sure. So, after I calmed him down, I put him in his blue bouncy chair that he's familiar with, and, fed him that way. After chewing on the nipple for a few minutes, he finally started sucking, and just about pulled the entire bottle into his mouth out of my hand. While he probably wore 1/2oz of the 2 oz he drank, he ate from the bottle nonetheless. The biggest thing was to just keep trying. No matter how fussy he got, I'd calm him down, and try again. Eventually he took it. I'm very excited to try again when I get him. It's not so daunting anymore either...it's kind of like a chess game..."Your move little man!". Regardless, I chalked it up as a "W". Funny side note...while he was breaking down, I took him into the bathroom to get a change of scenery thinking maybe that'd help, and, he discovered the mirror. As we bounced, his gaze was absolutely fixed on himself, and, I started to ask him (in a song form of course) "Who's that baby? He's so cute!Who's that baby? He's so cute!". He actually smiled and giggled at the whole thing, and, it was quite hilarious to watch him.
In an unprecedented fashion, Wyatt has now learned (or just is able to) sleep longer than 2hrs at night! He's been eating both breasts before bed, and, promptly passing out after, so, we think his tummy has finally gotten bigger and he can be satisfied a little easier. Thursday night, he slept from 11pm-3am, Friday night 10pm-2am, Saturday night 8pm-midnight, and last night, 9pm-midnight (yeah it's not 4, but, anything over 2 is great!). Amy & I kept waking up anyway every now and then just because, and, Amy mentioned she'd wake up and think "Wait, did i feed him and not hold him upright for 30 minutes!?" or "Wait, did I just feed him". However, gazing down into the co-sleeper she could see him still swaddled letting her know she did what she needed. The hardest part of sleep right now, is the actual "execution" piece...GETTING him to sleep. I was reading a book last night, and, they wrote that as the child gets to bond with the parents more and more, they simply don't want to leave them and go to sleep. They want to stay awake and hang out (hey, we're cool parents!), trying to avoid the early stages of separation anxiety. On top of that, when we put him down for naps, they don't last very long...maybe 30 minutes tops (an hour if we're lucky). He usually wakes up screaming, and we can't tell if it's something in his belly (like gas), or, he is just awake and nobody is around for the next 5-10 seconds (or however long it takes for us to sprint upstairs to grab him!).
Finally, I'd be re-missed if I didn't talk about Sunday's events. Since I got to go for a longer ride on Saturday, it was my turn to rest, and, get Amy out the door on her bike for a little bit of "mom & baby" time with her other baby...her Moots. So, she headed out the door around 10am or so, after a good tank up of Wyatt. He and I just kind of hung out. I read to him, we looked at pictures together, and, I did a bit of laundry while he was chilling out in his bouncy chair. We planned on meeting Amy around 12:15, so, I had the idea of loading up the car around 11, heading out to Golden, and, walking around downtown with him in the ergo. When I pulled into the public parking lot, he was out cold, and, I didn't want to wake him. I promptly pulled out of the lot, and, started to drive up Lookout Mountain, figuring we'd run into mom either still going up, or, starting to come down. We caught her about 2 miles from the summit, and, she had a such a big smile on her surprised face when she saw us drive by. Of course, she pulled off to say hello, but, Wyatt and I promptly told her to get back on the bike and summit. She did, and we drove down the hill and waited for her at the pillars, where she arrived about 10 minutes or so after we did. I'd pulled him out of his seat and was standing in the shade with him when she arrived, and, she was ready to hold him before she even got off of her bike :-). Amy changed in the parking lot, and, we walked over to a small park where she nursed him in the shade. He fell asleep shortly thereafter, and, we enjoyed some lunch at the Empenada Express again. We all headed home together, and had such a great day that we eventually were all in bed at 9pm, after watching a bit of the Emmys.
And now...onto Monday!
