Jack is back to normal and feeling great. In fact, the only time he really fussed yesterday was when he got stuck in this shoebox. That was funny. He's been eating constantly. He's more than making up for those few days where he wasn't hungry. I'm having a hard time keeping up. I can imagine him as a teenager chugging milk by the gallon. Really, he's that hungry a lot of the time. When he wasn't eating yesterday he slept. He slept like a monster.
If you're tired of reading about Jack's sleeping, skip this next part:
For the last month or so Jack has been resisting his afternoon nap. On a good day he would sleep 30 min. in the car. Otherwise, he spent 30 minutes in his crib reading books or screaming. Not. Fun. At. All. It's not unheard of for a baby his age to be down to one nap, but for him to be down to one morning nap was unusual. When he got sick, he started waking up at night again wanting to nurse. I went with it because he wasn't eating much during the day and he was pooping out a ton of water. I was worried about him becoming dehydrated, so I nursed him. A couple nights of that and he thought it was back for good. Uggh. He seemed better on Saturday so I didn't get up when we woke at 4 to eat. He tried going back to sleep several times but what I would call his frustration took over and it was a full fledged meltdown at 4 that lasted until 5:30. I'm not really sure when he stopped crying because Shawn and I put the pillows over our heads and tried desperately to fall back to sleep. I'm reminded of stories where military officials try to force criminals from hiding by pumping hard rock into their strongholds. They should try broadcasting the unrelenting cry of a tired, angry baby. No person could stand that for too long. Anyway, Jack did fall asleep and slept a little later than usual. I decided it was time to intervene. I started reading the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. According to this guy, Jack is likely overtired and unable to put himself to sleep in the afternoon. He advocates putting the baby to bed before his seems tired. He suggests moving the nap time earlier and putting the baby down early, around 6:30 or so. Funny, that's what time Jack has always wanted to go to bed. We've tried and tried to shift him to a later schedule with mixed success. Jack was tired the next day so I tried what the author advocates. His morning nap was great as usual, and he took a short afternoon nap! Then, he went to bed really early and slept a full 12 hours! Yesterday, he took TWO great naps and slept 12 hours...all with NO fussing. In fact, when he looks like he's winding down I say " Jack, are you ready to go night night?" and he'll walk into his room grab his blanket and get ready for bed. It's the cutest think I've ever seen. I don't know if it's a fluke or if this guy's book is on to something. BUT Jack is sleeping better than ever and we're happy. It means that for now, we're back on the early bedtime schedule which makes going out to dinner hard. BUT it also means I can put him to bed and have a warm body sit on the couch while Shawn and I enjoy dinner alone for a change. This could work!
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