It Finally Happened

For the past few weeks, Tucker wakes me up at 6:30 in the morning. If he tries waking up earlier, I don't let him out of his bassinet until the previously mentioned time. I'm trying to set his internal clock so it gets easier when we (potentially) put him in the nursery. In three weeks and two days, Tucker will be three months and could ready to go to the crib. I like having him close so that I can put his pacifier back in his mouth when he's a bit fussy and so I can feed him. I can't comprehend the idea of sending Tucker to his own room even at three months. Some parents have the babies in a separate room from the very start. Tucker spits out his binky ever five seconds and wants somebody to put it back in...so I don't even know how that'd be possible with him.

Anyway, we're up with the sun. Tucker gives me lots of smiles and coos at anything that looks fascinating. Our first stop is to the nursery, where he gets his nighttime diaper changed and we dress him in his outfit for the day. After that, we go out to the living room (where his swing and blanket are) and feed him. Then it's tummy time! After he's had his fill of tummy time, I'll put him on his back and we'll smile together for about fifteen minutes. Sometimes I luck out and he's awake for half an hour. Once he gets fussy or his eyelids start turning red (yeah, my baby's color coded), I wrap him up in a warm blanket and put him down for a nap. Altogether, he is awake for about an hour.

By 7:30 he's down for his first nap of the day and stays asleep most of the morning, only waking up to feed every two to four hours. During the short duration of feeding, he's often irritable and wants nothing more than to drink his fill then go back to sleep, which he does.

My kid loves the afternoons. He truly wakes up at 2:00 and gives me smiles and attention again. This is when I plan our outings. Whether it's sitting on the grass outside our apartment, going to the library or (in most cases) going to the park with David and Zeeke, I try to give Tucker as much fresh air and stimulation as possible. (Yes I put on sunscreen. No my child hasn't had a burn yet...or even a tan.)

We get home around five or six and he's ready for another nap. For the past week, Tucker's always fussy for his second afternoon nap, but eventually goes down. He'll wake up around seven or eight, but not for too long. His eyelids will change to red again and we'll give him bath time. He hardly ever has a problem in the bath water. Tucker probably loves it so much because I jump in the tub with him. After I bathe him, David (if he's home) will take Tucker from the tub and dry him off, lotion and clothe him in the nursery. If I haven't showered for the day (which is most likely the case) I'll take a quick bath then go to the bedroom.

At 7:30 or 8:30, Tucker's brought to the room. I'll stuff him in a swaddle me (basically a blanket with Velcro so he can't wriggle out), then feed him until he's done. Sometimes he goes a full twenty minutes because he's so drowsy. I was told not to suckle him to sleep, so I cheat. When he starts getting drowsy, I stick his binky into his mouth and let him use that. It's probably just as bad and habit forming, but the binky is portable and goes with him in his bassinet. I'll have Tucker lay in feeding position for ten to twenty minutes after we're done and let him suck his binky until he's asleep. Once he's 100% knocked out, I gently transfer him to his bassinet and go to sleep. He's ALWAYS out by 9:30 at night. After that, I wake up every 2-6 hours at night to feed him, then he falls back to sleep within ten minutes after every feeding.

All of my feedings are on demand, so I can only offer a rough sketch of my day..since eating is a huge part of his life. I left out diaper changes because those are also pretty on demand.

Today is special enough to write about because of what happened at the end of today. Normally, I put Tucker in his swing and turn it on so he can nap. Around 7:50, without the swing even on, Tucker put himself to sleep. While I was doing homework he just conked out and stayed asleep for ten full minutes. I'm incredibly happy that we've reached that stage.

Here are some of the outings.

Zeeke, Tucker and I went for a stroll through BYU Idaho's gardens while David was in class. It's a good thing we did it, because it got windy after that and storm clouds blew in. 

Here's Tucker 'sun bathing' on the grass right outside our apartment. He stayed awake for half an hour just to be outside. David put a lawn chair on our patio (since it's bordered by the grass) and sipped some soda in his PJs at 4 pm. I was also in my PJs...and I'm pretty sure we're the trailer trash of our apartment complex. I mean come on, our kid is laying under an umbrella in footie pajamas.

We also visited Tucker's best friend in the making, Joshua! Berhane and Joseph Kaluba are the proud parents of this little sucker. They're both marvelously big boys and will know each other for at least the first four years of life, since David and Joseph still have to get their degrees from here before they can escape.