New tricks

I know what you're thinking -- I've got more entries today than Perez Hilton! (I wish.) Anyhow, I wanted to update you all on my new tricks. Now that I'm a old man (12 weeks old), I am:

• grabbing things, like this cute carrot rattle (thanks, Susan and Ava!), Dad's glasses, and Mom's hair ... Mom can't wait until I find Truman's tail
  
• managing to get my fingers and sometimes my entire fist in my mouth
• reading (or at least paying attention to the books Mom reads to me)
• working on rolling over (I end up on my side a lot, can't get that bottom arm out of the way)
• giggling a lot and smiling
  
• negotiating my first book contract (just kidding ... wanted to make sure you're paying attention)
  
• still not taking a pacifier ... he he! I'm holding out for my thumb
  

Hitting the bottle again

Newsflash -- I'm hitting the bottle again! Mom changed the type of the nipple from silicon to latex, and that made all of the difference. I downed my 3 ounces of EBM (that's expressed breast milk) like a champ. But now Dad has to give me a bottle regularly so I don't forget!

On another note, I napped through the last class of Itsy Bitsy Yoga today. Oops. I really liked the class, though. Mom learned how to massage me and we learned some yoga poses we can do together. Maybe we'll sign up for the next session, too. Or we'll get the DVD so we can do it around my busy nap schedule!

Here I am on a recent walk around the neighborhood.

The Great Bottle Strike!

Call me picky but I'm just not all that in to the bottle these days. I didn't even have my first bottle until I was 4 weeks old or so, and then I had a couple here and there. I even took a bottle for the whole day when Mom and Dad went to a wedding, and as recently as the first week in August. Well, Nana tried to give me a bottle while Mom was out getting a much-needed massage (did I tell you I woke up three times the last few nights? Chalk it up to a growth spurt!) and I freaked out! That's not how I eat! Plus, I heard all about the BPA chemical in baby bottles and I want nothing to do with that. (Interjection from Mom: Fear not, the bottles I use for pumping and feeding you are BPA-free, of course!) You might have fooled me when I was a younger, more naive lad but not any more! I just held out until Mom came home and felt bad for me. I saw them reading a book for tips on how to reintroduce the bottle ... they better not try any funny business. I'm on to them! But Mom said I have to start taking the bottle because eventually I'm going to have to go to day care. And in the mean time, Mom wants to be able to get out of the house once in awhile. For example, in September she's going to Let's Dish with her Mom's group and I'll be hanging out with Dad.

Oh, but the good news is that I slept 10 hours straight last night. It might have been a fluke, or the double swaddle Mom put me in last night. See, I'd been breaking out of the Miracle Blanket by midnight the last few nights (and waking up when it happened), so after wrapping me in the MB she wrapped me up in the Swaddle Me blanket. Worked like a charm!

August in DC

Wondering where I've been again? Well, it's August in Washington, D.C. -- everyone goes a little off the radar this month. I promise to start blogging more often. I don't want to lose any of my precious readers!

Since my last missive, I've been off and on with STTN - some nights I have slept from bedtime at 7 or 8 until 4:30 or 5 am, but others I've added a 1:30 am waking. Hopefully soon things will get more consistent. Tonight I went to bed without any tears -- hopefully this is a good sign.

Memere came back to hang out with us while Dad was in Portland, Maine, for a wedding. On Friday, we went to the doctor because Mom was concerned about what she was seeing in my diaper (I'll leave that up to your imagination). Turns out, I may have an allergy to milk protein and/or soy. This was not good news for Mom, who as a fisheterian (see here - I'm talking about the first meaning of the word only, ahem) practically lives on cheese and other dairy products. She's cutting out dairy first to see if that helps, but if it doesn't soy is next. Again, this is quite a blow to my tofu-loving Mama.

On Saturday, we went into DC for the Babywearing Expo. It was smaller than we thought, and VERY crowded so we didn't stay long. But Mom found her next baby carrier! We can't wait for it to show up, once she picks out which of 8 patterns she wants ...

Out and about ...

We went and walked around Old Town yesterday with Memere and Grandpa. I took a nap while everyone else chowed down at Austin Grill and then we walked around for a bit. I was tired of sitting in my carseat so Dad carried me for awhile and then Mom put me in her hippie wrap. You can check out all of the pics at nolanvalliere.shutterfly.com.

Last night, Dad and Grandpa went to the Nationals game versus the Mets. No fair, I had to stay home with the girls. I can't wait until I'm old enough to go!

A giggle and ... STTN!

Well, Memere and Grandpa came to visit this weekend and got to witness some major milestones in my life! As you can see, Grandpa got me to giggle for the first time -- I can't decide whether I was laughing with him or at him.

And, in perhaps the most important development, I STTN (that's "slept through the night" for those of you not in the know) for the first time last night. I've actually been trying to do this for a week or more now, but Mom kept thwarting me. See, she just couldn't resist running to my crib every time she heard a peep out of me, even though she knows that babies in REM sleep can kick, make noises, and even cry a bit! She says it's because she loves me and wants to know I'm OK. But after the other night when she slept on my floor and kept replacing the swaddling blanket I kicked off in my sleep, she decided to just let me be unless I was actually crying. She even turned the monitor down a bit so she wouldn't hear every little sound. And the result? Not a peep from me until 4 am, when she checked and I was asleep but kicking and had one leg out of the swaddle. She left me alone and I slept until 5 am!! When she came in, I had completely wrestled myself out of the swaddle (and this is the Miracle Blanket we're talking about, no easy feat) and was ready to eat. I had been asleep since just before 9 pm, so that's 8 hours! I ate and, after a much-needed diaper change, went back to sleep at 6 am for another 40 minutes or so. Then, it was up to greet the sun at 6:45 am!

We'll see how it goes tonight ... I'll report back!

2-month shots = no sleep!

So, I got my 2-month shots yesterday afternoon. I was a big boy and only cried a bit, but the shots threw me off of my game a little. I didn't sleep much last night and have been a little fussy today, but I'll be as good as new tomorrow! We also found out that I'm in the 75th percentile in weight, the 50th percentile in length, and 25th percentile in head circumference. So what does that make me, a chunky pinhead? He he ...

Today, I helped Mom clean the house and we took advantage of the beautiful sunny day by taking a stroller walk in Old Town this afternoon.

Massa ... what?

Did you miss my posts and wonder where I was last week? Well, I was in Massanutten, a four-seasons resort in Virginia where mom has been going for the last 18 years or so. It was 100 degrees or more most days, so I stayed indoors a lot. But I did get a chance to take my first dip in the pool at the waterpark (wearing the swim trunks Memere got me!), go to the farmer's market, go shopping with mom and Nana (booo-ring, if you ask me!), and spend some time with mom, dad, Nana and Papi. Mom and dad got to have 2 date nights, which was nice for them.

Swaddle Me!

Check out this article on the Miracle Blanket - the newest addition to our swaddling arsenal. We've tried the Swaddle Me (we still use this for naps), the Ultimate Receiving Blanket (I'm too long for this now) the Sleep Sack Swaddler (only comes in XS ... boo, we liked this one!) and regular receiving blankets (both fleece and waffle weave). The MB works really well, but I can still find my way out of it around 4 am when I'm flailing around. :)

Here's a quote from the article ... he hee:

Unlike its competitors, which often have ties or Velcro straps, the Miracle Blanket is nothing more than a piece of cloth with four flaps. Laid out on a bed, it looks like something that might be used to hold a psychiatric patient still during electroshock therapy, or something I might produce if left alone with a sewing machine and a six pack.

Happy medium

What a way to kick off World Breastfeeding Week ... Mom woke up with a plugged duct (ouch!) and I helped her get rid of it by nursing a lot. Oh, and she took a hot shower and used a hot compress, too. But it was mostly me. She said I am her hero :)

But it turned out to be a great day after all. Because we needed to nurse more often to get rid of the plugged duct, Mom scrapped The Routine (Eat, Activity, Sleep in that order, every 3 hours, per The Baby Whisperer) and we just winged it. She didn't even write down what I did and when I did it. It worked out great - I got to eat a lot, we played, and I took an almost 2 hour nap in the afternoon! And Mom got to catch up on some cleaning and get a few more pages into Harry Potter. (Shhh ... don't tell her how it ends! Although they'll probably come out with the movie before she'll get to finish reading the book.) It was a win-win ... it's not just a bad idea to just let go sometimes.

We also took a quick trip to the supermarket today and a stroller ride around the neighborhood once it cooled off in the late afternoon.