Here’s recent video clip of A eating from a bottle:
He’s actually pretty good at it.
Sleeping on the other hand needs some work. Apparently, there’s this whole “Four Month Sleep Regression” phenom.
Here’s a pretty accurate description, from the Daily B:
I’ve traveled in enough mom circles to know about this phenomenon called the 4-month sleep regression. Something about how round-about 4 months old, babies leave their newborn deep-sleep patterns behind and enter a more adult-like sleep cycle of light sleep followed by deep sleep, REM, or whatever.
So, you nurse your little bub to sleep, or rock him to sleep, and lay him down thinking he’s asleep, but really he’s only barely asleep. And his little eyes flutter open and he looks around and he’s like “WHOA, now where did that nipple go?!” And he cries. Because his world has essentially been turned upside down. In his mind, you might as well have swaddled him in a ratty blanket and left him out on the front stoop.
So yeah. That pretty much describes Atticus these days.
Sleepy A
A much more thorough examination of the “fourth-month sleep regression” is offered up at Ask Moxie, here’s an excerpt:
I actually think regression is a complete misnomer for several reasons. First, it implies that babies’ sleep progresses in a linear fashion, with better sleep each week until the fateful day at which they sleep all the way through every single night. To put it mildly, that isn’t true. Secondly, it indicates that it’s a negative trend, when in reality it’s just a reaction to things cooking on other levels.
…
I think the reason the “4-month sleep regression” is such a big deal is that babies wake up a lot in the few weeks it takes while they’re working on the 19-week spurt, and then once they’ve gone through that spurt they only have a week or two (if that) of respite before they start prepping for the 26-week spurt. So it’s kind of one long stretch of bad sleep and cranky moods during that stage of your baby’s life.
So many different books and blogs, so many different opinions.
If you read this whole post in order to find my insightful conclusions here at the bottom, I’m sorry to disappoint: I have none. We’re just going to try and manage the best we can given the mish mash of differing opinions on sleep theory that we have.
If it’s not one, it’s the other. Lol. Regarding the messy expulsion of fluids that is.
A had some immunization shots yesterday. We braced for a difficult night. But he wasn’t too bad actually.
Instead, it was retching of Nigel the Puggle that awakened me at two in the morning. Poor dog. Something didn’t sit well in his stomach. It didn’t sit well on the carpet either. So out comes the carpet cleaner and stain remover…at two in the morning.
This weekend, J and I travelled north to Prince Albert National Park to attend a wedding. J has considerably fewer cousins than I and is correspondingly closer, geographically and otherwise, than I am with mine. This was her cousin Grant’s wedding and it was great.
The ceremony and reception were held at Elkridge – a golf resort. I always forget the beauty of this part of Saskatchewan: treed and wild. Wild also describes lil Atticus these days. Sleepless and wild.
So J and I considered the journey with trepidation. But perhaps we needn’t. Sure, A was a bit unruly. Both J and I missed much of the celebration for one reason or another. And we were tired. Oh, and we forgot a whole suitcase of A’s things (diapers, clothes). So, this wasn’t a vacation without a few bumps.
In the end, however, it was great to be with the family: all of it. And we might not have experienced the entire wedding, but we experienced our own special moments. We are building our own story. One day we’ll be at A’s wedding day – we won’t miss anything on that day!
I realize I’ve been remiss in providing updates to Newdad. As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on right now.
Well, here’s a recent photo of A. It’s about three seconds before he started crying, I think. So, yeah, he does look a little sad.
But you can see how big he’s getting. J is having him weighed tomorrow, and I’m expecting 14lbs or so. At least, that’s what my sore muscles are telling me.
For my first Father’s Day as a father, I spent a great weekend with J & A. My mother watched A on Saturday night, so J could surprise me with a trip to the horse races! J’s winnings more-or-less equaled my losses. And we had a great time. And Sunday was a great day (one of the first in Saskatoon this summer) for working in the yard, as well as strolling through the huge park nearby.
Little A received some Riders’ attire – and I received a Riders Jersey: just in time for the start of the season!
I live in Saskatoon, Canada with my wife Janelle and my dog Nigel. This blog records my thoughts and experiences as J & I journey through our first pregnancy and beyond.
My other blog is about politics and books and military stuff: http://atomicrobot.wordpress.com
