month five

well, sammy, we started this month off with a trip to meet your great grandma tung and boy did you make us proud. :) it was a 5 hour drive each way. we decided to go while you slept and you did beautifully. you were a wonderful baby while we visited as well, taking your naps while we ate dinner and lunch, as though you knew those were the most convenient times for us, and being a total sweetheart while meeting so many new family members.


















great grandma tung adored you, of course, and you seemed to really enjoy meeting her and your great aunt delores and your second cousins, shirley and michael, and shirley's husband mark. and mommy and daddy had a BLAST relaxing and visiting with everyone. they were all so kind and supportive that it was like a little vacation for us, and i think for you as well.
















































































then on the 23rd, your dad and i got another break, thanks to your grandma. she bought us massages and we went to a movie while she hung out with you. it was super nice. then we came home and got you and went out to the mall just to walk around and have some family time. it was a fantastic day.

your auntie kelsie and uncle asa have been
helping me out a lot this month, which is
immensely appreciated. they hand out with you
while i make dinner, or come grocery shopping
with me and it makes things SOOO much easier.
and besides, you love those guys!

on the 27th, your grandpa's birthday, we had a bbq. that was a lot of fun. my favorite thing in the world is when our whole family is together. i hope you grow up knowing how important family is and never taking them for granted. they are the ones who will ALWAYS be there, even when it's difficult for them to do so. you can always count on family.

by the end of august you were getting crazy nutso at night! so very wiggly, waking more, needing lots of help to get back to sleep. so on the 28th i decided to start putting you to bed in your own crib (where you were already taking naps), thinking that perhaps you were starting to feel too confined in your bassinet. in the first couple of hours after putting you in there, we had to go in 3 times to comfort you back to sleep with butt pats. but then you slept great the rest of the night, eating only twice. i don't particularly love going all the way into your room to feed you now, but i think i'm sleeping a little better, so i guess it's give and take.
august 30th was a terrible night:
...and then he of course proceeded to wake up about fifteen minutes later and cry his butt off, refusing to eat (even though i knew he was hungry) until my third attempt at getting him to do so. then when i put him back down, he woke up and decided he wasn't going back to sleep because he was just too dang happy being awake. LONG NIGHT.
august 31st at 6:50am
a couple of nights later we discovered that the pacifier does wonders to help you soothe yourself back to sleep after a slight sleep disturbance. we've been popping it in your mouth before putting you down now, and it seems to be helping no matter where you're sleeping. you also seem to be asking for the pacifier a bit more during the day now...not sure if that's related or for some other reason.
on the 1st we had our first taste of family time in almost a month. your dad and i now have wednesday through friday off together every week, and boy has that been awesome. (up until then we hadn't had a day off together since the trip to california.) we try to squeeze everything we can into those days: projects around the house, errands, cleaning, time with friends and family, shopping, etc. and we've been having a lot of fun doing it. :)
on the 7th while we were at work, i came into the room where you were having tummy time, and saw you moving your jaw up and down without any sounds, as if you were miming "mama mama mama". so i started saying mama to you as you did it, and then you starting saying it back! ok, so it's kind of a mixture of mama and baba and some other letters that i don't even think can be found in the english language.....but they're some pretty cool new babbles!
also--holy crap are you trying to crawl! you don't quite get yet that you're supposed to stay up on knees and elbows, but you can sure get around with scoots and rolls! i realized recently that sometimes you just want me to set you down so you can practice this. being set on the ground and left there sounds pretty boring to me, but apparently to you it's bunches of fun. i also realized we need to get a rug for the living room ASAP, because it's all tile down here and you need to be able to stretch your limbs on BOTH levels of the house!
that same day after work we got you a booster seat/high chair thing, and i decided to let you sit in there and play with some toys to try it out (since you're not doing food til next month...HOLY COW!). you have been enjoying that seat i think. i just put some toys on the tray and you go crazy while i do some dishes or make dinner.

on a very cool side note, pretty much all of my prepregnancy shorts and pants fit me again now. totally stoked about that.
on the 10th we did not have a good night:

decided to put sam down to bed at 6:30 since he only napped a total of 80 minutes today and seemed really tired. then HE decided he would wake up crying 30 minutes later, and then again 5 minutes after i patted him to sleep, and then AGAIN 2 minutes after i patted him to sleep a 2nd time, and is now asleep after i let him cry it out with just my hand on his back for some of the time. OY. just stay asleep you crazy, tired little dude!

Saturday at 8:25pm

BUT, the sleep book we have been waiting for finally arrived last night! we technically started it when we put you down last night, but you slept like an angel so we didn't really even need to use it! until 5 am, that is, when you decided you wanted it to be playtime...the book says (and i've SEEN YOU DO IT!) that you will wake earlier and earlier as long as we're coming to you in hopes of making playtime start earlier and earlier. so, we aren't allowed to go in to get you until 6. you were not happy about that this morning, but i know it will all work out for the best.
then for your nap at 9 this morning, we let you cry it out completely:

naptime is going well. did our little soothing routine and then put him down about twenty minutes early because the timing seemed right (didn't want him to get overtired). just kissed him and walked away. cried for about 7 minutes (him, not me! haha), and then fell asleep for about 5. woke and cried a couple more minutes, much quieter that time, and has now been asleep for about 35 minutes or so and still going strong it would appear. :)

slept an hour and a half, then woke up and just chilled in there and wiggled about. :) i think i'm going to love this, and i think it's going to make me fall in love with this baby all over again.

i'm so excited for you to become a champion sleeper! good sleep is so important for your health, and i know it will also help you in so many other areas, like mood and focus. i want to help you create a great foundation for being well-rested that will carry you through your entire life, because i frigging love you and i want to give you all the tools i can to help you live your life to its utmost potential.
great things are going to happen this month, i just know it! and next month--FOOD!
i love you, mr. baby! thank you for your patience as i figure out how to meet each of your needs.
love,
mommy