I’m trying out a new nickname: “Pookie.” Do you like it? Is it too much? Daddy calls you his “ooga booga baby,” Aunt Beth has been calling you “monkey,” and I’m still grasping for that perfect nickname, so “Pookie” has been the new name for the week. We’ll see if it sticks.
Well, Pookie, we figured out why you had been fussy over the past few weeks: you were preparing to hit not one but TWO major milestones: sitting and sleeping swaddle-free.
The swaddle has been your night-time buddy from the time you were two weeks old until just this past week. I’ve written about your bed-time routine before (bottle, swaddle, book, bed), and this normally works just fine for you…until recently. In the past few weeks, you’ve developed Houdini-like skills by becoming such a skilled escape artist that keeping you in the swaddle throughout the night has proved to be rather difficult. Last week, without fail, you greeted me with your swaddle firmly in place around your waist—legs and arms flailing about.
This wouldn’t have been too much of a problem except for the fact that all you had underneath the swaddle was a onesie, so you’d wake up throughout the night because you were getting cold, and if we’ve learned anything from you in the past few months, it’s that you don’t like to be cold. Or hot. Or hungry.
So a few nights ago, I threw caution to the wind and put you in super cozy PJ’s—no swaddle in sight. I don’t think you knew what to do with yourself that first night—you kept kicking and rolling to your side and fussing. Ten minutes later, though, you were out for the night. Gradually, over the course of several days, you’ve come to be rather comfortable sleeping swaddle-free. I think I can say with confidence now that your swaddling nights are behind you.
Demonstrating the swaddle-free bedtime technique.
And as I type this, I’m knocking on wood and pleading to the “that’s-what-you-get-for-thinking-you’ve-got-your- kid-all-figured-out” fairies that your swaddle-free, sleeping through the night phase will continue—say, for the next eighteen or so years?
At any rate, you’ve been digging your new PJ’s with fun stuff on the feet so much that you can’t stop sticking your toes in the air to stare at them, which eventually led to major milestone #2: sitting up. I put you in the sitting position the other day, expecting you to completely topple over. Only this time, you stayed. And sat. And stayed. Long enough for me to yell for your father and grab the camera.
Look, mom! I'm sitting up now!
I can’t believe you’re sitting up now. Just in time for some major picture taking sessions, too. We’re taking pictures of you with both sets of grandparents this year on Halloween (you’re going to be a chicken), and on Sunday we’re meeting up with Daddy’s side of the family for a photo shoot with all of the cousins. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get enough good shots that I can post something when I write your week 24 update.
Loving you tons,
Your mommy
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