Weeks 39 - 42

Adam at his play table

Adam continues to have problems sleeping through the night. The sleep loss has been difficult, but we're starting to get into a routine that seems to minimize his night-time fussiness. Adam will sleep the first 2-5 hours in his bed, then another hour or 2 with us in our bed, then back in his bed after a diaper change and a bottle. Earlier this week, we decided that we lose less sleep by adding a feeding in the middle of the night.

Now that Adam is crawling with speed and ease, he is into everything! A great portion of our parenting is keeping him from chewing on power cords, from pulling on the keyboard stand (or stationary bike) or from pulling fur off of the cat. The effort to keep Adam safe has also transitioned us into disciplining or trying to discipline Adam. It didn't take long for him to understand no once he realized that precedes removing him from whatever he is not supposed to be doing. He faces these restrictions with amazing fits of angry crying/screaming.

Distracting him works best. Bringing attention to the fact that he is not allowed something is his makes him focused on whatever it is he is not allowed. Matt and I are practicing a balance of simply detouring him and teaching him that no is not negotiable (at least not by way of a temper tantrum).

99.99% of the time Adam is a sweetie. He enjoys laughing and being silly. He has days when he babbles for hours or when he yelps at us from across the room with a huge smile waiting for us when we look over at him. He likes to gaze at the tree in the front yard while he's in his high chair, eating baby food. He loves to go out for walks in his stroller and people passing always comment on how cool he looks in his sunglasses. It's quite adorable when he wears them and it allows him to look around when we go out. Without them, he keeps his eyes closed on bright days and that's no fun for him. Thanks again, Auntie Lesia for his sunglasses. He uses them often.



Adam spends less time in his jumperoo and more time cruising around it. His latest toy is a playskool Step, Walk and Ride, like the one below. The body casing flips up to allow him to hold on while walking and pushing the toy ahead of him.
Last week, Adam got his flu shot. He was a champ and only cried for a little while after getting the injection. As of today, he has 4 bottom teeth and two upper teeth showing.

Adam Trivia

• Adam's favorite part of reading time is turning the pages for the reader.

Next post: Adam's first trip to the zoo!

Halloween

Adam's first Halloween costume. Spider Baby.

We spent Adam's first Halloween at home, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Actually, Adam spent half the time napping in Daddy and Mommy's room. Adam did dress up on Halloween day. He wore the costume Mommy made for him for about 10 minutes, before fussing over the weight of having to drag around 6 extra legs.

One of Adam's favorite toys is an Elmo table that Jen and Curt got for him. There are various buttons on the table and a spin toy. When the spin toy or buttons are activated, the little plastic Elmo head at the center of the U-shaped table, leans side to side and a song is played to match whatever was activated. In honor of his favorite toy, Adam's pumpkin was Elmo.

Adam's first jack-o-lantern.

No candy for Adam this year. He is still too young for sweets. Overall, Adam didn't seem to notice much difference between Halloween and any other day. We were just relieved that he was able to sleep through the blaring noise coming from the house of our obnoxious neighbors.