Having a full house in Big Bear was tons of fun, even though I was sick and Hudson was teething. We filled our days with eating, drinking, and shopping at the best store ever.
Hudson and Daddy.
Opening presents...
The babies fighting over Grandma B:
Here is a short clip of Hudson kicking and dancing with his legs (at the beginning of the video). He is like "Lord of the Dance" ... or whatever that guy is called.
Family photo...
Mommy and Hudson
Hudson still loves his bathtime.
Mornings with Hud... haha. Just kidding, he is actually a morning person but this photo is funny.
We did an early Christmas with JR's side of the family since we were going to be in Big Bear on Christmas Eve. We had so much fun and the kids went crazy over all the toys. I got a video of Hudson opening his gigantic present from his Aunt Kelli, Uncle Jack and cousins Zack, Auggie and Ana... he got a little help from his cousins!
Here is a photo of him riding the train after Uncle Jack put it all together!
All the cousins! I cant get over how big Hudson looks and how he fits right in playing with his cousins!
We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! Our little family is up in Big Bear and the weather here is beautiful. Crisp and cool but with the sun shining. Unfortunately, Hudson and I have been sick and he is teething, so it has been a more difficult weekend with very little sleep but there have been some great moments as well. On top of getting his top 3 teeth this weekend he also said "HI" for the first time and is waving at people like crazy. He likes to clap and he is standing longer and longer and will be walking in no time -- it is crazy to see a little baby stand. I had no idea he had such balance. It is also also a little scary with him becoming more daring. He has no fear -- he will stand and let go of whatever he was holding and reach/lean for something that is nowhere near (he hit his mouth/teeth twice this week when falling). I will post pictures from this weekend when we get home...some with Hudson's cool new Christmas presents (including a train that he can ride!) but for now, here are some photos from a few weeks ago:
JR had his annual work Christmas party on Saturday night. I was in charge of planning it and I was very worried before we got there because the restaurant was not very good at communicating with me and everyone I talked to there said something different. The night turned out great. I was pleasantly surprised and I think everyone had a good time.
My grandparents recently arrived from New Mexico and are thrilled to spend some time with Hudson and Gianna.
And here is a photo of me (as the new Britney Spears) driving with Hudson on my lap... Before I get comments about how dangerous this is.... The car was not on, we are not moving and it was for two seconds while I grabbed my purse. But Hudson did like the steering wheel...
And lastly, I got elfed... or, actually, JR and Hudson got elfed.
I feel that all I talk about is sleep... or lack there of... And even though I know just how important sleep is based on not getting any, I am sick of writing/thinking/talking/reading about sleep. So this is the last sleep post...
Before I stop talking about sleep, I have a bit of sleep advice. I realize that I am probably the last person that should be handing out baby sleep advice seeing as my baby has many sleep issues but 1) things seem to be getting better, 2) I feel I must have learned something during my quest for better sleep, and 3) I have hindsight. Looking back, there is something that I would have done differently and so I thought I should share.
Things are getting better: We started Ferber again (letting baby fall asleep on his own but checking on him, without picking him up, at increasing intervals). We had some really bad nights and some bad days. I honestly almost went in his room and picked him up so many times. As a mom, you convince yourself that your child needs you when they are crying -- maybe it is his teeth, maybe he has a fever, maybe he hit his head on the crib, maybe he has a poopy diaper...etc. But I didnt give in -- I let him cry in the hopes that he would learn to fall asleep on his own. I kept going in his room to calm him at increasing intervals without picking him up. To say it was hard is a major understatement. Now, I dont like to hear my baby cry... but it got to the point over the past few weeks and months where he was crying at all times of the night and no one was getting any sleep. JR and I realized, sadly, that he was so used to having us pat his back, hold him or nurse him to sleep that he couldnt fall asleep on his own without those aides (and each night, it would take longer and longer to put him to sleep because he knew we would pat him and then leave as soon as he fell asleep - so he would try not to fall asleep in order to get us to stay). I am happy to report that the past couple of nights he slept from 8pm to 5am without waking up. Oh the joy - words cannot describe.
Learned Something: I started re-reading the Ferber book again and this time, I read an account of a baby with sleep habits identical to Hudson. Baby would fall asleep easily, nursing or with someone patting him on the back. He would sleep good for 3-4 hours and then between midnight and 4am wake up countless number of times. As Hudson started getting up more and more, I just started nursing him each time because I was tired and I knew it would stop the crying and it usually put him back to sleep fairly quickly. As he started to wake more, he realized that if cried he got to nurse. So he woke up more. And more. And more. And then he got to the point where he couldnt go back to sleep on his own if he woke up (and babies wake up all the time at night - so they need to know how to fall back asleep without you).
Hindsight: Just a couple weeks ago, I told a friend that, if I could go back, I honestly didnt know what I would have done differently for Hudson's sleep. We were putting Hudson to bed awake and he was falling asleep... but in August something changed, he woke more, and I started reacting and created bad habits. Looking back, the week he started to sleep poorly was the week he got two teeth and we were in Big Bear. Both teething and traveling can negatively impact a baby's sleep. So, in hindsight, I shouldnt have reacted by getting up and nursing each time or patting his back each time. I should have suffered through a few bad nights and then got back on track by putting him to bed awake rather then helping him fall asleep each time, night after night, which was just a temporary-quick fix anyway.
Advice: My advice, which should be taken with a grain of salt since all babies are different and I am clearly no expert, is to put your baby in bed awake (tired, of course, but awake) when they are around 3-4 months as much as you can. I know it is easier to place baby in his crib asleep because no one wants to hear their child cry. But your child will be crying later. And later, your child will be standing up in the crib or walking out of their bed and then it is really hard to change these sleep habits.
A lot of people know that I did a little bit of work from home after Hudson was born but havent done much since. I am not really sure why that is. I know it would be good to get out of the house for a bit but some days it is hard to find time to shower or make the bed or get to the grocery store much less organize a sitter, get ready, think and act properly in an office of adults and actually work. It has been a while since I did anything law-related and so I was a bit nervous going back into the office on Thursday to pick up my newest assignment. The firm is nice enough to contract with me on an hourly basis so that I am not working full time and I can also work from home. It is mutually beneficial as they do not want to hire a full time employee but they do need more help when they get busy. I came home with piles of paperwork that I somehow need to find time to go through and I feel exhausted looking at it. When I got the work, I was a little excited. It felt good to talk about a case again but then I got home and immediately worried about how I would fit that into my current mommy-job. As I was leaving the office, one of the partners said, "It is far easier to come into the office then it is to stay at home with a child." And you know what, I think I agree. I dont think I agreed with that statement before I had Hudson and I am sure many of you out there wont agree with me now. I am not saying it is easy to work or be the 'breadwinner' but it is definitely not Oprah and eating bon-bons on the couch staying at home either (at least not with Hudson). So, I am not sure what is in store for me in terms of working. I think this set up could be good but I also have my doubts as to whether I can still turn in a good work product (especially on as little sleep as I have gotten over the last few months). We will see...
I knew Hudson's first word was not going to be mom, mommy or momma. Everyone says that dada is easier and so I didnt even get my hopes up. Hudson has been babbling dada and other similar noises for awhile but I am not so sure he knows exactly who dada is when he says the word. Well, now he is saying DOG. And he knows what a dog is. He says dog and looks at the dogs or sometimes points to a dog. If you say dog, he looks around until he finds one of our dogs. So.... I think his first real word is going to have to go down in the books as being DOG.
Check out this video of Hudson trying to eat a balloon. There is some crazy funny dance he does in the middle...
And here is his newest tooth - finally broke through on the top. I think he is getting two others very soon. Not fun but I cant wait to see him with more teeth.
Hudson is weighing in at 18 pounds and 14 ounces... still over a pound less than Gianna! He feels heavier so everyone thought he would outweigh her but not this month! Hudson and Ronan
After Hudson pulls himself to standing he is then letting go ... and actually standing on his own for a few seconds. I really didnt think he would be as balanced as he is and now he is doing it all the time. I managed to get these little clips...
I finally captured on film (a little) our dancing machine. He has been bobbing his head when he hears music for a couple weeks but it has been hard to capture. We arent quite sure where he learned this from. And we are hoping he didnt get daddy's rhythm -- it is a little too early to tell! Here is a little taste...
Hudson's Christmas present from JR and I arrived a little early, so we opened it. Here is our little Piano Man.
Here is more crawling. He is getting better and faster every day!
I have many theories on Hudson's less than stellar sleeping and one of the newest ones involves breastfeeding. I dont know too many babies that are 100% breastfed but the ones I do know do not sleep very well. I know that babies digest breastmilk better/easier than formula and many doctors believe that they will need to eat more often because of this. Well, if this is true, and formula fed babies are more likely to pass out, sleep longer and (my theory) learn better sleeping habits, then maybe I should have considered formula earlier. I am not second guessing my decision to breastfeed (not yet anyways) but I do want to know if anyone has a baby that sleeps that is breastfed only. [By the way, I think 'sleep' in baby-world means 5 or more hours according to my pediatrician and a book I read on healthy sleeping.] So, anyone out there? Anyone at all that has a baby, had a baby, or knows a baby that was NOT on formula that slept well before he/she was a year old or so? I know that every baby is different and I am also not expecting to get enormous amounts of sleep but I was just wondering if there might be a connection. In the meantime, we are not going anywhere because he tends to get really thrown off and sleeps even worse when we leave -- i.e he was doing really well before Hawaii. So maybe it has nothing to do with breastmilk... I said I have a lot of theories and the breastmilk one is just one of them.
We were lucky enough to just get back from a family trip to the island of Kauai. Our first big trip with Hudson and it was everything we wanted it to be -- but mainly, relaxing. I was worried about the 6 hour flight with Hudson but he did great on both legs of the trip. Here are a lot of photos from the trip.
Hudson and Gianna on the beach at the little lagoon -- where we hung out EVERY day. I love that my camera is also totally waterproof for pictures like this. Hudson in his trunks and Daddy in his! The Hotel. The Hotel from our Room. The three of us! JR's parents came too!! My parents as well! Gia and Hudson sit by each other when we go out to eat and they actually share toys and entertain each other a bit! JR and Hudson at dinner for my mom's 50th Birthday!! One of the reasons for the trip! Hudson and I swimming in the lagoon! Gianna and Hudson hanging on the beach in their sunprotecting outfits. The babies' rafts. View from underneath the rafts. The luau. JR and Hudson.
Even though we arent getting any sleep and even though I get nothing done, Hudson is still the best thing that ever happened to us! And he is just too cute!
This past week Hudson has turned into a W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L napper. I finally understand, or at least have a taste, of what it is like to have a child that sleeps "normally." He has been taking 1 1/2 hours naps in the morning and 2 hours naps in the afternoon and it has been heaven. He has NEVER taken a two hour nap before this week -- we were lucky to get 45 minutes to an hour out of him. I am sure it is because he is crawling around and tiring himself out (and hopefully I am not jinxing it by writing about it). I almost dont know what to do with myself during all this time! I organized the closet and some of the kitchen cabinets. I am able to clean and make Hudson's food ahead of time. It has been great! Let's hope it continues!
Also - Hudson is 7 months old today! Where has the time gone?
Hudson has been rocking on his hands and knees for at least a month and a half now. And he has been moving backwards for a few weeks now too. But in the last couple days, his motions have started to look more and more like real crawling. I captured this video tonight. He is so cute and so determined to get our phone (All those toys and all he wants is our phone, the remote control, cell phones and cameras). JR and I got all emotional about our baby growing up...
Oliver Henry was born on Oct. 25 at 12:19pm weighing in at 6pounds 9 ounces and 18 inches long. He has the best baby hair I have ever seen! Congrats on the cutie Diana and Andy.
