What is All the Fuss About?
Greetings everyone!
Xavier has had a busy week already, and we (his parents) have learned a lesson. Or have we, really?
Sundays are often busy days, a great irony for such a day. After packing three bottles in Xavier's tote bag, we headed for church. We chose three bottles because we know our son's two to two and a half hour schedule would require at least two bottles before returning home. Rebecca and I also wanted to grab a lunch to spend a little time together. We had problems putting Xavier to bed Sunday night, and the hours leading up to his bed time. He had too much activity and not enough "nap-tivity."
Monday, Rebecca loaded Xavier up and paid a visit to the owners of the house we are in the process of buying. Xavier and Marie (one of the owners of the house) hit it off immediately. Xavier shamelessly flirted with her with wide smiles and coy giggles. Out several hours and not much sleep to show for it, Xavier loudly refused sleep at night, strongly fighting it though he needed it (after all, he had been up most of the day).
Once we got him into a calm state around 11:00 PM, he did sleep into the wee hours of the morning,. After a 3:00 AM feeding, he slept until 5:30. After a feeding, some iron and ursadall and a diaper change, he slept a few hours more.
He slept while Rebecca ran some errands. When at the mall, he awoke and took notice of all around him. He was the hit of the mall as they strolled through it. So many people peeked in or commented on him, and he shamelessly flirted with several store clerks. (Rebecca said the mall was filled with mothers and their babies, commenting it must be "the place house wives hang out.")
He was a quiet, unfussy, happy baby boy all day when he was awake. Nothing at all to remind us of his previous behavior, particularly in the evening. He took a bottle at 7:00 PM then fell asleep. We told him, "hey, you still have an hour and a half before crib time," but he still wanted to sleep. (We are trying to regiment him a little more by setting three specific crib times a day. This has so far worked out well for everyone; much less drama. Sunday and Monday did not follow this guideline. Coincidence?)
About 9:00, Xavier started to stir. He managed to kick off his blanket and was quietly chewing his fingers. After seeing his parents fawn over him, he fell back to sleep. At 11:00 we woke him to change his diaper and feed him. He guzzled his 80 cc, falling back to sleep with the nipple still in his mouth.
He slept through the whole night, six hours! Glory to God!
Exciting? Yes! This means Xavier has put on enough chub that he comfortably can make it through the night. We were told by a veteran mother of two that (more than one mother, I think, told us this) that ten pounds is a magic number. "Both my children needed feedings throughout the night," she explained. "Then, right at ten pounds, it was like a switch was flipped."
Xavier may not be at the "switch flipping" point yet (his is currently about 7 and a half pounds), but he has put on a good deal of chub. Given winter is closing in, we are thankful for it. Will he waken at 2:30 tonight and want to eat? Maybe. But we have a taste of what it's like to sleep through the night, and it was glorious!
So, have we learned our lesson? Have we learned that we are not DINKs anymore and Xavier, little guy that he is, needs more downtime and can't be kept out as long as his parents? If we haven't, Xavier has proven he will continue to educate us with an parade of shrill shrieks and loud im-so-tired-but-im-not-going-to-sleep warbles.
Always, thank you for your prayers. Awesome is our God, Who always leads us to triumph in Christ Jesus!