Adorable regression

He was sleeping solidly for a week and then the last two nights he's been up screaming at various points. (1 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m.) Not just regular, don't-want-to-sleep screams, but painful, awful screams. I think maybe he's had a bad dream (is this even possible?), but, regardless, he's pretty damn inconsolable for an hour or so. Then, out of nowhere, he's asleep again, almost immediately back in that heavy breathing, deep baby sleep. Don't know what's going on. (Thoughts?) I hope it's just a bump in the road. That it's just one of those normal, expected one-step-back phases of parenthood/babyhood that reminds me how futile the goal of progress is in this new life of ours. We take things as they come. Regression is almost a definite guarantee.

Another guarantee? That I'll do my best to keep him well-documented. I can't remember every moment, so, thank god, I'll have all these pictures to jog my foggy, mom memory.

 

 

He's starting to reach for everything and anything. It makes meals especially interesting. "No, no, love, you can't have daddy's beer until you're 16 and are sneaking them in the backyard with your girlfriend." He's also started grabbing faces and pulling them towards his open mouth. It's adorable, really, although Molly would whole-heartedly disagree.

Here's Ky and his girlfriend, Payton (my friend Crystal's 10-month old baby girl who is, my god, the same size as Kyle; thankfully she likes her boyfriends strapping and beefcakey). As Crystal captioned this photo, "She can't keep her hands off him!" He's irresistible, I can't disagree.

At the July Fourth BBQ we went to this past Saturday. Kyle took another dip in the pool and was caught grabbing hands with Payton. Who says arranged marriages are a thing of the past!

For those not following the rocking chair series on flickr, here's week twenty-one.

85 toys to choose from, and he'd prefer munching on his hands.

Just try not to love a sleeping baby. It's impossible. For many, many reasons.

Happy Wednesday to you. Wish for us a scream-free night tonight!

Comments

[Crystal]

Could he possibly be teething? Aside from that, so cute!

[She Likes Purple]

Crystal, I've thought that, too. I give him a little Tylenol when he's feeling warm or in that inconsolable screaming stage, and sometimes it works (some), sometimes not. I've also got some teething products ordered just to be safe.

Regardless, I constantly have my hands in his mouth feeling for something, but so far nothing. Still ... perhaps? I've *heard* babies can be "teething" (screaming, fever, sleeplessness) for weeks before the tooth actually breaks through. So ... that leaves us in the fun "we'll see!" phase. Ugh.

[Camels & Chocolate]

So. Freakin'. Cute.

[Jen]

This reminds me of when Rowan was only a few days old, and my mom was staying with us the first two weeks. During one particularly fussy night, she had the audacity to get up and ask me, "What's the problem?" I hissed back at her, "If I fucking knew what the problem was, I'd fucking fix it."

It was like my mom totally forgot what it was like to deal with a screaming newborn in the middle of the night. Babies are like these enigmas shrouded in mystery. One never really know why they freak out, or regress, or scream their heads off, or suddenly play nice. And everyone and their old-school grandma wants to suggest teething, as my mom has for the last four months. And yet, still no sign of chompers on our end. Here's my other favorite reason: perhaps a growth spurt?

One may never know. So, we just take it day by day.

[Jane]

it could be teething. And for that I highly recommend hylands homeopathic teething tablets. A few dissolved in a spoonful of water always did the trick. I went from inconsolable baby to sleeping baby in about 5 minutes the first time we used them.

They don't knock them out, just relieve the teeth pain. I would recommend trying them and if they work, then you know... but I will send peaceful sleeping thoughts your way in case it's something else too..

[Becky]

I second the teething tabs. Just hold one or two against the gum until it dissolves. Takes away the pain right away.

It is also possible that he is having bad dreams. Hugs mama... it gets better.

[Elizabeth]

OH MY GOD THE CHUBBY ARM ROLLS. To die for.

Oh, no, the teething (if that's what he's doing) is wretched, I can't lie. And usually the worst was waaaay before we felt a tooth. It is a poorly designed system. We finally settled on a regimen of double dosing alternating between Tylenol and Motrin and that seemed to work the best - (you don't give it at the same time, but stagger based on the recommended dosage, does that make sense?)

[Jess]

OK, your kid's really cute and I heart the photos, but where is a photo of him grabbing Molly's face? I understand that this may be hard to orchestrate since presumably Molly may want you to rescue her face, but come on! We're talking about ART here.

[Christina]

2 thoughs. First if it's teething pain and its causing wakeups- drug him before he goes down for the night- Motrin is good for 6-8 hours (but its for 6 month olds and up so you decide) Maybe he will sleep through if it is pain related.
My second and crazy thought is night terrors. Nate went though a stage where he'd wake up about 90 minutes after going down and he was possessed! Screaming and thrashing around, but, sound asleep. He's "technically" too young for them but so was Nate and his Ped said that's exactly what was going on. You can't consloe him becuase he's not awake. The only thing that woke Nate up was to put a boob in his mouth- a full mouth snapped him out of it. Not me talking to him or rocking or anything- he would start to calm down once he had to swallow. So, maybe have a bottle handy and see if you can get him to take it? That was really long for a crap shoot- good luck tonight!
ps- check Ask Moxie for sleep regression ages. I can't remember when they hit anymore.

[auntie]

i love that kyle is into hanging out in (almost) just his birthday suit - it shows off his adorable fat rolls!! also loving that you're working on the arranged marriage...as someone that is *still* single, i'm about 99% on board with that idea :)

[She Likes Purple]

Jess, I will do my best to capture that. It really should be documented; it's adorable. Molly just looks at me like, "You've got to be kidding me."

Christina, you know that was my gut thought. He was pretty asleep and I had to wake Mike up because I had never seen him act like that or cry in such a way.

If so, what a poor little guy. What's so bad at 5 months that it's coming back to terrorize him at night!

[She Likes Purple]

auntie, 99% of the time, he's naked (w/ diaper) when he's home. It's how he rolls. ;)

[Rachel]

Screaming and all...he is TOO cute!

[pickles & dimes]

Oh, man. That last photo is my favorite. Look at his little baby bicep! :)

[sensibly sassy]

oh man...just, oh man the cuteness

[Kristina]

He is so very very precious. Naked babies are the best! My my 2 yr. old still asks to "do Nakie baby".

It's prob. teething, and-to echo everyone else-it DOES get better. I do remember the first couple teeth being the worst as far as screaming/night awakening went, and after that it seemed as though he was able to tolerate the pain a little better and it became less disruptive. My best advice- find the smallest teethers you can. I always found that the regular teethers were too big for him to get in his mouth, esp. when he had back teeth coming in, so they did no good. Good luck!!

[Karen]

It does sound like night terrors - but is it supposed to happen that young? I know it does in older kids... hit mine about 2 years. Putting her down at night earlier solved that problem.

But it does also sound like teething...I know, I know - everyone says that about everything!!! Tylenol never seems to help in this house but the Motrin was great. And as for teeth coming in, I rarely actually saw them coming in for my daughter. It's almost like they just popped through with no visual warning.

Darn these kids messing with our sleep!

[jonniker]

I've been told that teething comes in phases-- the jaw starts to hurt months before teeth come in, then the teeth hurt, etc. etc. So I'm going with teething, as I have been with Sam, who's been on a steady nightly dose of Motrin for a bit, as she's been regressing with crying before she goes down (which she NEVER does), and waking up wiggly every 45 minutes or so -- odd even for her, she of the two-hour sleep cycle.

[Rhi]

I've been meaning to tell you about the rocking chair photos - one day he was a teeny baby, and then all of the sudden - in the next photo you posted he was a regular baby.

Also, it looks like he's a big fan of the baby in the mirror on his play mat.

[Julie]

Sabrina goes through those random scream scream SCREAMS like she's being tazed and then stops like she's hit a wall. I gotta believe it's teething. Little stabbing rocks trying to poke their way through soft flesh and nerve endings would probably induce a such a reaction from me, so I'm sticking with that theory. But it still scares me to death when it happens at 3 AM.

Oh man, is that little guy scrumptious. I can see how he attracts the older ladies!

[Tabatha]

Since my baby's younger than yours, I can't offer advice, sorry. :(

I can, however, ask you where you got that FABULOUS play mat that my kid would die for. :)

[She Likes Purple]

Hi, Tabatha. You can always offer advice. Age is totally relative when it comes to parenting, I think.

Anyway, the mat is at my mother-in-law's house. She got it, most likely, at a garage sale. She frequents them in search of toys for Kyle to be entertained by while he's at her house.

[Kristabella]

He's so cute! Is he big enough for his Bacon shirt yet? (I can't remember what size I sent you!)

[Natalie]

Did he get rid of his ear infection?

[Tabatha]

OF COURSE. I need to do that more often. But I also live in a more-than-slightly ghetto area, so perhaps not. Need to hit up the suburbs, I guess. :)

Kiedis, my 4 month old, JUST started doing the same thing two nights ago. I have no idea what it is, either. He doesn't sound in pain, just more at five alarm panic, I guess ... and after a diaper change and a feeding, he's out again. I was going to ask my pediatrician tomorrow about it at his checkup, but in all honesty he's not a normal healthy baby so who knows -- if it's considered normal I'll let you know what the doc thinks is up.

[Dolli-Mama]

He is so cute!

[Stephanie]

My immediate reaction was same as Christina's. No, I don't have a baby, but I did have night terrors. What you describe is very similar to what my mother told me I put her through. It IS very sad, eh? But I say, if a dog can have a bad dream, why not a baby? Seriously, what is bad in my dog's life or your baby's life? I'm guessing not a damned thing.

Hope he sleeps in peace tonight...

[Debbie in the UK]

Crumbs....your boy is the LIVING IMAGE of his Daddy! Honestly.

x

[She Likes Purple]

Debbie, that's so funny you say that. We get that a lot, but my mom and sister still say they think he looks so much like me. I think it's the features you're drawn to that make the difference. Most people look at a person's eyes, and Kyle DEFINITELY has his dad's eyes. Now, if his hair could just come back in red!

[Maliah's Mommy]

Hi I've been following you on Bodiesinmotivation and started reading your personnal blog because I realte to you. My daughter is 6 mos and I've still got like 20 poundds to go. Anyway I looked it up to be sure but I think Kyle might be having night terrors. Usually in toddlers but does happen in infants too. My sister's and brothers all had them it was awful. The seem awake (actually aren't) but are totally inconsolable. It's normal but frightening for the parents. Babycenter.com has a good piece on them. You have my sympathy, I'm totally dreading when Maliah starts them.

[Leah]

Wombat's been having night terrors (or something like them) from birth, although they've tapered off in the last few months. He screams bloody, raging horror while he's completely asleep, and we can't wake him up or calm him down without boob. The pediatrician says not to worry, so we do our best not to.

[Ally]

totally hylands teething tabs! I found that we had WEEKS of total baby bitchy behavior before seing a tooth. Sheesh, sometimes months.