Dexter's Sleep Regression

[yawn] I may have to go back to drinking copious amounts of caffeinated beverages. Remember our sweet, wonderful 2-month old who slept through the night? I miss him.

Apparently there is a 4-month sleep regression that just about every baby goes through. OK, that's life. (or so I thought when this all started a month ago)

For comparison:
December 3. Dexter is one day shy of 2 months old.
10:00 PM - Dexter goes to sleep.
7:00 AM - Dexter wakes up.

February 23. Dexter is 4.5 months old.
8:00 PM - Dexter is in bed.
8:10 PM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
8:15 PM - Dexter is a w a k e. I take him out of bed and put him in his swing.
8:45 PM - Dexter is asleep in his swing.
9:00 PM - Dexter is moved to his crib.
9:30 PM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
10:07 PM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
10:44 PM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
11:07 PM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
12:45 AM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
1:07 AM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
2:30 AM - Dexter drinks a whole 6 oz bottle.
4:00 AM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
530 AM - Dexter needs a pacifier.
6:00 AM - Dexter drinks another whole 6 oz bottle and is awake.
7:15 AM - Dexter falls asleep again.
9:30 AM - Dexter is awake for the day.

Yes, that is a typical night now. Did I mention this has been going on for a month? (I'm not sure this "standard" sleep regression is supposed to last that long.) And I've got to wonder if it's any better for the baby whose sleep is constantly interrupted than it is for his mom.

The good news is that he gigles and laughs a lot during the day, which helps take the edge off of the fatigue. Videos to come at some undetermined time in the future.

Dexter's Laughs

We have a new "rolling over" game. The idea was to sortof teach him how to roll over. But, as with so many things we try to teach him, he thinks it's just a game. I hope he doesn't just laugh at us when we head into addition and subtraction.

Anyway, he loves it, so I love it, too. :)

Dexter's First Valentine's Day!

Some fun new games

We got some cute video over the last couple of days and figured we'd share.




(Dennis has a receiving blanket that he is rolling up and snapping in the air, locker-room style. Rest assured that this was happening sufficiently far away from Dexter that he was not in danger of getting hit with it.)

Dexter's Official 4-month Stats

18 pounds (92nd %ile)
27.5 inches (98th %ile)
16.75 inch head circumference (53rd %ile)

Yep. He's a big guy. More of him to love and all of that. :)

He got 2 more vaccinations - one oral and one injection. Apparently the oral stuff tasted gross, because he fought it pretty hard. He did great with the shot, though.

The pediatrician says he is doing great and that it's OK to start solids. (Good thing, since we started solids last Thursday. He was more than ready for it.)

Dexter Rolled Over (We Think)

On two occasions, we have found Dexter on his stomach after we put him down on his back to play. On both occasions, though, he was in his little baby gym and was found with one leg on either side of one of the arms. So we're not 100% sure that he did it all on his own - he may have used the gym arm for leverage.

We did catch one (sortof) rollover on video. He definitely made the right motions, but he did roll off of a (very thin, but definitely present) pillow, and that seemed to have at least made it a lot easier for him.

So, he might have hit this milestone on February 3 (one day shy of 4 months), but we're still waiting for official visual confirmation.

Dexter's Visit to Mississippi

Dexter and his I left on January 31 for his first airplane ride since he resigned his "fetus" status. He did pretty well on the 2-hour flight. Takeoff and landing were not much of an issue compared to the fact that it was about 90 degrees on the plane. We were extra grateful to have a baby-loving neighbor on the way down to help us out.

Once we landed in New Orleans, Dexter was all smiles for Tootsie & Pop, who couldn't wait to get their hands on him.

All in all, the trip was pretty great. Several of his fans got to see him up-close and personal. Even better, Tootsie took the night shifts and I got to sleep. A lot. And eat. Excellent gulf coast food. Also, it was warm there. It was 8 degrees in STL and 66 in Mississippi. We went for walks outside and got to see trees with actual leaves on them.



Tootsie loves Dexter. Dexter loves Tootsie.



Dexter and Pop had a grand time. (They also played a lot of computer solitaire.)




We played lots of new games on this trip.



Miss Carol came to visit twice! She is so much fun.

Tootsie took him to East Hancock Elementary (Go Gators!) to show him off to her coworkers. He did a great job, but then he was really wiped out after all of that attention and extra smiling.



Speaking of the EHE crowd, they were incredibly generous with loaners to help us through the trip. Tootsie's house was fully outfitted with a pack-and-play, bouncy/rocking seat, baby play gym, and and an infant bathtub. (He loved the play gym so much we got to keep it! Thanks!!)



Dennis was afraid that Dexter would forget him while we were gone, so he recorded himself reading stories and instructed us to play it for him every day. We did, but I'm still confident Dexter would have remembered him anyway.



We thought we'd try to get a nice picture of the 3 of them, but Dexter and Pop couldn't tear their eyes away from the TV. Really. I have about 20 of these, and they're all the same.



Time to go!