TMI Tuesday: DIY Baby

Next Project!

Our son has always had a fascination with texture and anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Basically, anything that catches his attention in one way or another is going to be examined closely and, in some cases, destroyed. It is our son’s natural curiosity that can sometimes get the best of him and there are occasions when you can tell that he has been checking things out when we weren’t looking.

While there have been instances of this before which started soon after he was born, he seems to have taken things to the next level in our new house and especially as his mobility has increased. It used to be that he would insist on staring at something to try and figure it out. This started with looking at mommy and daddy as he studied every line and gray hair that he was already starting induce. Later on he started using his sense of touch wanting to know what daddy’s beard felt like or nuzzle in the softness of mommy’s shirt. It was rather the adorable process.

Now, when he spots something out of place, he will scurry across the room to take a closer look and examine both how it looks and how it feels. Once this initial investigation comes to an end he tries to figure out a way to alter it. It is a trial and error process. Sometimes he will rub or pick at something without any effect while other times he is quite entertained by what he can accomplish in a short period of time.

There have been two instances in particular where his curiosity is evident on the walls of our home. The first started soon after we moved in when he first caught sight of the small flap of wallpaper starting to peel away from the drywall. Unfortunately, this small spot is in his playroom. While we have been pretty good about catching him when he gets that mischievous look in his eye, it only took one instance with our attention averted for our son to capitalize on the opportunity and start one of our many projects a little early. At least that small flap is gone now.

The other example surprised us both. We has previously secured the video monitor on the wall above his crib with Velcro and the wire heading to the outlet with staples and duct tape. Classy but effective… at least that is what we thought. One morning many of those staples (all of which we recovered later) were pulled from the wall and the cord was turned into a toy dangling just outside of his crib. Other mornings we caught him a little earlier with only the tape having been partially peeled back. Needless to say, we moved his crib so the cord is now out of reach.

In each of these instances he seems to give me this look of sly confidence that seems to say “Daddy, I took the liberty of destroying the house while you were out”. While minor annoyances, in the end he could be getting into much worse things and I am certain that will be the case in the future. If only he would stop growing so fast… it is sometimes hard to keep up especially since he is sometimes too smart for his own good. With that in mind, I am certain that there are things that we have yet to uncover.

TMI Tuesday: Screams In The Night

One of the scariest sounds that I have ever heard is when we have been startled from a deep sleep by the screams from our son echoing across the room through the monitor. While my wife’s hearing is more in tune with the displeasures of our son, when I am able to remain unconscious to the troubles around us, there are times when it doesn’t matter how sound a slumber, the scream that our son makes could wake anyone up… even me!

Just over a week ago this seemed to be the pattern for a few nights as our son spiked a fever well into triple digits. It was a time of little sleep, especially for my wife, as all we could do for a couple of nights was monitor, give him medicine, hold him, and dunk him in the tub if he got too hot. Unfortunately, I am little help during these times as our son insists on having his mommy but will occasionally want his daddy within his sight line. This episode, this sequence of nights, was far beyond those that we have dealt with previously.

Even without a temperature and feeling perfectly fine, there are moments when our son will wake up and make some noise before falling back to sleep. What can I say, he is loud when he shifts just like his daddy. There are also moments when he will fuss or even whimper for a minute or two before he either screams because of some uncomfortable padding under his bottom or he will unleash a different kind of sound that fills the night, lay down, and sleep better than he did before he woke up.

There was also a period of adjustment when we moved into the house when we couldn’t quite get the thermostat right… our son has become rather particular with regard to ideal sleeping temperature in his room. Over the first couple of weeks we were able to figure it out. Who am I kidding, my wife is the one that fine-tuned the temperature. And now, if there are nights that are a little warmer or cooler, our son adjusts his position in the crib sleeping either in a slightly cooler spot near the wall or a little warmer away from it.

And while we have done everything that we can to make him as comfortable as possible, sometimes there are nights when he doesn’t feel well. Sometimes there are evenings when he is startled by a nightmare (also a scream that is hard to forget). Sometimes he simply loses track of his stuffed animal and/or binkie. And other times there are nights when he gets a little lonely being on the second floor by himself or when we didn’t spend enough time playing with him during the day and needs a little more snuggle time with mommy and/or daddy. But these nights are nothing in comparison to that heart wrenching siren.

TMI Tuesday: Blasting The Baby Monitor

When we first starting putting the baby registry together last year one of the things that we made sure to put on there was a monitor. Rather than going with the usual ones, we wanted to upgrade a little bit and get the video monitor for no other reason than we felt more comfortable being able to see our son and not just hear him. So far, that has been the primary use of the camera (especially when he is eerily quiet in his sleep) but it has also been a great source of entertainment at times.

There have been many nights when our son has had trouble sleeping or getting to sleep. Being able to see him has allowed us to take preemptive action during those times. While he may not be screaming yet, we know the restlessness that comes before the ear piercing. We both hate to hear our son cry and preventing that from happening by calming his flailing legs has been a great way to avoid those moments.

Sometimes there are moments, especially after a long and/or tiring day, when we just want to see him. It is calming to watch our son sleep but sometimes we don’t want to risk stepping on that one squeaking floorboard and waking him up. The camera has afforded us the best of both worlds by watching him dreaming peacefully without the risk of disturbing those restful moments for him.

And then there are the entertaining times. Whenever we hear him rustling in his crib we turn on the video. Sometimes, as mentioned above, we need to climb up the stairs and settle him. Other times we know what is about to happen. It can be just as loud as those aforementioned screams and they are much stinker as well. Those are the times when we know he is about to let his colon calm him.

It usually starts with the legs high in the air as if he is practicing some odd form of flatulent yoga. Keep in mind that we are watching this from the foot of the crib (maybe the funniest of all the possible angles). This is followed by a little shimmy. This can happen several times depending on the intensity of the end result. Once everything is primed the fuse is lit and the explosion vibrates the crib. I guess you could say that it is a brief moment of satisfying wakefulness for our baby. Once the dust settles he turns his head to the side and falls right back into a deep and restful sleep. At this point we just hope our laughing isn’t so loud that it will wake him up.

So there are many uses that we have gotten out of the video monitor. Some are very practical and have been beneficial since we brought our son home in the winter. Of course, there are also the other times when it has just been a great source of laughter.  

TMI Tuesday: Baby Needs Space

Yes, the Swingline stapler went with him.

Not really a TMI post but it is still about the baby so here you go…

As the days and weeks have passed, our son keeps getting bigger and bigger. This seems to be happening way too fast (we were warned that this would happen). While he has yet to reach the 3 month mark he has already grown out of most cloths that bear that same marking and is now well into the 3-6 month items that fill his dresser.

While he is a bit chunky like his daddy, much of this outgrowth is because of his length. Because of this the swaddles that he once seemed to swim in are now too short to accommodate his outstretched legs and the bassinet that has remained beside our bed can barely contain him. His rapid growth forced us to make the switch over the weekend finally moving him out of our bedroom and into his crib in his own room.

So far he seems to like the privacy and I can’t say I blame him. While he can still hear much of what is going on in the house, he no longer has to hear the snores echoing off the walls (although this amazingly didn’t seem to bother him before). He has his own space in his own room… it really is amazing how fast things seem to be changing.

We have watched him slowly take over more and more of the bassinet over the last couple of months and now that he is in his crib it seems as though we have hit the reset button. It is a large crib and our growing boy seems lost in there. Thankfully, the transition was harder on my wife than our son as he is enjoying the extra room and the slightly softer sleeping surface. I guess we will now get to watch him slowly take over and outgrow his new bed.

I must admit that I do miss hearing him sleep on the other side of the room. I enjoyed the brief time when I could just lay in bed and listen for his muffled snores (and sometimes little farts). It was nice knowing that he was right there. Although it is much easier for me when I come to bed as I don’t have to worry as much about waking him up. He is already growing so fast and now he has his own bedroom and his own crib (where he takes advantage of the extra space by spreading out when he is not swaddled) with his mommy still watching him on the monitor from her side of the bed. Some things just aren’t going to change.  

TMI Tuesday: That Wasn’t A Fart!

There are times early in the evening when there is loud rumble coming from the baby monitor. It’s not so much surprising as it is impressive given the fact that our son only recently surpassed the ten pound mark. While some might be a little taken back and somewhat disgusted by these emanations the fact of the matter is that they are downright hilarious.

Usually before an eruption our son begins to squirm and make the occasional noise boarding on a cry. When this happens I turn the video on just to check in on him only to see two feet pointing straight up in the air, stomach tensed, and face scrunched. As soon as he unleashes the “Cracken”, his body relaxes and he goes back to sleep.

Of course, then there are the other times when our son stops whatever he is doing (which isn’t much at this point) and starts grunting and pushing to the point that his face becomes a deep red. At this point it is best to take cover. While most of the time it is nothing but air followed by a smirk there have been quite a few moments when the shrapnel tries blowing through whatever barrier stands in its way. While that part may not be funny the look of disbelief, shock, and relief on our son’s face makes us laugh every time.

And when I say blow through barriers I mean blow through barriers. While I am certain that our son could fit into a smaller diaper, his colon wants nothing to do with those limited boundaries. We have been forced to move up a couple of sizes already not because of things being too tight but because the diapers failed the containment test (aka the blowout test). That is probably the most pleasant way of describing the scene when you pick up your child in the morning only to find that he has painted his back up to his shoulder blades. Not a pleasant way to wake up but one of those times when you find yourself laughing all the way to the bathtub.

While the sound effects started early on (before we left the hospital), they have only grown over time in both potency and decibel level. However, there is a bright side to this whole explosive situation. We have now gotten to the point when I can sleep through the night knowing that I have plausible deniability when I wake up. He still has a long way to go but he is proving to be a quick study.