Week 6: Chit-Chat & Swaddling

Week 6 has been a huge week for all of us - lots of new skills mastered (by Daniel) and new lessons learned (by Daniel's parents!).

Those amazing smiles of his have gotten even more consistent - now we can make him smile (and sometimes laugh) by rolling our eyes around, making funny noises, tickling his cheeks and collar bone, poking his nose, and contorting our faces into all kinds of odd configurations. We really are a sight - two grown adults acting like circus clowns in the hopes of extracting one sweet little baby smile. I sure wish I knew what Daniel was thinking when he watched the two of us!

As much as we love those smiles, they have started showing up at some pretty inconvenient times... like during his middle of the night feeding. And believe me - it is hard to put him down when he's grinning at you! A few nights ago, my husband came to bed at 4:00 a.m. after giving Daniel a bottle and said to me, "Honey, I'm so tired... Daniel will NOT go to sleep... for 15 minutes non-stop he's been smiling at me from the crib!" I know, I know... there are much worse problems to have. But I definitely don't want to encourage a routine 4:00 a.m. playtime!

His sweet little faces are now accompanied by attempted conversations on his part - lots of semi-articulated noises showed up this week. Before, it was kind of the same ole grunt sound... now he's trying out all kinds of sounds, and will participate in a conversation of sorts, where he makes a noise, then I make one, then he does, and so on.

I know crawling is still quite a ways off, but sometimes I get nervous at how determined Daniel is to master it! During tummy time, he has a newfound energy, and spends quite a bit of time doing what I can only describe as "fake crawling" - all the necessary components are there, he just doesn't go anywhere! With enough effort, he can propel himself forward an inch or two. I'm hoping it stays that way for a while - I am NOT ready to chase him all over the house!

Another fun thing I learned this week: I can wear Daniel in the Bjorn and vaccum the whole house. Daniel seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, but not as much as my husband, who about died laughing when he came home in the middle of this experiment to a barefoot wife in boxers and a tee-shirt with a baby strapped to her chest.

We also celebrated Daniel's first Easter - the church where we work held Easter service at the University of Phoenix Stadium (home of the Arizona Cardinals and Superbowl 2008!) so I took Daniel in the stroller. He was so well-behaved... took a bottle in a very loud chaotic environment, and didn't seem bothered in the least. He didn't even cry during the surprise fireworks - he barely woke up!

The last lesson learned this week was a biggie: swaddling. I only wish I had discovered this about 6 weeks ago! Someone recommended the book "Happiest Baby on the Block" and I picked up a copy. I didn't really read it until Daniel started waking up in the middle of every nap last week. We finally sat in his nursery to observe the problem - he would startle in his sleep, then flail his arms, and smack himself in the face! This triggered his hunger reflex (even when he wasn't hungry) and he'd start yelling his head off.

We started swaddling with a big square receiving blanket, like the book suggests, but Daniel is so big and strong that we had to wrap another folded blanket around his arms straight-jacket style. (My husband couldn't resist commenting that wrapped like this, our son looked like a doobie). I did a little research online and read raving reviews of "the Miracle Blanket" for swaddling escape artist babies.

I ordered one (and was so excited that I paid too much for 2-day shipping :) but after just one use, we couldn't be happier with it. Daniel is comfortable and doesn't get overheated, and doesn't startle himself out of a nap anymore. We only use it for sleeping, and he gets plenty of exercise during his awake times.

Anyway. Highly recommended for all babies - the blanket and the book - I loved the concepts presented by the pediatrician who wrote the book. They make a lot of sense - and in Daniel's case, are completely true. Everything about him has improved since I read the book - his moods, his sleeping habits, his fussy times. And I truly think that it's because I understand him better now - and can meet his needs more efficiently.