Since the last time I posted a few things have changed as Collin grows and we get to know him better. For example, I finally can differentiate cries. People, books, experts on babies always say you'll be able to tell what a baby needs by the different cries he or she makes and in the books it seems to be something parents should pick up on fairly quickly. Well..... not these parents. We were really starting to believe we were just inept idiots when it came to his communication efforts with different cries, after all the text say "by about 4 weeks you should know exactly what your baby needs"- as if he's just spitting out words to tell us. But, four weeks came and went and we were still trying nearly everything to get him to be soothed when he was fussy without identifying one particular cry. This has persisted for the last few weeks and now, Finally, at 8 weeks, I get it. I finally can figure out what he means via cries. Collin has three basic cries:
1. The bloody murder some is poking me with needles cry. This one is the most heartbreaking. It makes me panic. Nearly every time he does it he's on the changing table getting a diaper change (which he hates, generally) and every time I start immediately looking for what is poking, pinching, or hurting him to make him cry so hard, and alas, everytime I come up empty handed. He just HATES getting his diaper changed, and the farther along in the day we are, the harder the cry. So, it goes something like this: first change of the day, quietly tolerating it, about the 4th change of the day, crying, but not super hard, just a 'hurry up and finish mom!', cry, 10th change of the day (yes, we still are changing him something like 10-12 times a day- Collin's efforts to eat seem to go directly through him), he is using his bloody murder some is poking me with needles cry.
2. Then there is the I'm irritated cry. This cry is less harsh and has a sad sad face, but isn't ear piercing. Its a 'hey, entertain me! cry.
3. Finally there is the I am tired or hungry cry. This fits somewhere in between bloody murder and oh so bored. It generally insatiable until he either falls asleep or gets to nurse.
So, I've learned these, and now feel like less of a failure in communicating with our son. But, if it goes to show that we are about 4 weeks behind the status quo of parent learning, I think we might be in for some trouble.
Another example of the fun things in Collin's life are the mysterious hickey incidents. People often see the bright purple bruise on the inside of my arm and ask 'what happened?', when I reply that Collin did it they seem confused...
So, since Collin was born our pediatrician noted that he had an 'extremely strong sucking reflex' which I already new since I was the one nursing him. But people, I think, respond to this with, oh, yes, strong sucking, so do nearly half the other babies in the world....they don't understand the severity of his ability to suck. He loves to suck on things, the pacifier, his fists, his arms, and of course us. So, whenever we are holding him and he feels the urge to sooth himself he'll turn his head into our bicep and latch on to what most people would assume is un-latchable-our arms. Don't believe us? See for yourself:
He's also beginning to smile more, but in general is a very serious baby. Its hard to catch him smiling as he only does it a few times a day, but usually in the morning I can get a glimpse of his little happy face. He doesn't really take requests though, so here a few photos of him when he was smiling, just not when the flash went off, but you can tell he's happy :)
We also started to use the Moby wrap, which I love! Collin loves it too! Its much more comfortable than either the hotsling or the bjorn because it distributes the weight more evenly and its so cozy for Collin. Plus, there are about 10 different ways he can sit in it, which will be very handy as he grows.
Other exciting news in Collin's life is that he is now starting to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! Hallelujah! We can barely believe it! But lately he's been going down around 10 pm and waking up around 6. We don't even know what to do with all this sleep! Its amazing. He's also starting to take naps in his crib, and while, for the life of me I can't figure out his nap schedule (see lack of learning ability above), he at least doesn't need to be held the whole time. In fact, right now, he's soundly sleeping in his crib.
So for 8 weeks, there was lots going on! Stay tuned next week for our 2 month photos and sadly our first set of shots :(
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