Strange Machines

Last night Wolf slept from 1230-530am (5 hours) and 620-950am (3.5 hours)! The night before, he slept from 1230-530am, woke again at 830am and again at 1115am. I think his sleep cycle may be stabilising. Oddly enough, he’s been napping in the day too (like right now, with Boy napping just beside him) and yesterday evening from 630-930pm.

This morning, he fed, got a diaper change, and I played him his favourite Mozart CD and he began cooing. After I fed the kids, put in the laundry, and made breakfast, I sat and talked to him. He was so delighted, smiling and cooing. He even laughed ‘Hahaha’ at one point!

Finally at 11am, when I put him down in his stroller to go hang out the laundry, I was so surprised not to hear any crying at all. I returned to find him napping! Boy came to nap beside him too on his gym mat. Tux just walked past, looked at the pair rather amusedly and walked to the kitchen.

We took Wolf to Borders last night after a lovely Macs dinner. I managed to get a copy of The Selfish Gene – they’d brought in new stock. The poor boy was so hot that we took him out of his Bjorn and carried him. I fed him in the breastfeeding room at Wheelock and after seeing the dismal one at Great World, I have to say two thumbs up.

The sweetie fed at 10pm and again at 11pm. Slept at midnight and woke at 4.28am, 7am and 945am. He woke up so happy after the final feed he was smiling and laughing when I held him and talked to him. His Dad played Les Miserables for him and he loved it. What a happy baby he is.

Boy watches Wolf air himself

And then practice kick

Try a boogie

And realise Mommy is watching with a cam

That’s funny, he thinks

Wolf: Boy, is Mommy always a paparazzi?

Boy: Yes, she is!

Wolf: Aww… let’s look away… *shy*

Okay, the title reeks of a Jerry Springer-type story but last night while I was going comatose and frankly suffering brain damage from severe sleep deprivation, the Hubman came to the rescue.

I explained to him how I finally understood one weary Mom’s ponderance on how hair could possibly hurt and it was not because I pulled out a whole tuft while removing the koyok from my neck.

So at 9pm I went to bed, a few hairs short, and 2 panadols in me. Baby fussed and cried till 11pm (aka I got no sleep till then although I was prone), and I fed him one last time and was out like a light when kind Hub brought him outside.

I was woken up by Wolf’s fussing. Ran to the loo before it escalated into crying. Checked the clock – it was 509am! Quickly wore the MBF pillow and picked him up to feed. While feeding, I counted the hours (remember: brain function still slow). OMG… I slept 5 hours straight. It was a record since I gave birth.

Using the Compression Technique to make your baby feed more at night while dozing on boob (guarantees you a longer sleep), I finished feeding him on one side, changed his diaper, and then fed again on the other. When he was done, I sat him up for a while (to let the milk go down), and then tucked him back to bed. I think there was a spontaneous burp there when he sat up but I couldn’t recall if it was this feed or the next. Anyhoo.

At 8.30am he woke again and during the feed, smiled and laughed at me. It was so delightful! He went back to bed and woke again at 1050am. I dressed him in his favourite (okay, my favourite) Creysi romper and now he’s sitting up talking to his blue turtle friend and listening to Vivaldi.

I have bad knees. That’s a fact. But my finger? Well, all three gave out yesterday and had to be stuck with white stickies of koyok. I can just about hobble now but stairs still pain me and my ring finger still refuses to take any weight on it.

Last night I managed to watch Lost while carrying Wolf in a sling. I remembered a Mom writing about it and decided to try it for myself. Gosh! It worked! He slept like a baby (excuse the pun). Of course I paid for it later when he refused to be stirred to be fed.

I gave up at 1230am although he did seem to feed a bit. He woke again at 2.30am and drank a little. Another feeding at 430am, and then I made a dreadful mistake. My achy finger and knees decided for me. I left him beside me to sleep.

From then till noon, he dozed and woke, cried. Fed a little (2-5 minutes!) and dozed again. Just when I started dreaming (and strange dreams they were – product of a strange machine – okay corny joke, back to topic), he’d cry and I got up to see what was wrong.

Two diaper changes, multiple feeds, and numerous attempted burpings later, he still fussed. Around 1230pm, I staggered out of bed during a moment of quiet after Diaper Change 2, turned on Mozart, and he stayed quiet, gurgling to himself while he stared at something on the wall.

Weary as hell, I washed up, fed the kids who had just about broken the door down in hunger, did the laundry, and sat him in a stroller so I could use the computer. Mom came to the rescue soon after. A nap sounds good right about now.

Finally having put Wolf down on his stroller for a nap, I found Boy napping on my work chair. I pondered if it would be a good time to trim his claws. So I sat beside him and began trimming and also petting his head. Shocked that he actually allowed me to finish one paw, I got greedy. Usually he only allows two, three trims at most.

I carried him and began on the other claw, amid soothing words and ear scratches. The poor boy had mangled his ears again but the tummy bites were now healing. He had two claws that had a lot of overgrown and I wanted to redo those, but that was the limit of his patience. He leapt off but followed me to the kitchen. I soothed him and petted him and then returned to the computer.

Interestingly enough, while I was away, one of the other cats (no prizes for guessing who) had marked his couch head. He had been avoiding it since I returned and a quick sniff confirmed my suspicions. Last Friday I got it washed with white vinegar (to kill off any markings). Lo and behold, today I saw him leap up to his couch head toward his favourite spot, but alas, the cushion was still drying… I’ll try to get it fixed tonight when his Dad comes home.

Witnessed by me once and by his Dad several times (I wonder what faces he makes to his baby that would entice that skeptical look), Wolf can raise one eyebrow. I’ve yet to get photographic evidence of this but it was so cute when I saw it. Undoubtedly there will be more to come.

He seems to have settled into a 3 hour schedule at night, although when daytime comes, all bets are off. His Dad and I are glad he doesn’t cry at night and falls asleep by himself in his cot. I’m still trying to get him to nap in the day without boob and carrying.

This morning after his 7am feed, I put him beside his Dad and I and he fell asleep instantly like he did yesterday. He slept another 3 hours and played happily by himself while I did his laundry and fed the kids.

Boy isn’t eating his full serving – I’m concerned. But when I bring his unfinished dish to him in the study, he does finish it. I suspect he leaves half his meal unfinished to avoid hassle with the greedy naughties that come sniff around after they’re done with theirs. I’ll feed him separately and observe. He enjoyed a good pet while lying in the living room but resisted being carried. Need to trim his claws soon.