Little Tidbits from Jamey's Days

Here I sit at 10 PM, eager to type up the 101 stories I have from our three weeks with Jamey, but with so little time to accomplish that. Thank goodness I can type about 60 words per minute, so this won't take me as long. And yet, I find I still have to pause because Lord only knows where I should start. I will type up little snippets of our days here:

The Long Endless Nights:
I guess the hardest part is the part that comes to mind first-- and any parent can tell you that the hardest part in the beginning is the night time. It seems I can put up with any amount of crying, so long as the sun is up. But when the times comes when it is night, everything seems 1000 times harder. And every night seems to be a different treat. Some nights he is easy to get down. And then there are nights like last night. He decided that he would cry whenever we went to put him down. Sure, pick him up and hold him against you and he is content, but the second he is on his back, and it is like hot coals are in the crib. The easiest thing is just to lay him on my belly in bed and nap together, but we are trying desperately not to make this a habit. So instead I have learned to sleep in his glider-- thank you, Lindsay.

Wakey Time:
But that is the only bad part, really. Jamey is a happy little guy who loves to be held. He has his fussy time, as any baby does, but really, if you solve his problem, he is content. The best parts of our days, we refer to affectionaly as "Wakey Time". These are the times when his eyes are wide and he will just sit in his bouncer and stare out the back door. Or sit in his boppy and study the trees. I know he can't see far, but he must indeed be able to see a lot of contrasts around the house. We have found that he loves to sit in our laps and stare at paintings on the walls. The one above our bed, which is completely black and white, is especially a favorite. I can't wait for the moments when he can actually see the squirrels and birds that traipse around our yard. It will lead to endless hours of entertainment for him. Wakey Time seems to come at roughly the same time every day-- usually around 11 AM and 2/3 PM. It lasts about an hour and then he drifts off the sleep.

Little Superman:
Another thing that surprises everyone that sees him in person is how strong he is. He is doing things he shouldn't be able to. When you put him up to your shoulder to burp him, and he happens to be awake, he will lift his head off your shoulder and move it around. It used to just be that his head would bob around when he lifted it for a moment, but that was a week or so ago. Now, at three weeks, when he lifts his head, he can hold it up for a good amount of time. Every day, he also gets a little tummy time, where Glenn usually lays on his back and puts Jamey on his belly on top of Glenn. Jamey will lift up his little head and gaze around. One day he scooted himself along a little bit, and he has already proven that the sleep positioner is no match for him. One night I enterred to get him up and there he lay, perpendicular to the positioner. Another night, he was down below it. And he does all that when he is swaddled!

Nicknames:
It seems everyone picks a nickname for their child. "Pumpkin, Little Man, Buddy, Momo." I have wondered, what we will call our little Jamey. When we brought him home from the hospital, we called him Hippo. He was a little chunk, and he had a hippo on his outfit. And didn't it just fit that he couldn't seem to get enough food-- our Hungry Hungry Hippo. And yet, the noises he makes aren't any that come from a hippo. Rather, his noises lead to his nickname of "Birdy". When he sleeps or stretches, there are little peeps that escape, and occasionally a squawk even comes out. While Jacquie was here visiting, she called him Froggy. When he sleeps on your chest, he tucks his legs up under himself. And when he is hungry, his little tongue flicks out, much like a frog. Perhaps my favorite of all the little names we have for him helps to describe his habit of passing loud gas and loud poops. The other night, Jacquie and Nick were sitting on the couch, as I played with Jamey. Suddenly, a loud noise came from Jamey-- I won't describe the noise, but rest assured, I knew it had produced some poop. I looked at Jamey and said, "Good job, Vladimir." Nick looked at Jacquie and then at me. The next time, as I went to congratulate Jamey again on "doing his business", I caught a funny look from Nick when I called him Vladamir again. I looked at he and Jacquie and explained. When Jamey is pooping well and we can hear it, we like to refer to him as Vladimir-- as in Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia-- to congratulate him on the good "pooting" he is doing.

Gotta Love Background Noise:
We have discovered that Jamey is a big fan of noise. This is yet another trait that I think he has inherited a little from both Glenn and I. Come into our house and I like to have some kind of noise on at all times. The TV may be on, but I often only have it on just for the noise of it, not for the content. As well, in my classroom, I can't stand to have a completely silent room (most of the time). I like for my kids to work together, to interact with me, to actively take part in their learning. The ultra quiet drives me nuts.

In the same vein, Jamey seems to be most relaxed when there is a lot going on around him. This is best illustrated by how relaxed he has been any time we have taken him out of the house. He has already made "field trips" to Babies R Us, Target, Red Robin's, Virginia Kitchen, Euro Bistro, Leesburg, on a driving tour of DC, to Monica's, to a fair, and dance practice. And in every situation, he will fall asleep with everything happening in his midst. Whether it be German Plattl music or the clatter of kitchens around us, he sleeps through it all. Lucky me...

And now, as I feel my lids begin to get heavy, I am off to pump and then fall asleep until I get up for the 1 AM feeding. Gotta love that one!