What a night...

We thought we were in for a normal night last night, but Declan had other plans.

It started off normal. Bottle and solid food practice at 6 pm. Tonight it was green beans (see earlier post about the food processor). The green beans went over better than the applesauce did (is he my kid?), but I think more of it went onto his lap than into his stomach. Maybe he just needs something that's smooth. The avocado went over a lot better than either the apple sauce or the green beans.

Then he had a sponge bath to get all the green beans off. He even managed to get green beans in the folds of his neck. How?! There's probably green beans wedged in his ears, too.

He absolutely LOVES getting a sponge bath, though. I lay him out on a couple of waterproof pads, strip him down and wash him all over with a washcloth and warm water. He giggles every time I wash his fingers and his chest/tummy. Then he gets tummy time while I rub lotion onto his backside. Ever since he had a bad run-in with diaper rash, he's been getting extra tummy time and lotion, and it seems to help. No more diaper rash.

Then a little more play time, and by 7:15, he's fussy and it's time for his bedtime bottle. This kid is always so predictable. I give him his bottle while rocking him in a dark room, and by the time he finishes 6 oz, he's pretty much asleep. I rock him a bit more and put him down, and he's out for the night. The past few days have been wonderful like that.

But apparently, Declan can't do the same thing for more than a few days. I thought I might have trouble when I put him down and he woke up as soon as I laid him in the crib. I gave him his paci, turned on the baby monitor and left. He slept for about an hour, while I iced the zucchini brownies I'd made earlier. Declan woke up crying, but I snuck in, gave him his paci, and he fell asleep again. so far, so good.

Daniel and settled down to eat brownies and watch Project Runway. We got about 15 minutes in, and Declan woke up again. This time, he cried and started screaming and having a little melt-down. It was bad enough I picked him up to rock him and soothe him. Daniel heated up some formula for him, and he guzzled another 3 oz, but he refused to go back to sleep. As soon as I put him down, he woke up, and if I walked out of view, he cried. I stayed at his crib for 30 minutes, but he never calmed down.

Finally, I picked him up and carried him to our bed. I laid down with him, and he was immediately asleep. So we left him there, and Daniel slept on the couch that night. I was worried I'd suffocate the baby, and I kept waking up and checking to make sure he was still breathing. I'd move his hand or stroke his cheek until he moved. In spite of my bothering him, Declan slept from 9:30 til 5 am. Amazingly, so did I, aside from my occasional bedchecks on the baby. I think I barely moved all night, because I was worried about rolling on him or smothering his airways. But he was fine, and it was kind of nice to snuggle my little one all night long.

Still, I hope this doesn't become a habit. Our bed isn't big enough for three.