The Foley’s

For more information on Wonder Weeks go to my baby blog.

There have been at least two really tough periods that we have gone through with Cooper. The first was between 5-9 weeks old. The Second was between 15-19 weeks old. During these time periods he was very fussy, needed extra rocking and holding, his sleep was poor, and he seemed to have strange eating patterns (either requiring more feedings or eating less than normal). During the peak of these time periods, particularly week 18, he basically would not let me put him down. I was besides myself wondering what was wrong with him. I know he was already battling some other problems such as a cold and colic during some of these time frames, but there seemed to be something else going on.
Then I stumbled across a book called The Wonder Weeks. This book claims that infants go through 8 developmental leaps between birth and 14 months old. These developmental leaps are marked by a cognitive change or developmental milestone such as rolling over or walking. During the time that a baby is getting ready to acquire a new skill or develop more cognitive awareness, the author claims, babies exhibit the 3 Cs- crying, cranky, and clingy. My Cooper really followed these developmental leaps to a T!

During wonder week 8 a baby learns how to discover patterns, details, and may even discover his own hands and feet. Cooper had discovered his hands at this time, constantly staring at them. He also started to become more interested in his activity mat, staring at the dangling animals above his head. This was also the time when Cooper started to make his “ohh” sounds and stick out his tongue (to copy us). But during this time frame, Cooper was very fussy and required a lot of holding, just like the book had mentioned.

Wonder week 19 was the worst by far. The chart in the book shows that this developmental phase can last from week 15 to week 20. Cooper was cranky, clingy, and crying (almost non-stop) during the peak of this developmental leap. However, once those weeks were over, Cooper’s cognitive development and skills have definitely change. Cooper can now roll onto his side. He holds objects in his hands better and can even pass an object from one hand into the other. He also responds to his name now and will turn to look for whom ever is calling him. He grabs both feet and pulls them close to his mouth as well. He is more interested in the world around him and I find that I have to nurse him in the quite and away from lots of distractions now because he would much rather watch TV, look at daddy, or look at the light than nurse.

It is amazing how Cooper’s fussy weeks really lined up with the ones mentioned in this book. The next developmental leap is coming up- week 26. This developmental leap can last from week 23 til week 26. Cooper is 21 weeks old. That means we are getting ready to go on a bumpy ride again. I just need to remember to be patient with him and give him lots of love. I am sure that all these new experiences are extremely difficult for babies to go through at times. At least I now have a reason for the fussiness and I don’t have to sit there and “wonder” why.

Cooper is a baby that thrives off consistency in schedule and a set place for nap time. We have Cooper on a pretty consistent schedule. It varies slightly each day, but for the most part he eats, sleeps, and plays at pretty much the same time each day. Cooper also sleeps in his crib for all his naps and his nighttime sleep. We have a small condo so I did not see the sense in having him nap in a pack ‘n play that would take up even more room in our small condo. As long as we are on schedule and he sleeps in his crib (with minimal noise) than Cooper will nap fairly well (there are those occasional days though).

Then come the disruptions. Cooper does not do well to going down either to late or to early for his nap, eating at a different time, changing his bed time, napping/ sleeping in his pack ‘n play, being in someone else home for sleep/naps, and traveling. He is definitely a child who thrives off consistency and familiarity. This makes life sometimes hard. I have tried laying him down for naps at my friends homes or traveling with him to Texas, but he does not like the change. He gets very cranky and irritable which leads to less sleep and more cranky an irritableness.

I was talking to my step sister Kristy yesterday about all the disruptions and Cooper’s lack of flexibility. Kristy has a 2.5 year old daughter who travels with her all the time due to her job. Kristy says that her daughter can pretty much sleep anywhere and in anything. Maybe her daughter just has to get use to the disruptions because she did not have a consistent place to sleep.

I follow this woman’s blog, Chronicals of a Baby Wise Mom, and she wrote about how some babys become inflexible. She recommended that from the start you vary you child’s sleep locations so they can get use to napping and sleeping in different places. I think that is a wise suggestion. When I have my second child, I am going to defenently vary my child’s sleeping location to be other places other than in his/her room and crib.

The nine months that a couple waits in anticipation for their new little baby is marked with excitement, expectations, and preparation. If it is your first child, then you have all these “ideas” about what having a baby will be like. Sure, you know you will be tired and sleep deprived at first. Yes, you know your baby will cry now and again- all babies do, right? You’re busy registering for the baby essentials and picking out crib bedding and room colors. But even all the books, stories, and advise can never truly prepare you for the unexpected adventure of caring for a newborn baby. You really don’t know what it is like until you experience it first hand.

The first two months seemed difficult just due to lack of sleep and Cooper’s refusal to sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time for the first two months. Nighttime sleep during those first two months was difficult having to wake up every 2-3 hours. Then magically around 8 or 9 weeks old, Cooper start to sleep 7-8 hours a night. Even though he was sleeping better at night, the crying did not stop. He still cried quite a bit. For me, Susanne, the crying was hard to block out. A newborn’s cry is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Kind of hard to ignore. Oh and then the growth spurts! Cooper seemed to hit a growth spurt about every 3-4 weeks. That meant marathon nursing, eating almost every 2 hours and sometimes less. Growth spurts also meant less sleep for mommy and baby. The newborn stage (0-3 months) also means that the baby still really needs help to calm him down and relax. Newborns need lots of rocking and holding. They lack muscle control so they really cannot suck on their fingers. I can remember times when I would put him to bed. It would sometimes take him an hour to finally calm and fall asleep. Then there was Cooper’s fussy peak from 5-9 weeks old. Then just as I thought we were out finally coming out of the newborn stage and on to easier more manageable days, Cooper (at 3 months) gets a cold, then gets an other cold, and battles gas (colic), oh and hits a growth spurt too- geeezzz!

But We survived! No amount of warning, advise, or reading can ever really prepare you for those first 3 months. But I remember my friend Annie telling me that when a baby hits 4 months old they become so much more fun! Man was she right!! The crying stops, they have learned to self-sooth, they interact with you more, and they sleep longer and better both in the day and at night. Yes there were fun moments when Cooper was a newborn…but I am enjoying my days with Cooper more so now. I think it also helps when the parents is able to finally get some much needed sleep and rest. Also Cooper does not eat as fequently now, which makes it so much easier to get things done. So to all your new parents out there just trying to get through the first three months, hang in there. You will sleep again! He will stop crying eventually!

Ever since Cooper was born, we have really wanted to him to learn how to self-sooth himself so if he wakes up in the middle of the night or early from a nap he can calm himself back to sleep without our help. I must say that he has done a pretty good job of getting himself to go back to sleep without our help. Sometimes he cries for a few minutes, but usually falls quickly back to sleep (now).

Cooper usually falls asleep for naps and bedtime with a combination of three things- swaddling, rocking, and sucking. We swaddle him, rock him for a few minutes, and put a pacifier in his mouth. The sucking on the pacifier is the icing on the cake!

However until he was two months old, he did not have enough muscle control to figure out how to get his hand in his mouth. He would try, but every attempt seemed in vein as he would end up whacking himself in the face or something along those lines. Then even at three months old, he could get his fingers in his mouth, but it was more or less like he was trying to stuff his whole hand in there. So we used a pacifier for the first three months of his life. The only aggravating thing about a pacifiers is the adult has to reinsert the pacifier if it falls out. This is not convenient or helpful when Cooper is in his crib without us.

Because we swaddled him, both of his hands where tucked in tight under the blanket wrapped around him. Therefore, he did not have access to his hands anyway.  Cooper is 4 1/2 months old now, and swaddling is not necessary anymore. Swaddling is useful for the first three months of life. Young babies have a startle reflex and lack of muscle control. So while they are sleeping, they might jerk or hit themselves with their arm and suddenly wake up. We were reluctant to unswaddle him because our few attempts of unswaddled sleep results in shorter naps and disrupted nighttime sleep. Just about 2 weeks ago, Chris and I decided to start phasing out the swaddle. We are on step one- leave only one arm swaddled and the other arm out. The first few days he had some adjustments to his new sleeping arrangement, but he seems to be doing great now.  Leaving one arm out has results in, actually, better sleep! Now when Cooper awakes on his own from a nap early, instead of crying for a little, he just sucks on his fingers instead. Yes, his ringer finger and middle finger in tandem. I desperately wanted him to be a thumb sucker, but this is even better. I think it is too cute!

When I get him up from his naps now, he is happily laying there sucking away on his two fingers. He is even trying this new skill out in other places besides his crib. I found him doing it yesterday in his carseat. I took a picture of him sucking away on his two fingers. That is the picture shown. Unfortunately, just as I snapped the picture, he started to grin. But you can at least see his two fingers in his mouth.

I know there are a lot of people out there that say thumb or finger sucking is a bad habit to break. I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I am glad he has found a way to self-sooth himself that does not require a pacifier or adult help!  And the other added bonus is it is unique and way too cute!

So Cooper is 4 months old now and he finally got his first cold. It started when I (Susanne) got a sinus cold in Texas over Christmas. Then Chris got the cold a week later. Then Cooper got the cold. Cooper was congested and a little fussy because of the cold, but nothing we could not manage. The cold lasted about a week. Then the cold seem to come back and Cooper developed a low grade fever. He became super fussy. He would not nap, he would not let you put him down (required a lot of holding), and he stopped sleeping through the night (waking sometimes 6 times). He pretty much went on a hunger strike too. It was painful trying to get him to nurse. He would nurse, but only for 3 minutes and then pull off screaming. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted. I took him to his pediatrician twice in a week and made at least 4-5 phone calls to his pediatrician. I was convinced that there was something else that was wrong with him other than his cold. But every time we took him to the pediatrician, she said there was nothing wrong with him other than he was a little congested. I felt pretty helpless and was starting to lose my mind with Cooper crying pretty much all day long. Finally, I was talking with my step-mom and she mentioned he might be a little colicy. It dawned on me that he may have gas. My step-mom told me to buy gripe water which is suppose to help with fussiness, colic, teething, and gas. I bought gas drops (mylicon). Within 36 hours I had a different baby! Who would have known that gas could cause him so much discomfort. I am just glad that ordeal is behind us. It is so hard when your little one cannot tell you what is wrong. I wish I would have figured out that it was gas in the beginning. But at least now I know what to look for! Still not sure what caused his gas, but in an attempt to prevent the gas from coming back, I am eating the blandest diet. I would rather forgo my favorite foods in order for Cooper to feel good and be happy! Now… the next thing to tackle is getting him to sleep through the night again. Hopefully it will not take too long to get back to 9 hours of sleep at night. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

It has been a while since we last updated everyone about Cooper. He is growing so much. He looks so much like a little boy now. At his 2 month old check-up, he weighed in at 11 lbs 13oz and 23 1/2 inches long.

He is such a good baby. He finally start to sleep the night through at 8 weeks old. He is currently sleeping from 10pm-6am and then back down after a feeding from 6am-8am. Having a full nights rest is incredible!! We used the book Baby WIse to help us get him on a schedule and sleep through the night. He is still trying to get the hang of napping. He use to be quite the cat napper with 30- 45 minute naps several times a day. However, recently he has begun to nap for longer periods of time. His best naps are in his car seat with a blanket covering him to make it dark. He could nap for 3 hours if we would let him stay in his carseat. The naps in the crib are getting better. The longest crib nap so far has been about 1.5 hours long.

He has the best smile, which he gets from his daddy! He started to smile around 7 weeks old. He cooed around 8 weeks. Then at nine weeks, he learned to imitate us. When we stick out our tongue, Cooper sticks out his tongue. It is so cute! Then just tonight, at 10 weeks, he started to imitate a sound we make, “ohhh”. I also recently noticed that he is beginning to reach for thing that hang from his activity gym or bouncer. He does not have quite enough control to grab onto things yet, but he is trying. He has been trying for several weeks to suck his thumb. He is now able to suck on his knuckles, but he cannot seem to ungrasp his hand to get only this thumb in his mouth. Occasionally he can get his thumb in his mouth, but it never lasts for long. We REALLY want him to suck his thumb so he can self sooth himself and we don’t have to constantly put his pacifier back in his mouth when it falls out!

What about mommy and daddy? Well Chris has been busy helping some friends redo their kitchen lately, which he has really enjoyed. I think that Chris is looking forward to working on our own home some day. Chris did redo our kitchen and install all new pergo flooring in our condo, but I think he is anxious to do work on a home which is larger and will accommodate a family! I, Susanne, have been busy taking care of Cooper during the days. The first 2 months were very challenging, but I feel like I have finally gotten the hang of the whole mommy thing. I will admit it was quite the adjustment. But now I feel like I am able to juggle the role of mommy with the other normal day to day things like cooking, grocery shopping, and yes even sleeping! Chris and I love being parents and although at times it is difficult, we would not trade it for anything in the world!!