Javi is learning so much. He reaches for objects; he tracks down objects; he smiles AND laughs; his behavior is so clearly social. He does something, and he is starting to expect we do something in return. And, very exciting, he is starting to grab things. He began with his ducky... see Javi's debut on youtube.com

The last couple of weeks have been rewarding and trying. Javi is sleeping longer periods overnight. First he slept 3.5 hours regularly... moved to 4 plus hours, and now he is at 5.5 hours, on the first sleep. The second sleep is another story. He's been difficult, needing a lot of attention. But things are improving. We are trying also to help him sleep on his own, and we are doing this rather gently, taking away the sleep crutches we got him used to: rocking him, having him in our arms, using the vibrating chair, going for walks, going for drives. The goal is to have him get to sleep without these crutches and for this he needs to learn to soothe himself. So, gently, we are reducing the amount of time we are rocking him before we put him to sleep. We'll rock him to drowsy, and, when his eyes close, we time him. We give him 2 or 3 minutes of drowsy, put him on his crib; at this point, he is not fully asleep; so, he wakes up a bit.... open his eyes. Sometimes, he wakes up and we have to start from the beginning. But, when it works, he opens he eyes, notices that we are still with him (typically, at this point, we have a hand on his chest and sh sh him), slowly closes his eyes, in the comfort that he is not alone, and goes to sleep. It's working very regularly, but not always. Sometimes we try this 2, 3, even four times, which means that putting him to sleep is taking 30 or even 45 minutes. But the goal is that he learns to soothe himself, that he discovers his psychological resources that will calm his anxieties and will relax his body and mind. The hope is that with these lessons learned, he can soothe himself in the middle of the night, and connect his sleeps better. We are doing it gently on the theory that we want his sleep to be associated with comfort, including the needed comfort that we are always there for him.

This was taken on December 6; the one below was taken on January 9. Notice the difference in size... his cheeks; his much bigger body... his length. It's all good:)

First (Real) Bath

Up till two weeks ago, Javi was getting sponge baths. This kept his little umbilical cord from getting wet, and potentially infected. But it was also meant that he was pretty cold: we would use a wet washcloth and pour warm water over each part of his little body we washed. So, he always felt cold, like when you get out of a warm pool or shower, on some part of his body. I think this contributed to his not really liking baths. He would complain loudly about being bathed. A couple of weeks ago, we got out the baby bath tub to give him a real bath, as his cord stump has fallen off and bellybutton healed. When we first lowered him into the water, he looked very perplexed, but overall enjoyed the bathing experience much more this way. So it looks like bath time will be a much quieter experience going forward.

First real bath in his little whale tub (thanks, Katherine!)

All clean!

Thanksgiving

My sister, dad, and dad's girlfriend, Katherine, visited us for Javi's first Thanksgiving. Since our hands are literally full most of the time these days, we skipped the cooking and bought dinner from a great local barbeque place. The food was great -- Hector and I have both been converted to smoked turkey -- and the company fantastic. Mainly we just hung out around the house, but we also went on a number of little outings for lunch and walks. It was the most we have gotten out with Javi; the timing of feedings makes going on an outing more of a logistical equation than we are used to. But we made it out to the downtown mall for strolling and, one day, for lunch and out to the countryside for lunch at a local brewery with lovely views of the mountains. We also did a bit of shopping -- my father and Katherine got us a rocking chair to help put Javi to sleep, which is a welcome tool as he has been fighting sleep (at least during the day; he actually sleeps quite well at night). 

In addition to Thanksgiving, we celebrated my father's birthday, which fell just after Thanksgiving this year, with spaghetti and meatballs and apple pie, cooked by my sister who was all around a really great help with Javi and household stuff. 

In all the commotion of heating up dinner and feeding Javi so he would let us eat (which he did, at least for a little while), we forgot to take pictures of us gathered at the table for Thanksgiving dinner. But there was plenty of food and wine and lingering at the table -- and pacing around the table with Javi in arms. But we did get some photos of the visit.

After a (non-Thanksgiving) dinner

Javi, Me, Michelle, and Dad over morning coffee

Michelle with sleeping baby

Dad tickling Javi. I'm pretty sure there are some photos a lot like this of dad and me when I was a baby stored away in a family album somewhere.

Katherine getting to know Javi

Today is Javi's 7 week anniversary.... wow! It feels like yesterday when he was the miracle coming out of Jen.
He is sleeping better and better. Each night this week he gave us two four-hour sleeps. Last night, for the second time in the week, he went five hours between feedings. That is great!
I finished teaching yesterday, which means I will have more time with him and with Jen. I was so looking forward to that. It's been stressing to have so many professional duties when all I want to do is have Javi in my arms. No fair.

Can you believe those cheeks! 

Today, like yesterday, Javi and I went for a walk around 7:30am. It was chilly, around 30 degrees (-1 celsius), but I put on a gift from our friend Caroline, whose beautiful boy Jack grew up in the colder climates of Boston and Spokane. Javi looks so sweet and warm... perfect. He stayed awake for the first half of the walk and slept the second half. Wise decision.

He is ready for the outdoors

This morning, around 7am, Javi and I went for a walk around the neighborhood... it was great. By the end he was sleeping. His nights have been much better, giving us 3 hours between feeds. That allows us to actual go into deep sleep and, again, have dreams. Isn't strange that for weeks one may go without dreams? But dreams require REM sleep, which sometimes is accessed quickly, but most times it requires at least three hours of sleep. Unsurprisingly, our most vivid dreams occur close to the mornings, the ideal time for REM. That is, unless you are a new parent.

Yesterday, Jen went back to the gym for the first time... here she is... getting ready (Isn't she beautiful?)

We are doing two things here: FIRST: Javi is live-performing the famous painting by Edvard Munch "The Scream". We work on the expression for awhile. I think he got it. SECOND: Javi is also expressing his first feminist idea, albeit with an ironic twist (thanks to Denni:). 

Javi is probably 10 pounds at this moment... on his way to 11. That's a guess. After a doctor appointment on his one month, he was given the two-month appointment. So, one full month without seeing the doctor. That is, of course, good news. He is progressing great in every sense. His next appointment is the 18 and we'll keep you posted on his weight and such.