The Catnapper

Being a new mom, people often ask: Is he a good sleeper?

The answer: It depends on the time of day.

From about 7pm to 10pm, he's a great sleeper. And at around 10:30pm to 12:30, he's a great sleeper. From 12:30 to about 2am-ish, he's a fabulous sleeper. This is where the not so great sleeper starts. He'll usually wake up at about 4am ready for the day. Happy at first until he realizes he has to go back to sleep. After much persuasion, I can convince him to go back to sleep until 6ish, and if I'm really lucky he'll go back to sleep (again) until 8am. The morning consists of 1 or 2 twenty to thirty minute cat naps, followed by a 45 minute nap around noon. And in the afternoon I can sometimes squeeze a 2 hour nap out of him. This is all on a good day. The good news is he goes down early and sleeps while Ken and I have dinner...usually.

Even though he's not very fond of the zzzzzz's, he is a sweet baby. He's smiling and cooing a lot these days, even under his pacifier. He only cries when he's hungry or really tired. Even then its just a whimper unless I'm too slow. I've heard that after the 6th week, they start sleeping more at night. I'm hoping this is true and applies to my little guy. I'm hoping that soon the sleep deprivation will all be a distant memory.

And I have to admit, even when I'm dead tired and he wakes me up ready for his midnight meal, I can't help smiling and cooing with him. And every night I think, well, at least we'll get to nap tomorrow...hopefully.

Crazy Hair Day

Yesterday after Desh's bath, Ken started messing with his clean, fluffy hair. He got it really big. The picture doesn't do it justice. I love Desh's expression. He's just enduring his dad messing with him.

Mommy & Me

It's Bathtime!

Just Because He's So Dang Cute

My Favorite Boys

The Acne Saga

My sister said I needed to post a picture of Desh's acne. Her actual words were: "You need to post pictures of the baby acne. It has to be documented! It's just a preview of when he's a teenager."

So here goes. One unedited, close up picture of the little guy's blemishes.

Shelley, this ones for you.

No More Tears

Being a first time parent of a newborn, I'm convinced that it is possible to get more sleep...I just have to find the solution. So while this may be a bit delusional, I was determined. While nursing at 2:01am, 3:17am, and then again at 4:33am I went online and started searching for a way to get the little guy to sleep more without crying (him and me). I'm obsessed with the Community Boards on whattoexpect.com where moms post questions and comments. I love the Born in February 2011, Breastfeeding and Baby's First Year boards. I love reading what others are going through and comparing my experiences. For the most part I've discovered that I've got it pretty good. Very rarely do I read about someone who has it a little better. I hate when I read about someone's baby who sleeps 5+ hours at 4 weeks. I don't really believe it. Is that even possible???

Anyway, by reading about other new mom's experiences, I discovered a fabulous book called the No Cry Sleep Solution.

I quickly downloaded it on my phone and read the entire book in about 24 hours. As it instructed I begin to create my sleep logs. (I think I got more excited about creating Excel logs than the thought of getting a little more shut eye. If this was a school project and I was being graded, I would have gotten an A+ for effort on my logs.) Desh and I started the process on Monday. (We're supposed to go 10 days, then reevaluate. We're not supposed to give up on day 2. We're supposed to have patience and try, try again.) So here we are on Day 5 and its going pretty good.

Of course that wasn't enough. I wanted more!!! So I googled and discovered another book by the same author!!! All about napping! I was in heaven! (Sorry about all the exclamation marks, I was excited.)

Now, it may be too soon to type this, but I think these books have changed my life. It is only Day 5, but as I type this, my little guy is soundly napping going on 2 hours. And last night he only woke up 3 times after going down at 8pm. That may not sound like much but to us, that was an improvement. And we're not finished yet. Gotta go....I hear someone stirring.

We love you Grammy!

A big Thank You to Grammy for taking this sweet picture of our little family!

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Desh's Space

5 weeks going on 15 years?

So something new has happened to Desh over the last couple of weeks, and for the first time its not exciting, sweet or fun. Its a little thing called: Baby Acne. I'm not inserting a picture in this post because my poor little guy isn't looking his best these days. He doesn't seem as effected by it as I am. However, I'm determined to find a solution. Microdermabrasion? Proactiv? We've decided to try a product for babies that has received hundreds of positive reviews from moms. I've ordered it and am anxiously awaiting its arrival this Thursday. Hopefully on my next post, I will be able to include a picture of the little guy with his once again porcelain complexion.

Smile!

As he gets closer to 5 weeks, Desh has become more aware and responsive. He has started making eye contact, looking at faces, smiling and cooing...which is so much fun. He is happiest in the morning and mid day. He likes to take long naps in the afternoon and then he usually goes down for the night pretty early. This is wonderful until 3 am hits and he's up for the day. I've realized that his afternoon nap is really the beginning of his nighttime sleep so I'm working on shortening that nap in hopes that it will lengthen our (very) early morning sleep.

His hair is growing in blonde, like I'm told mine did when I was a baby. So now he has blonde roots and dark tips, the opposite of what I have as an adult!

Every day is such a treat with the little guy. I love spending my days with him. We have our little routine down. He is still eating about every 2 hours (day and night), followed by a brief nap. I'm hoping with each week, the time between feedings will increase. But for now, I'm happy to spend those quiet moments with him.

New Cousins for Desh

Desh has been waiting for two cousins, one on each side of the family. Amazingly, the two long awaited babies were both born on March 10th!

Ken's cousin Kevin and his wife Susan welcomed

Finnigan Dietrich Motschiedler.

And my brother McKay and his wife Amanda welcomed

Macy Christine Marshall

We're so excited about these two new little babies. Unfortunately they both live out of town, so for now we'll get to know them over iChat.

The First Month

Today Desh is 1 month. I can't believe its already been a month! I've loved every second, even the 2 am wake up calls. I'm looking forward to many more months and watching the little guy grow.

Things That Make Desh so LoVable!

I love how Desh:

Makes squeaky noises in his sleep
Wrinkles his brow when he's trying to wake up
Curls into a ball against my shoulder when he's sleepy

Is so curious about his surroundings, always arching his back to get a better look

Loves his hair played with and his cheeks stroked, just like his dad

Fusses to let me know that he's hungry but calms and patiently waits for food when I pick him up
Sleeps with his arms straight out like an airplane

Would rather be in my arms than anywhere else

I love Desh's:

Top lip, its bigger than his bottom lip
Lopsided smile and slight overbite ...a Marshall trait
Chubby cheeks and tiny chin

Clenched fists, grabbing onto anything near

Adorable belly button and his round belly

Fuzzy, curly hair right after it's washed

Saturday means Daddy's Home!

These days I look forward to the weekends for different reasons than before Desh came into our lives. Weekends mean Daddy's home and gets to hang out with his little boy. Ken is an amazing father and bonded with Desh instantly. He is always happy and willing to change dirty diapers, burp him, bathe him and whatever else little Desh needs no matter the time of day. He loves holding him and singing to him and hanging out with him.

On another note, we've been working at getting Desh to sleep in his own bed. While my sister was here last weekend, she told me about a sleeper swaddler. It sounded brilliant because the little guy always manages to get out of his swaddle and gets cold. So I jumped online and bought one. It came on Thursday, we washed it on Friday and it was ready to go. I tried it out during his afternoon nap and he loved it! Yay!!!

He's doing so much better at napping in his crib during the day and sleeping in his bassinet at night. At about 5:30 am he wakes up wanting a snack and to stay in bed with us. If we try to put him back in bed, he fusses until we pick him up. I'm okay with that though because I love to cuddle with him. We are making progress and I'm able to predict when he'll sleep which means I get a nap too or am able to get other things done. Makes me very happy.

Getting back my sanity

Our life has been turned upside down with our new little addition. Gone are the quiet evenings of dinner and cuddling on the couch after a long day of work. Now we are constantly holding, rocking, ssshing, feeding, changing, burping, and kissing little Desh. He's 3 weeks old now and doesn't let me forget that he's here. This week has been interesting, certainly a challenge. He is constantly wanting to eat and hardly sleeps.

During my pregnancy I read all sorts of parenting books and thought I had it all figured out. The day we brought him home from the hospital it all went out the window. Scheduled feedings? Yeah right. Napping while he naps? Ha! So far he's been making up the rules in our house. But I wonder, if he is making the rules now, will he also make them when he's a toddler, a kid and a teen?

I've decided I have had harder challenges in my life and I can do better than flying by the seat of my pants. I know that our life will never be the same but I'm determined to figure out something that works better for Desh and his sleep-deprived momma and daddy. Wish me luck.

Desh's New Hat

A good friend of mine sent us the cutest hat that she made for our little guy. She is so creative and talented! Check out her blog: bugoboo.blogspot.com. Thank you Lisa for being a great friend!