bliss days

Three good days slid by with me not blogging about them. There were naps, maybe not perfect, but naps. There was a night in the middle when he woke up seemingly every hour, but that wasn’t last night, so it’s easily forgotten.

My mother’s helper broke in our stroller this week, the non-bucket one. I was so jealous, I had to take it for a spin myself today. And this is what I discovered: I can’t walk behind it if my diaper bag is hanging on the handles, so I wore that on my shoulder. I can’t get into the basket when seat is fully reclined. It was less wobbly on the roll back home as I’d hung bags of groceries on it; i.e.: it will ride more stable when the boy is a bit bigger. Walking uphill behind a stroller full of baby and groceries is an INCREDIBLE glute/hamstring strengthening exercise. But, I still love it. It’s adorable, and it has the best accessories. Am currently enjoying the UV shade attachment in this beautiful sunny weather. And the boy falls asleep in it.

I shall soon look into the jog stroller option. This one was supposed to be the travel/trunk/mall stroller anyway.

Speaking of sleep (again and again)… So I bought a new sleep book. Ditching Baby Whisperer and checking out Weissbluth. Jonah sat on my lap after our walk and we read it together. Was distressed to learn that I should soon be changing my days to rush home and keep Jonah to his “nap schedule.” You know, in a BED and all.

I’d seen my friends with older babies do this. I’d heard things like beware-the-car-nap. Now I have the book to decode it all for me. I guess.

On the up side, Jonah does not fit the fussy and problem baby descriptions in the book. Will I follow this doc’s instructions? Am not saying yet. I was very happy to see that Jonah’s already naturally fallen into the “normal” schedule most days. His self-chosen 7:30 bedtime, his wakings at 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. (on the good nights), even the nursing in bed is a-o-k, plus his general daytime naptimes of 9ish, 1ish, and 3 or 4ish. I’d also heard that the best sleep training works with the baby’s natural schedule. Knock on wood.

We still don’t have a long fancy bedtime routine like some people (bath, massage, read a book, turn on a night light, etc.). Scott’s rocking and singing usually cinches the deal and that’s fine. It’s the naps that theoretically need some work to be a little more consistent and soothing.

Is it really less good if the nap occurs while he’s rolling???

On Wednesday, we went to a mom’s group event in the morning and he napped in the car on the way there (9ish) and continued napping in the car while I sat parked outside and talking on my cell phone until 10. We went out to lunch after and Jonah fell asleep in the bucket-stroller as soon as we arrived in the restaurant around noon. Stayed asleep all through lunch.

As it was a gorgeous day, sunny and cool, and a not too bad neighborhood with lots of gardens to wander past, I decided to keep walking with him, rather than transferring to the car and risking waking him. I ended up at my favorite shopping district where I did some shopping, of course, and then walked back. Total nap time for the boy: 2-1/2 hours. Hyah! Huh! Hnah! (My nap kung-fu was mighty that day.) After that we met a friend at a cafe for a bit, bought some roasted and fried chickens, and headed home. Perfect.

Thursday we ran errands on the way to mom-and-baby yoga, during which time he slept. Then he was awake and playful through yoga, fell asleep again after class (1 p.m.) while I met a friend for lunch; woke up in time to make it hard for me to eat my hamburger (toppings falling out, juice running down my LEFT arm — I’m right-handed; he was on my right boob; have you had this experience? Anyone?)

He napped again in the late afternoon in the stroller with the Mom-Helper driving, while I napped at home.

Today I had no plans. Since I just noticed yesterday that gas has gone over $4-per-gallon, a walking day seemed in order. So we strollered around the neighborhood, stopping to deposit checks, have lunch, buy one of these, which the boy instantly adored, pick up said groceries, and hike home — during which he took two naps, one on the way down the hill and the second on the way back up, and a third at 3:30, on me in the glider chair.

So other than giving up my lovely all-day days-out, I’d say we’re pretty much on track for good healthy sleep. Keynahora.