brood

i mentioned previously that nothing worked with getting levi asleep. i understand that 6 – 9 months the wee ones begin to become more enthused by playtime, and more perceptive of their environment, thus more difficult to stay focused on one thing. In this case, that thing is settlign down for a nap. well, we had ressurected the pacifier, but yesterday i also went back into my “colicky baby bag o’ tricks” and brought out the “Levi Sleeps v.2″ CD that i burned for him. The first three tracks are:

1) gymnopedie #3 – eric satie
2) the swan – saint-saen performed on the theremin by clara rockmore
3) music for airports – brian eno
…

we skip satie, just because it is too quiet. “the swan” really grabs one’s attention and immediately lulls one into a calm state. i usually get a yawn at this point. then “music for airports” delivers the knock out blow. at that point i can just set our boy down in his bed and he’s out.

now, this all relies on exquisite timing. one has to be aware of levi’s wakefulness and really work with the young man. but, i swear that as of yesterday timing alone was not enough, and i’m convinced that levi remembers these old sounds from his days of colic.

then again, perhaps he’s just changing again. who knows… in any case, the music really calms me, and that counts for something. now, if it could only do something for my back!

(firstly… month 5 is up there in the photo section.. .enjoy!)

these days, it is not uncommon for a family to have a digital camera. at least, most of the families i know have one of these easy to use devices, and the result seems to be a rampant proliferation baby photographs and small digital movies. in a way, it is a big manic to be so documentary about one’s baby, but in another way it is natural to want to capture these moments. as first parents, we are bombarded by warnings about how fast our baby will grow and how we won’t know what happened to all the time when they call home from the police station wanting bail money. okay, well, my point is that i have this urge to record every minute of wee levi’s wondrous moments. whether awake, or asleep, this boy is such a marvel i feel like the world has redeemed itself from its normal madness to allow us this perfect compilation of cells to live. and he lives pretty well.

i’ve been home all week and will be home all next week on winter break. this means i’ve had much more exposure to our son, and i want to note a few new things that have happened this month. they are as follows:

1) the teeth!

our sweet boy has cut two marvelous little bottom teeth. getting there was a bit rocky for the lad, including fevers, interrupted sleep, insatiable munching/drooling, and actually… a loss of appetite. he’s back to his usual eating, usual temperature, and long nighttime sleep, but he still loves to munch on things.

2) roller derby…

levi has become a kind of rolling machine. perhaps driven by his desire to get things into his mouth, and enabled by his stronger body and limbs he can roll all over the floor. today i set him down on his play mat about one foot away from my feet, and withing 10 minutes he was about 7 feet away, and happy as a clam.

3) sitting up…

it’s official – he has the strength to sit up rather well. of course he doesnt realize that falling backwards could be quite a jolt, so we are always backing him up with ourselves and pillows, etc.

4) his size…

while we haven’t officially made the move, i think it is time he graduated from the “arm’s reach co-sleeper” to a crib. i’m still a bit torn about the crib, as it presents some inconvenience for my nighttime parenting. (sometimes i bring him into bed, if he wakes, which he only does when ill, and with the co-sleeper, i don’t even have to get up. ). He’s just getting to big for the co-sleeper. i’m afraid that with the crib he’ll just roll around and stuff.

5) mr. i don’t want to nap

napping was a cinch for a quite a while. every two hours of wakefulness, he’d get sleepy; we go through a little routine to calm him down, and then put him down and he’d find his thumb and poof, out like a light. now he get’s sleepy but he won’t settle. the routine doesn’t work. he’ll yawn but when we put him down he rolls over and smiles – inviting more playtime. it’s so cute, but kind of impossible. i found that the pacifier, which we were so happy to have retired, will work. ah well…

enough for now… pappyman has reached bedtime.