Sleep

Well, I swore I would post another blog once I started getting sleep again. At two months Santi was sleeping 7 hours at a time, would wake up and eat, and then sleep again. I thought he just liked to sleep and really we were going to have an easy time of the whole "sleeping" thing. Was I ever wrong! This kid likes to eat! I mean seriously he eats more than I do. So with that said, he wakes up in the night to eat too! There has been one night in his entire life where he has slept through the night. ONE! And that apparently was a totally accident! That means I don't ever get to sleep through the night. For about 2 months he has been getting up twice a night, which let me say is MUCH better than three or four. But still, twice is not wonderful. The last five nights he has only gotten up once. It has been heavenly! I cant wait to get to the place where he sleeps all the way through, but once a night is so lovely I really cant complain. Last night was the best so far. He went to sleep at 7:30 and woke up at 4:30, then went back to sleep after eating until 7. Im praying that once he starts teething again he wont go back to the twice a night thing! Im still not sure how people do this more than once in their life!! I feel like I have added 15 years to my life in the last year.

Now that Im done complaining let me explain what a joy this last year has been. I have loved seeing Santi figure out the world around him. He is learning everything from scratch and its adorable to watch. What a sweet baby he is! Teething and not getting sleep have been horrible, but the rest of the time he is a jewel! He laughs and smiles all the time! He loves people! He will smile at pretty much anyone, yet he would prefer that his mama hold him or play with him at all times! Its crazy how one little person can change your life and bring you so much joy just by being!

Its so crazy to think that Santi has gone from this little baby who couldn't do anything!

To this big baby who wants to do everything himself!

Halloween for a 5 month old

Santi was a chicken for Halloween, a holiday not really celebrated in my family growing up. I remember when I was little we went to a few church functions (I was an adorable pumpkin at one), but as we grew up we only ever handed out candy. Now that I am older I get it. I don't want my child dressing up like a devil and thinking its cute. I read this really cool article by Doug Wilson the other day though (http://www.dougwils.com). Im feeling more ok with dressing up, eating candy, and remembering the real reason Halloween started!

Some day he will realize people hand out candy!

Nana and Granddad joined us at Pumpkinfest in downtown Franklin!

Our little chicken!

I think we should have more than 1 dress-your-kid-up-days a year!

Like Papi like hijo

Almost exactly 10 months ago we found out that Santi was a boy. The first thing I bought specifically for my little boy was a pair of Puma shoes. Today was finally the day he got to wear the adorable shoes. They are still a little big, but as fast as this child grows we decided he could wear them or else by the time he fits in them perfectly he will only be able to wear them twice! He was looking kind of adorable, but then I noticed something...Nolan was wearing almost the exact same outfit. Both boys were wearing Nike pants and Puma shoes. Like Papi like hijo.

Lots of firsts

We have had a bunch of firsts this week. First time in a swing, first time to sit up, first time to eat cereal. I cant believe how big my little baby is getting!

The swing was actually pretty funny. I know Santi is to small to swing, but I thought we could at least give it a shot. He smiled the whole time, but my mom and I noticed his little hands and feet were shaking. I would have taken him out, but he was so happy. I think he just felt off balance. It was pretty adorable!

Last week I started sitting Santi up. He didn't really like it and always looked down so it was impossible for him to stay up on his own. Every morning for a few minutes I would sit him up. By about the third day he was able to stay for a few seconds. So I grabbed a toy and shook it in front of him so he would look up. It took all of about 5 days and now he can sit up for probably 5 minutes all by himself. Every once in a while he will tumble over, but he is doing so good!!

Sitting up with his first ever pumpkin.

I have to say that eating real food is my favorite of Santis newest tricks. I spoke with the doctor last Monday and he told me to go for it. He said Santi is old enough and should have no problems. But he warned me that it may take several times to actually get any food down. Apparently some babies don't like the new texture, taste, and they have to get over their gag reflex. Well, not my baby. He just about grabbed the spoon out of my hand and chugged down the cereal. After a few bites he started crying so we thought he was done. Nolan got him ready for his bath while I got his water ready. Nolan decided to try one more spoonful and the kid chowed down again. Come to find out he didn't like the chair we had him in but he LOVED the food. We shall see if he likes it again tonight!

Future futbol player

The very first thing Nolan ever bought Santi was a soccer ball. He is finally at the age where he can play with it. Here is a short clip of Santi with his soccer ball. I don't know about you, but I think he has mad skills! (Notice the toy in the background, Nolan thinks it will make a perfect goal. He already has plans to teach Santi how to kick it in there!)

Fluke? I sure hope not!

Will I ever know what I am doing? When I finally figure something out and feel good about it everything changes the next day. The only sure things in life these days are that the diaper is dirty, the drool is going to get everywhere, and he will be hungry soon...very soon. I think someday the learning curve will slow down a little bit. I think so anyway. Maybe he wont change everything in life every day, maybe it will be every other day eventually. Bless his little heart. I love that rolly pudgy squishy baby!

I tried something new last night and it seemed to have worked, but like I said before it will probably be different today. I was reading on how to have a happy sleeping baby and it said that most people keep their babies up later than they should. Nolan and I try and keep Santi up every night a little later than he would like so he will sleep more. What I read basically said I was doing the exact wrong thing. Oh great!!! At 2 months Santi was sleeping 7 hours, then he hit his 3 month growth spurt and ever since then has been sleeping more like 2-3 hours (TORTURE for me)! So last night we planned on putting him to bed earlier than normal. We were going to give him a bath at 8 instead of 8:30PM. Well he was done by 7 PM. All he wanted to do was go to bed. So we gave him a bath really early, fed him, and put him to bed before 8. I thought for sure it was going to be a horrible night, or at least morning...ready to go at 5AM or something. No, what I read may have been right. Santi slept for 4 1/2 hours twice, which means I only got up twice. Oh happy day! Was it a fluke? Not sure, but willing to try it again tonight.

Oh how he loves his thumb!

A small preview

Here is a very small preview of Halloween. I didn't really care for the holiday when I was younger, but now I have a little chicken. This is the most excited I have ever been!!!