Sleep Obsession

When you aren't getting it, it's all you can think about. Sleep, that is. Ernie's now had about a week to work on recovering from the Austin hotel crib fiasco. He's made big improvements, or so we think until he throws another surprise at us. After a horrible two-hour cry on Saturday night (no, not because the Huskers lost) he slept until his morning feeding. We're trying to retrain ourselves to not respond to every noise so that he can learn to fall asleep on his own, and to only respond to awakenings that require something from us (food, diaper change) and not just requests for company and assistance in falling back asleep. He's now able to sleep on his tummy, too; something he discovered last week. It's been rough, but the reward will be a better-rested baby (and parents).

In case you can't read the title of the book Ern and Daddy are sharing, it's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."

Ernie's Endorsement of the Week: Art!

This is Ernie's second art project, mentored by Grandma Chris. The first was a little gift he made for Grandparents' Day last weekend of a flower for both sets of g-rents. We've got a little something creative cooked up for Aunt Laura as well. Baby art is fun!

Ernie seems to be pretty equally interested in the visual and the tactile. He likes to grab at flowers and prairie grasses we pass on our walks, but he was very intent just looking at the koi pond at the Sunken Gardens this weekend. Some books he really wants to get physically involved in, and others he's content to just sit back while we turn the pages. It's pretty exciting to watch him master tasks with his hands. It's still a lot of flailing before anything gets accomplished, but that's all part of the learning process.

First solids

That's the funny thing, it's barely more than mush. In fact, it's watered down mushy mush, but Ern tried his first "solids" last night. This picture illustrates his overall feeling about the mess.


He was pretty peeved that we put him in his high chair in the fist place before he felt he was properly fed. He did open his mouth and successfully suck in some of the mush, as the video will show. But it will take some practice to get used to it. He likes his food the old-fashioned way yet.

Just adorable

That's the only reason for this picture. We were trapped in an IHOP just outside Fort Worth, and Ernie decided this was much improved from the Hilton Garden Inn fiasco.

And just wanted to share this picture of Ernie reading his Fluffy Chick book in his Bumbo seat. He's always liked books, and in the last couple of weeks he's really eager to interact with them physically. He likes to flail his little arms around trying to turn the page for us. The fabric books certainly hold up to his excitement better than their paper counterparts.

Killing him Adorably

What does it look like to torture someone with cuteness? It looks like this picture of Zac being forced to hold Ernie on his lap. He even bought us dinner afterwards, so there's no real hard feelings.

And yes, that is a goatee he's sporting. He says he just wants to be abel to wax it to a point, then he'll shave it off. We shall see. I'm sure that's how the pompadour started oh so many years ago.

Verdict is in

For those of you with young'uns yourselves, or daring enough to try changing Ernie--take note: We are past Phase 1: Cloth-diaper Beta and have moved on to full-scale Bum Genius Omega. We've done our shopping around and have decided that "prefolds" are fine for picking up some slack, but after two poops in them (which really oughta be the test for any clothing worth its salt), we're going to order a sustaining supply of the cloth diapers. For those of you questioning the decision, it's really a matter of going through approximately 3,000 diapers in the first year of life. We'd like to cut down on that cost if possible. And by the time number 2 comes along (I'm talking about a second kid here rather that the diaper filler--and no, Ernie doesn't have to share his blog quite yet), they should have paid for themselves and it's like getting a second kid for free--sort of. Plus there's the added advantage of telling him (once he's old enough to be disgusted) that he and his sibling wore the very same underpants, which they both crapped in. A lot. Will I miss days gone by of being able to just throw the waste in it's intended basket. Oh sure, poop days will always make me a little nostalgic. But we've deemed Bum Geniuses worth it and are anxious to move forward.

Ernie's Endorsement of the (last two) Week(s): Being Home!

We don't like Texas. It's nothing personal, but we hate it. We even like driving 16 hours straight better than sleeping two hours in a five-star hotel in Texas.
But you know what we do like?
BEING HOME!!!!! We woke up at 3:30 a.m. and all of a sudden we were in our crib at home! Rather than blood-curling screeches, we decided to audition for mezzo soprano to express our joy! Hopefully Mom and Dad have finally learned their lesson and will keep us home for a while.