It's been one week...

Since we packed Garrett's swing away and shipped it.

I didn't realize how much he (I) would miss it!

Garrett's been doing pretty good with all the craziness of the move, holidays, staying at my parents house, dealing with a little cold, etc. But I've noticed a bit of a difference during the day and I think its the swing. He usually spent a couple hours a day in his swing. He'd watch the hangy things, listen to music, watch tv, and then usually fall asleep for a good afternoon nap. At my parents house we just have his jungle gym and a bouncer. I thought keeping the bouncer would be good enough but he knows the difference. We still find things to do, but I think we're both missing our individual 'alone time.' We went shopping today and I almost bought another swing. The cheapest one I could fine was $70 and I couldn't justify it. Even though we'll have 2 living rooms in California and I tried to convince myself it'd be nice to have one for each room, I didn't do it.

12 more days of being swingless. I think we'll survive. He can just have his alone time chillin' on the couch.We'll just go shopping more. G loves him some car and shopping cart nap time.

I think I've mentioned before that I was blessed with a champion sleeper. On normal days he probably sleeps about 4-6 hours during the day, 'during the day' being between 10AM and 9PM (although I've never kept track). My goal is to establish a good nap pattern when things get back to normal in a couple weeks, but for now he usually takes a good 2-3 hour nap and then naps here and there throughout the day/evening. One thing that I decided right at about 3 months was that I wasn't going to let Garrett decide when it was bedtime. I'd been just letting him stay up until he "looked" tired. Then we'd swaddle and have our bedtime feeding and get him to sleep. This usually happened between 11:00 and 12:30. But I've decided to start the process earlier and it works! Things are still a bit off schedule, but if I swaddle him earlier, he falls asleep earlier. Duh! Why didn't I try this a month ago!? He almost always sleeps til 8 or 9 in the morning, and my new bedtime goal for him is 10PM or earlier. He regularly sleeps 8-9 hours a night and now I'm hoping for 10+. He's done it a few times (almost 11 last night) and I think its gonna work.

Aww, the guessing games of parenthood...

Oh 2 more things, mostly for myself to remember about this time of life. Garrett started "talking" all. the. time. right at 3 months. To me, to his reflection, to Paul, to my parents, to friends, to the lady behind me at Target customer service. It's SO cute! He's not as talkative in large groups, but once in a while someone can get him going.

And the other thing. I mentioned he's had a bit of a cold. I'm hoping we're on the mend, but he's had the coughs, sneezes and a buggy nose. Poor little guy. But the best part about it, if there is a best part about having a sick baby, is his smiles. He smiles no matter whats going on. Last night we were de-buggering, which he doesn't enjoy. He was congested, crying, and annoyed, but as soon as I got him to make eye contact with me, he gave me a huge smile. Have you ever seen a crying baby smile?? It's just about the cutest thing.

Oh and as soon as I find my camera cord, California maybe?? I'll post his laughing video.