Busy Weekend & Some "Firsts" for Both Boys!

We are coming off a beautifully busy summer weekend, now both boys are sleeping soundly and I'm stealing a moment to post here about some special firsts we had over the weekend.

Last night Jacob slept in his crib all night long! I mean, he woke up for his midnight and his 3AM feedings, but he spent the sleeping part of his night in his crib. I hadn't planned on him moving out of the bassinet in our bedroom until he was around 4 months, but it looks like plans have changed. Here's the story of how that came to be:

I've shared previously that Jacob fell into an eat/play/sleep cycle which is what some experts say is ideal, but I assure you we had nothing to do with him choosing to go that route, he did that one all on his own :) Lately, when the play is done, Jacob has been having a rough time transitioning to sleep, unless I put him in the Moby wrap. That is A-OK with me for the most part, but then it is hard to get him out of the wrap and down for sleep if I want to do anything else, like shower or cook or perhaps go to sleep myself. He hated swaddling as a newborn, preferring to have his hands clenched under his chin instead.

A friend recommended I try swaddling again, citing the 5 S's (shush, swaddle, swing, side, suck) of The Happiest Baby on the Block. I had great success with all these S's with Kaleb, and was golden with 4 of them for Jacob, except the part that Jacob didn't like swaddling as a newborn. I was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but I've made some recommendations to her that I know she thought wouldn't work and she still tried them (mostly with success), so I went for it.

She was right! I swaddled Jacob up tight, popped in his paci, and sang to him (my version of the shush) while rocking him. He was out within 3 minutes! I put him in his crib and he took a 2 hour nap! Since the swaddle turns him into a baby mummy/gloworm, he won't go very easily into the bassinet (which is really just a Boppy Bouncy seat) in our room with his swaddle on. So, I decided after his 9PM feeding last night to put him in the crib instead of the bassinet. He slept straight through to his midnight feeding, I rocked him while feeding him in the glider in the nursery then put him back until his 3AM, which actually stretched to 4AM last night! He slept great in there, all swaddled up and cozy. I'm excited to see him falling asleep easily and happily, and also a little sad that the co-sleeping phase has ended 2 months earlier than I was planning on.

Another first of the weekend for Jacob was his first consonant sound, a perfectly adorable little "uhh-GUH". I adore his little voice, it is deep for a baby, only squeeky when he screams or cries. But his conversation voice is low and deep and a little breathy and I just love all our little talks. He gets so excited when he makes noises, his whole face breaking into this beaming grin. He really is a sweet and cute little monkey man!

Kaleb also had a first this weekend, our first time playing baseball in the backyard! Yesterday, we got him a foam bat that came with a plastic baseball. Today, while a snuggly swaddled Jacob slept in the crib, Kyle and I went outside with Kaleb to play. Kyle drew Kaleb a home plate on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and taught him how to hold, and choke up on, his bat. I taught him how to stand with his toes lined up to home plate and how to keep his eye on the ball. Then I threw him pitches for at least 20 minutes, and he connected on quite a few of them! Kyle served as catcher and coach. It was a great family moment, the kind I started looking forward to when we first found out we were pregnant with Kaleb.

It was a fun weekend for our family. On Friday, the boys and I met up with Laura and her girls at Java Gym. It was nice having Analyn there because she helped Kaleb climb up the bigger levels that he hasn't been able to do on his own. He was completely worn out after that! Saturday morning we were up early to wear Kaleb out so he'd take an early nap. We went to play at Riverside Park, then home for nap, and then it was off to celebrate with our friends for their super cute son's first birthday. It was an excellent party, perfectly kid-friendly and Kaleb had a great time! There's something so magical about that first birthday party, I'm happy we were there to join the celebration :) Then it was a quick stop home and back out the door to a picnic at Townsend Park with Brent and Eddie. They spoiled Kaleb with a new leaf blower bubble machine, which he thought was awesome, and had other toys for him too! The toys are great, but the best part was that they then spent most of the rest of the night playing with Kaleb. He really loves those two, talks about them all the time. The other day, Kaleb said to me "Mommy, I'm taking Jacob with me to go see Brent and Eddie, we'll be right back!" awwww!

Today was baseball outside in the morning, nap time, then over to Ben and Laura's to celebrate Father's Day with my dad early, since Mike and Kerry will be at camp next weekend. I love seeing Kaleb play with his cousins and aunts and uncles. He adores them all and it is very special to me to be able to raise my kids around cousins, aunts, and uncles since we didn't have any of those close to us when we were kids.

Busy busy weekend, full of firsts for both kids, fun times with great friends, and a chance to spend time with family. I say this a lot, because it is true, I Am Blessed!