a day, just like any other day

Last night was fairly decent, considering the 4-month regression and all. Elijah was asleep by 7pm, and only woke up once before we went to bed. He was up for a feeding at 1:30am, then again at 3:30 and 5:30. I took him into bed with me then, and he slept until almost 7am. Not a bad start to the day!

We hung out with Gary and had breakfast. Gary went off to work, and I put Elijah down for a nap at 8:30am, and he slept until 10:20 (with a short wake-up after the first 45 minutes - I had to bounce him back to sleep). I got a nap then too. Awesome.

Back awake, and the Gary came home again. Lunch and playtime, and another nap at 12:15pm. He slept until nearly 2pm that time (with just a tiny little wake-up and bounce back to sleep).

helping!

Then we made bread (Elijah helped)...


 ...and went for a walk with Sookie around the apartments.

It was a really nice afternoon, and it felt good to get outside.




Elijah had one more (very) short nap between 3:45-4:20pm. We then did tummy-time and read some books. Elijah practiced rolling over -- which he can do, but prefers not to. He's a bit chunky, and I've read that makes it harder to roll over.

"ma, WHY?"

"ack! so hard!"

Reading one of his favorite books.







Then daddy came home! Yay! Elijah was full of smiles (not shown).




At 5:30 we started the bedtime routine:

First comes nekkid time! Elijah loves this, and coos and laughs and gurgles.
Then there's the bath, which he enjoys most of the time.
After that, he gets pampered with a lovely coconut-oil massage. Lucky little man.
Then he's dressed and has a quick feed.
I walk around the apartment singing to him for a while, to wind him down, before swaddling and one last feed. Then it's bouncy time on the ball, and prayers.

And Elijah was asleep by 6:45 this evening!

that dreaded regression

Yup. It's that time. Elijah is in the throes of the 4-month sleep regression. At this age, babies' sleep cycle starts to become more mature, so they have to learn how to transition between the sleep stages. It's not easy for them to do this, and then throw in new motor skills to practice (in their sleep), plus lots of new synaptic pathways developing . . . you end up with a baby who wakes up hourly (actually, more like every 45 minutes) all night long.

It's rough.

It will pass, but it's so hard right now. I actually held him all night for the past couple nights. It helped, but I certainly don't want that to become a habit!

He eats all night long too, far more than what he eats during the day. I don't really know how to stop this 'reverse cycling', and so for now I'm just going with it.

In other news, it's Korean Chuseok, kind of like Thanksgiving. Gary had 2 days off, which was amazing, as I was able to take naps! We didn't do anything at all, other than the usual house-cleaning. We didn't go shopping (one of the most popular past-times here), and we didn't even go to the beach. With Elijah not sleeping well, I am too exhausted to do a whole lot. We just hung out, played with the baby, went on a couple walks, and watched movies/tv shows together. It was really nice. I wish Gary never had to go to work.

Oh, and Elijah loves his daddy. He always has smiles for him. But for me? I just get yelled at.

looking at daddy

looking at mommy

loafing about

A superlative husband

I just have to say, I have an amazing husband.


I already knew he was great, otherwise, why would I have married him?


But it is now that I realize just how blessed I am to have him.


He is a fantastic father - through the dirty diapers, screaming fits, and bouncing to sleep. He is so attentive and organized, scheduling Elijah's injections and appointments. He also surprised me by decorating the nursery while I was in America for Poppy's funeral. I came back to find a cute room, complete with little outfits in the drawers and on hangers in the closet!

However, he has done far more than that for me and Elijah. Gary takes such good care of us... of me. Since Elijah was born, Gary cooks all our meals, goes grocery shopping, cleans the apartment, walks the dog, goes to work, AND does 9 hours of additional classes every week. He is a superstar. Absolutely amazing.
I do what I can, honest. But being a first time mom, it's pretty overwhelming. I don't know how moms with more children do it. I am sure I will eventually be able to juggle housework and child care, but at this moment in time, I am so reliant on my dear husband.

I am blessed beyond measure. I have a beautiful son, and a superlative husband (and a sweet dog). We live in a comfortably spacious apartment in a lovely part of town. We have lush hills behind our building, and a beach 15 minutes away. The school where we work (well, just Gary now) is 5 minutes away and has been wonderful to us. We are able to take extended vacations to see our families all over the world, and have them visit us.

Anyway, I am grateful for so much in my life, but today, I want to tell the world about my husband.

I love you.