How would Aunt Tracee feel about this?

Michael's aunt Tracee is, in addition to her regular career, a certified cosmotologist (is that the right title, Tracee?)

I've been thinking about her regularly for the past few days as we have been trying to deal with Michael's dry scalp issue.

Many of the baby books have had some suggestions which entail moisturizing the scalp with olive oil, or Vaseline.



Gross, right? Imagine slathering Vaseline on your hair...reminds me of a movie....


Pomade, anyone?



Well, needless to say, Michael's hair style has been kind of....greasy for the past couple of days, and it has taken about 4 shampoos to get it back to normal.



It has been a little embarassing taking him to places like Michael's office. What if they think we never bathe our baby?

Tracee, can you forgive us?

Spoons

Sometimes, all you need is to give a boy a spoon and something to hit with it:

New Pictures Up

I finally posted a bunch of pictures up on Flickr (the link is on the right) and there are some cute photos!

I have a few new videos I have to upload, but I think with the HD, it may take some time!

Michael went to bed SUPER early today after a rocky sleep weekend. Though he slept all the way through the night, from 7pm to 7am on Friday night, Saturday was not such a great sleep day, which meant Saturday night was not such a great sleep night.

You see, sleep is kind of a strange thing for babies....the more they get, the better they sleep ("sleep begets sleep") and the more tired they get, the worse they sleep. So it's not like a baby who doesn't nap will just sleep better at night. That's rarely the case....rough sleep days typically mean rough sleep nights, which then yield rough sleep days....it's a crazy cycle!!

I am hoping his super early bed time with be a way for him to reset the cycle tomorrow and get a good day's rest.

Well, it's a process and I'm seeing improvements, so just because we had a rocky couple of days doesn't mean it's not working...it just takes time to settle into a good routine. Unfortunately, Sundays are kind of rough days since we have Mass right during his nap time, and then I had RCIA right afterward, which meant he went from 6:00 am (yeah, he was up early) to 12pm without more than a few very brief catnaps. Yikes! Poor kid. I spend all this time training him to sleep in his bed, and now that is the only place he really can sleep!

So, here's to tonight and tomorrow, and hoping that going to sleep at 5 PM doesn't make him wake up at 5 am!

Random Thoughts: People will stand up for anything

I was at the grocery story today and in the parking lots, I saw someone with this bumper sticker:

I had to do a double-take. I mean...really? Of all the things in life to make a stand for, this is your "thing?"

I wonder what type of person is a ferret activist must be. I mean, who gets so agitated every time they look at a person walking a dog or showing a picture of their pet cat and they burn with jealousy becasue they are denied their freedom to have their pet ferret.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

"CLIFFNotes has been very valuable in keeping people informed and involved with legalization and other ferret issues. It has brought those interested in ferrets together. Stories are shared and bonds have been formed."

Other ferret issues?!

Bonds have been formed?!

I wonder what "ferret issues" this lady had. I wonder if she is a ferret smuggler...I wonder if her ferret has a secret hiding spot in their home whenever the ferret police come knocking...Just look at this passage describing their "shadow of fear":

"Nevertheless, the threat of enforcement always looms. Ferret owners who love their pets live under a shadow of fear. They cannot take their pets for a walk in the park, they need to be careful not to speed while driving to the vet, and they worry that a spiteful neighbor or ex will turn in their ferrets as punishment for an unrelated dispute."

Ah, the persecuted life a ferret owner.

Well, I guess everyone has their thing...I just found it very amusing!!

Napless Wonder --> Wonder Napper

I've held off a few days on this post, just until it seems like this is something that is going to stick, and today, I'm pretty convinced that it is more than just a one-day fluke. So, with just a tiny fear of "jinxing" it, I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to declare our little boy "a good napper."

What?!

Kim, 90% of your posts since his birth have had something to do with his sleep issues, and now you are saying that he's gone the other direction, and is somehow a good napper? Did you exchange sons while out doing Christmas shopping or something?

Nope. Our very same little Michael is now setting new trends for himself to be a good sleeper, and I have this book to thank for it:

Seriously.

I got this book last Sunday, and after just a brief skim through it, by Monday, Michael took a 2 hour nap in the morning, and a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon plus another quick evening catnap.

The next day was similar, following Michael sleeping totally through the night that night.

Wednesday, it was a matter of minutes that it took for Michael to go to sleep to take a nap. It has been amazing. After that morning nap Wednesday, things got a little crazy because we went traveling, and that has the tendency to tweak everything pretty quickly...but as soon as we got back home, Michael resumed these good sleeping patterns once again, and today, took another 2 hour nap and is going down without a fight for his other naps.

It is so amazing! I can't believe what a transformation it has been!

Here I've been thinking he just is one of those kids who doesn't sleep, only to find out he just had bad habits on falling asleep and he needed to learn better habits! Thankfully, though it has been work to teach him, he accepted his new task very well and has been very cooperative in this process.

It's just so nice to finally have him on a nice routine and to better schedule my meetings and classes, but most of all to get this kiddo his much-needed rest!

Thank you, Baby Whisperer!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thank goodness Christmas lasts more than one day, so I don't have to apologize for blogging about Christmas until the 28th :)

The San Diego Barbers had a great Christmas, and enjoyed visiting family. We began our journey on Christmas Eve traveling up to Covina and spent Christmas day + half of Friday there, and then journeyed up to Apple Valley to visit the Gilmores Friday afternoon to Saturday. It was a blast, but we are exhausted!!

Michael did exceedingly well with all the hustle and bustle, but he has discovered the truth which we all already know: there is no place like home!

Despite comfy accomodations wherever he went, Michael didn't sleep quite as well during the night as he was beginning to at home, so Mommy, Daddy and Baby were all pretty sleep deprived by the time the weekend was up, and instead of staying at the Gilmores until Sunday, we packed it up and went home Saturday evening so we could begin getting Michael back on his schedule as early as possible.

But we got to see so much of the family, both at Covina and Apple Valley, it was great! We love you all and enjoyed it so much!

This Christmas was the first Christmas we had with a baby "on the outside" which, was especially helpful as we meditated on the Feast of the Nativity of the Incarnate Son of God.

Jesus became a baby for us. The Son of God took on human flesh and became as dependent on his mom and dad as Michael is on me and Michael. Mary and Joseph carried the baby Jesus, changed him, fed him, rocked him, and when they looked upon his little face, not only could they adore him like any parent adores their baby, but they truly got to adore him, because He is God.

Jesus became a human. He fully entered the human experience. God the Father recognized the despair of the broken human race, steeped in sin, sentenced to death, and moved with compassion, He completed the work of redemption which He began as soon as sin entered the picture and gave us Jesus.

Michael and I (when we weren't listening to Trish-Trash Polka) were listening to Michael W. Smith' Christmas CD a lot in the car, and there is a beautiful song called "All is Well." All is well. In the chaos of sin and death, God has made all things well again.

It's like when baby Michael is crying because he wants to go to sleep but can't seem to calm down, we hold him, cradle him in our arms and tell him, "Michael, all is well."

The world is crying in sin and needs help, and God comforts the world with his Son and in the silence of a stable with a baby in the manger, God tells us, "All is well."

How much God must love us to take on humanity, to humble himself and become a little baby so that he can redeem us!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Do You See What I See?

Noree' mentioned how Michael Sr had a picture of him falling over in a chair and Michael Jr doing the same thing....as I was looking for that picture, I found this and couldn't stop laughing at the similarities! They are the same person!