Eamon vs Sleep, Redux

Eamon has slept remarkably well throughout his life. Rarely does he awaken during the night and when he does, putting his pacifier in his mouth gets him back to sleep. Since he figured out how to do that on his own about 2 weeks ago, I barely hear a peep from him once he's in bed.

I do not mention this, dear reader, to make you angry at the remarkable luck with which we have been bestowed, but rather to illustrate why last weekend was so crazy.

On the weekends, Kate and I like to spend as much time as possible with Eamon, which usually means that the person getting up with him would also nap with him. He is such a cuddler that the practice was pleasant for all involved (even Kate, who isn't much of a cuddler). However, it seems this practice was getting Eamon in the habit of sleeping with someone all the time. Once he figured out how to sit up (see previous post), he was reluctant to soothe himself back to sleep. Apparently, learning that one can sit up does not necessarily mean that one also learns to lie down.

All of these things came to a head last Sunday, when Eamon took FOREVER to fall asleep, then was awake an hour later, screaming his head off. This was unfortunate for me, since the Cowboys were playing their first game in their new stadium. Being a good father, I then decided to allow my son to watch his first Cowboys night game. Ok, so he played on the floor while I watched, but he did look up at the TV every once and a while. At the end of the 1st quarter, I took him in to sleep with Kate. Side note: DVR is the best invention ever.

This episode repeated itself Monday night, with Eamon strenously objecting to going to sleep alone (and by "strenuously object" I mean "screamed his lungs out for 90 minutes"). Kate and I decided to just let him scream it out, and it worked. While he did have to get rocked to sleep after his marathon (for him) session, Tuesday was a breeze. Problem solved. For now.

In other news, we bought a house today and Eamon goes for his 9 month check up Wednesday. Updates on the transition will follow.

Do the Locomotion

It finally happened: this morning, I went in to Eamon's room to find him sitting up by himself. He was playing with his Baby Elmo (who sleeps with him in the crib) and looking altogether more like a kid than an infant (it doesn't help that he's the size of many of the little guys toddling around out there).

Moreover, Eamon finally got tired of dragging himself around in an army crawl. While he could move, and pretty quickly, he always sort of looked like he was rock climbing. No more. Yesterday, he finally figured out the complicated process of getting his butt in the air, pushing up with his arms, and moving his arms and legs in a motion that allowed him to move forward. From this position, he has also figured out that he can easily get himself back to a sit.

He has also been attempting to pull himself to a stand, though he isn't quite as ready for this. His balance is still really off, and he wobbles and teeters precipitously until he finally falls on his bottom. Nevertheless, it seems that once Eamon gets it in his head to do something, he keeps at it until he finally figures it out. So we'll see. I think the walking is still a long way's off given his pretty terrible balance so far, which is kind of good since we're right in the middle of packing and getting ready to move, and the last thing we need is a baby literally running around.

I bet you can guess what he's crawling towards before you even watch the video.

The Original King of Comedy...and Drama

Eamon has needs (formula, sleep, shelter, etc.) and he used to use his "voice" to express those needs. But now Eamon Wolfe also has wants (well, he thinks they are needs), and those wants include the TV remote, our cell phones, the camera, and anything else technological that he can destroy with his nefarious baby spit. And no longer does he just lunge for things he wants...if he can't have them, he can burst into tears in a matter of seconds. It's quite the act. And it is an act, since when we start laughing at him (as we always do), he usually stops crying and laughs along (his desperate want momentarily forgotten).

See how quickly he goes from happy to upset and back? I was trying to get a video of him doing a raspberry, but it was a moot point since all he wanted was the camera.

When he isn't fake crying because we are being mean and evil parents who don't think an 8 month old needs his own cell phone, Eamon loves to entertain. Despite his occasional fake crying, he's actually quite a happy little guy most of the time. Much of his day is spent in pursuit of finding funny things or making others laugh. There are some things that he finds absolutely hysterical: the popping noise that Aaron can make with his mouth, when Mommy fake sneezes, or when you "pretend" to throw the dog toy but don't actually throw it (Nesta does not find this nearly as funny).

But Eamon has learned that he can make others laugh, too. He's almost somewhat of a clown sometimes, and I pity his future teachers. The child has a vast repertoire of funny noises and sound effects: grunting, shrieking, fake coughing, fake sneezing, fake gagging, and recently, blowing raspberries. He loves to blow raspberries now. He blows them all the time (even while you are feeding him, which I hear gets very interesting--sorry, Mom).

So anyway, if you come to visit our little man, be prepared for both laughter and tears--and watch your cell phone.