margaretyagan

As many of you know, generally, I’ve been a good sleeper.  Before I turned even one month old, I was getting long stretches of sleep at night.  And after a short adjustment to life in Chicago, I was also often getting 7+ hours of sleep at night.  But the last few weeks have been a bit more erratic for me, especially, it seems, on weeknights.

Well, it all came to a head last night.  I woke up around 12:30 and Dad came in to soothe me as whomever is on duty usually does.  I was screaming, but Dad was pretty patient.  He held me and rocked me to sleep, but when he tried to put me in the crib I woke up screaming.  So he picked me up and rocked me to sleep again, but I wasn’t happy when he put me down.  Then Dad tried to get me to fall asleep in my crib, but to no avail.

Finally, Dad decided (as he and Mom had discussed weeks ago) that it was time for me to cry it out.  So, he just left me to my own shrieks and tears.  He came in a couple times to give me my pacifier, but I was on my own.  I finally calmed down a bit and got some sleep, but then I woke up again, screaming.  This time Mom came in, but true to their strategy, she sat a few feet from the crib and try to verbally calm me down.  I tried to get to her so badly that I even used the bars on the crib to pull myself toward her.

Well, I finally got to sleep and woke up a bit later than usual.  Mom & Dad were both up to IM with Aunt Claire who was online from India.  Dad also made me some food that I’ll be eating after I’m done with sweet potatoes (today).  I took a nap and Dad went for a run and then the three of us went to the farmer’s market.  Mom seemed really excited and Dad just mocked everything.  We bought a few gourds or were they squash — depends whom you believe.

Today was my second day eating three meals a day, which was fun.  When we got back from our outing, I ate peas and then took a nap.  The three of us spent a lot of time together all afternoon and evening.  Dad tried to make me do tummy-time, but I wasn’t having any of that.  I love standing up, though!  Dad’s trying to figure out how to get me cruising ASAP!

Saturday morning started out pretty much as usual (without the trip with Dad to Starbucks), but by around 8:00 or so, Mom and Dad started frantically packing me up — including my prune & cereal breakfast — for a little outing.  We hopped in the car and headed to the Embassy Suites downtown where we saw Marty and his whole family!  I haven’t seen Marty since our last week in New York (which I can barely even remember!).  I was so different then — I couldn’t sit up or laugh.  He was so surprised by how advanced I was.

Marty fed me breakfast — the first person not in my family ever to do so!  I also got to know his parents and his brothers Tony and Andy and Andy’s girlfriend.  It was so nice of them to let us crash their party (Mrs. D’s birthday weekend!).

We then drove Marty out to the airport and then headed home.  I was so hungry by the time we got back that I scarfed down a bottle.  Today was also the first day that I got to eat three solid meals, so I got to eat peas for lunch.  I took a nap in bed with Mom and then when I got up, Dad and I headed to Dominick’s.  For the first time ever I got to sit upright in the shopping cart (instead of in my car seat).  It was such a different perspective!

Dominick’s didn’t have two of the things on our list (both for my own food): organiz zucchini (organic because I eat the skin) and millet (it didn’t help that Dad had no idea what this was).  So, Dad decided to swing by Whole Foods, where we found millet (and quinoa, for good measure).  We made a pit stop at K-mart in a failed attempt to find ice cube trays and then headed back home, where Mom was waiting impatiently.

The evening was pretty uneventful.  The three of us took a quick walk to Flash Taco where Mom and Dad got dinner.   I was so tired that I started screaming while we were there, so Mom rushed me home for a quick nap.  I got up, ate dinner (sweet potatoes!), and then the three of us went down to the office for family play time.  Then it was bottle time, bath time, and bed time.

This morning was a bit out of the ordinary, as Dad was home and Mom was carpooling to work, so she didn’t leave quite as early as she usually does.  I hung out with Mom and Dad until 7:30 and then promptly took a nap as soon as Nana took over.  I had breakfast at 9:00 as usual.  This morning it was prunes and barley, which I handled much better than I did on Wednesday.

I had good playtime on my new mat and Nana even made me do tummy-time (Dad has pretty much given up!).  I took a great nap from 10:45 to 1:15 and then took my biggest bottle ever – 8 ounces!

I played really well all afternoon and then eventually Nana and Grandpa left and I got to hang out with Dad.  We had to run a couple errands, so Dad strapped me into my car seat and we took off.  I was surprised that he didn’t put me in my stroller, but rather carried me in my car seat (which must weigh over 30 pounds!).  We just missed a bus, so Dad just started walking east.  We got to the post office before another bus passed, so went and stood in a really long line.  Two little kids (Priscilla and James, I think) were enamored by me and kept staring at me as we progressed in line.  They even touched my feet! Finally Dad sent his package to Bodh Gaya and we waited at the bus stop for the next bus.

Finally the #70 bus came and Dad carried me on, making this the first bus ride I’ve ever taken!  I really liked it because the motion was very relaxing.  Dad sang a little song about busses and we rode all the way to the end of the line, by which time I had fallen asleep.  We got off and walked to the dealer where our car was getting fixed.  I didn’t even notice as he put me in the back of the car and headed home.  We made a quick stop at K-mart and then met Mom at home.

The three of us played together on my mat and then I got to eat my eighth food ever: sweet potatoes!   It looked a lot like squash, if you ask me, but it was a lot thicker, which I didn’t mind at all — it was quite yummy, actually.

I had a good morning on Wednesday.  I played pretty well before falling asleep for half an hour in Nana’s arms at 7:40.  For the first time, though, I really didn’t like my breakfast (barley).  It was a bit chunkier than I like — I got lazy after the applesauce last night!  Anyway, I didn’t quite finish the barley and turned my attention instead to — you guessed it — pooping.

My fussiness continued until my midday nap at 1:00.  Finally I got back to my normal self and had a really good afternoon.  I scarfed down the applesauce I had for dinner and then had fun with Mom when she got home.

Thursday morning started off with a quick 15-minute catnap at 7:30 and then I got started reading with Nana.  At 9:30 I took a much deeper nap — almost two hours during which I barely even moved.  I slept right through my usual breakfast time (around 10) and so I woke up really hungry and quickly ate my rice and prunes.

I hung out with Grandpa for a couple hours in the early afternoon.  We hung out, played, and at 3:00 he fed me my afternoon bottle. Nana and I took a walk to Wicker Park and 4:15 and then was thrilled to get my third straight night of applesauce dinner.

I woke up with Mom Monday morning and was sad to see that she wasn’t feeling well.  In fact, she was feeling so bad that she ended up not even going to work.  I thought that might mean more time hanging out with her, but since she was afraid it might be a stomach virus, she sequestered herself upstairs most of the day. 

Mom brought me downstairs to Nana and we hung out until my morning nap at 7:30 (funny to think that I take my first nap before lots of people even get up!).  I had rice cereal and prunes for breakfast and still had some light congestion that made my bottles just a little slower to drink.  I had a huge poop at 10 am (I’m getting more regular!). 

Mom came downstairs at 5:30 (an hour earlier than usual!) and we went for a walk.  When we got back, Mom fed me dinner: squash!  Now that I’ve had it for three days in a row, I can look forward to a new taste tomorrow.

To do my part helping Mom recover, I slept all the way through the night Monday night and was in a great mood Tuesday morning while she was getting ready to go work.  Mom dressed me up in a cute blue outfit.  I took a nap and was playful all morning.  Nana and I went for a walk in the afternoon and then I finally discovered my seventh solid food: apples!  Apples are one of my favorite new foods — definitely the sweetest of anything I’ve tasted so far.  And they’re so smooth that I can gulp down my two ice cubes of applesauce in just a few minutes.

Sunday was a pretty exciting day, especially because I got to meet some new people.  We had brunch with Mom’s and Dad’s friends Ashley and Jereme.  Making it extra special was that (because we were running late) I got to bring my own food and eat in a high chair alongside the adults.  We ate at Moonshine, which was also the first restaurant I ever went to, back in March.

Later that afternoon, we got a visit from another friend that Mom and Dad went to high school with, Sarah!  That was fun, too, made even more fun because Dad was trying to Maggie-proof the house while Mom and I were hanging out with Sarah.

I woke up with Mom on Saturday and Dad stayed in bed while Mom IM’d with Aunt Claire and the rest of her family.  By the time Dad got up, Mom had already logged off because my congestion was making me fussy.  While Dad went for his daily run, I hung out with Mom and eventually took a nap.  I got up and had breakfast (rice cereal & prunes) and then Mom, Dad, and I hopped in the car and headed out to Oak Brook Center to go shopping!

I have to say that I don’t really appreciate shopping quite as much as I will eventually.  I sat in my strolled while we went in and out of stores.  Mom tried on lots and lots of clothes while Dad tried to keep my amused.  At Anthropologie, we ran into Mom’s and Dad’s friend Janet, whom I had never met before.  Dad changed me in public and fed me on a park bench before I finally fell asleep.

We headed home, with a quick pit stop at Dominick’s where Dad bought two butternut squashes.  When we finally got home (about 6 hours after we left!) Mom fed me a bottle while Dad put the squash in the over.  Mom, Dad, and I went out to dinner — while the oven was on! — at Pontiac, a place Dad has been wanting to go for quite a while.  Mom never wants to go out to dinner with me because I’m usually not in my best mood that late in the day, but today everything went really well.

We got back home and Dad fed me my sixth food ever: butternut squash!  It was really yummy and…orange!  As soon as I finished, Dad whisked me away to Dominick’s where we did our weekly grocery shopping.  By the time we got back it was dark outside (what’s going on?!) and I pretty much started getting ready for bed.