New Experiences

This week has been a  fun week with lots of new experiences. We got a swing from freecycle and Nate didn't know what to think of it at first. Two days after getting it he discovered the mobile and the mirror that hang above him in the swing. He just sat there staring at the mirror or mobile (I can't tell which) for about 10 min. It was so cute to watch him looking so intently. I really wanted to know what was going through his head because I know he was learning and figuring something out. I was talking to a child this week about Nathaniel and the child commented that it must be so boring to be a baby because you can't do anything. I disagree. I think being a baby must be the most invigorating stage because everything is new. There is so much to think about and learn and see for the first time.

This week we also went to the wedding of one of my best friends. It was an all day event and the longest that Nathaniel has been away from home because it was about an hour and a half away. We left at 8am and didn't get home till 6pm. He was so exhausted by the end of the day though I think he had fun seeing so many new faces and places. He did get a couple short naps in but it wasn't near his normal amount of sleep.
In between the ceremony and the reception we went to my Uncle's home because he lives near where the wedding was and he hasn't met Nathaniel yet. My Uncle has a dog named Burt. Chris  has been excited all week to introduce Nathaniel to Burt. He really wanted Nathaniel to love Burt so that he could convince me that we need a dog. He is always saying a boy needs his dog. : )
This is Nathaniel meeting Burt for the first time.

He was already a little overtired. We think his dismay was more at the fact that anything was licking his face and bothering him, not that he doesn't like dogs. We're pretty sure he is too young to form that opinion. Chris was pretty sad that Nathaniel didn't want to play with Burt though. 

Nathaniel also got to meet my cousin Lucy for the first time. After he met Burt, Lucy (2) got up from her nap. So they were both tired and not very interested in each other. Lucy was shy and afraid to come really meet him but she did give him a hug when we left. My Uncle got a picture but I haven't got it from him yet. (Burt photobombed the picture, I'm pretty excited for it.) Lucy woke up from her nap and started singing the Eensy Weensy Spider while she waited for her Dad to come get her from her crib. It made me so excited for when Nathaniel gets a little older. : )

The final new experience of the week happened all today. I decided that I wanted to try and get Nathaniel on a loose schedule. Up until now I've kind of been letting him rule the house. He lets me know when he wants to sleep, eat or play. And now that we are working towards a schedule I'm still willing to be flexible, like if he gets tired early or hungry early but I want to be able to say, "This is approximately his nap time, so we should go grocery shopping at a different time." The schedule is actually going fairly well. Of course, we are just working toward it, so we weren't on it today but thinking about it made it easier to help Nathaniel get all the rest he needed. It made bed time for the night so much easier than it has ever been. Instead of 30 minutes of rocking before he fell asleep, we did a night time routine and then sat down and rocked. Within one disney song he was out and he has been sleeping soundly for 3 hours since. (Very little fussing). 

This is the night time routine Chris and I came up with. I'm so excited  about it. It is so much fun and it gets me ready for bed to because it is so peaceful and such great bonding time. 

Bath Time - He loves this and talks a lot. This is Chris's main job unless he is at work during getting ready for bed time.

Lotion/Massage - This is my job because Chris hates the feel of lotion. This is when I get to talk with Nate.

Story Time - He only listens to one very short book right now

Scriptures/Prayer - He has his own Book of Mormon picture books that we look at. We are going to get a set of Bible story picture books to go through after we finish the Book of Mormon ones. Then we will start over. 

Swaddling - This is another Daddy job if Chris is home. Nathaniel likes his swaddles better. He sleeps better when Chris swaddles him. Chris will normally reswaddle him when he gets home if he wasn't there for the initial swaddle. 

Music/Lullabies/Rocking - He prefers to listen to Disney at bedtime. But if Daddy is rocking him than he listens to lullabies or classical music because Dad doesn't want to listen to Disney music every night. 

The whole routine took about 40 minutes tonight. When we came up with it we expected an hour, though it may take an hour some nights because I don't think Nate will always go to sleep so quickly. We shall see if we keep the whole routine or shorten it, or maybe lengthen it, who knows. I'm just really excited about it because we had such a good time tonight. : )