Rolling around

So after three nights in a row of sleeping through the night, we were in for a different kind of surprise on Wednesday night. Around 3am, we hear him fussing. No big deal, we figure. We knew he wasn't completely done with night wakings. Carl goes in there to discover him -- on his tummy! Apparently he had rolled over in his sleep. He's rolled over from tummy-to-back plenty of times before, but this was the first back-to-tummy. Carl figures this is why he's fussing, so he just puts him back on his back and goes back to bed. A few minutes later, he's fussing again. I go in there this time, and whatayaknow, he's on his tummy again. This time I pick him up, wrap him back up in his blanket, and put him on his back. I step out of the room and watch him first kick the blanket off himself, and then roll over to his tummy, and then right back over to his back. By this time he's pretty awake and realizing that he's a little hungry. So we give him a little snack, and then he's back to sleep for the night.

Right after feeding him, I went right up to the third floor to consult our favorite what-to-do baby guide, "Baby 411." Turns out we don't need to stand over his crib and return him to his back every time he flips over -- if he's strong enough to flip over to his tummy, we can let him sleep like that. But for Brennan, it's going to take some time to sort out what to do when he ends up on his tummy. In the meantime, he's been a little fussier the last few nights, waking up a couple times a night and needing a little help to get back to a comfy position. He moves around quite a bit in his crib -- sometimes ending up pressed against the rails or in some other uncomfortable position. Of course, it's difficult to balance -- if we run in & help him out each time he gets uncomfortable, then he won't learn to sort things out himself, but at the same time, we need to sleep too, and we don't want him to get stuck, so we have been helping him out a little when he gets uncomfy. But even in these last few days since he's been doing this, he's gotten better at getting himself back in position. Tonight when he went down to sleep, he flipped over to his tummy and found himself not too comfy sort of near the rails, but we gave him a little time to figure it out, and 10 minutes later we went up there to find him in right in the middle of the crib -- still on his tummy, but asleep and nice & comfy. Since this happened for the first time Wednesday night, I think he's ended up on his tummy pretty much every time he's fallen asleep, for a nap or at night.

Taking a snooze on his tummy:



This week the Red Sox hosted the Yankees. Brennan watched the games with me on DVR in the morning:


Posing for a picture during a commercial break:

Four Months Old

No new pictures to post today. On Sunday, though, Brennan turned four months old. He has been developing a lot over the last few weeks -- changing before our eyes. No major developmental milestones really -- he's just becoming ever more alert, and he loves reaching out for and grabbing things. I'll have to get a video of him playing with some of his noisy toys that he grabs and shakes.

We didn't have any gifts for Brennan for turning four months old, but he had a little gift for us. Sunday night, he crashed around 7:15 pm, and slept in until 7:30 am (and even then, he wasn't fussing, just hanging out in his crib when we went in to check on him when we woke up). Then Monday night, he slept through the night again, not making a peep until I came and got him around 6:45 because I was up anyway. Brennan had slept through the night on a few random occasions over the last month or two, but never two nights in a row, so we're hoping this becomes a habit! It's great to walk into his room in the morning with him just hanging out waiting patiently for us, and then greeting us with a big smile when we walk in (as opposed to what he'd do a few weeks ago -- waking up at the first hint of sunlight and crying until we came in and picked him up).

The last few weeks

It's been a while since we posted. Papa went back to work on May 20 during a very busy time at work. There were a lot of late nights at work those first couple weeks back, but things have improved since. Brennan has been going to a family day care the last 2 1/2 weeks, which he enjoys. Only one week more then Daddy will be home to take care of him. The whole family care thing has sort of thrown his schedule for a loop -- he crashes earlier now, and he's gotten on this smaller-but-more meals kick. One of daddy's tasks when we is home from work will be to undo these habits and get Brennan eating some bigger meals. With us both at work these last few weeks, we haven't had much time for pictures. We did get a bunch of pictures a few Fridays ago when Daddy's friends from Brimmer through Brennan a shower:






Opening presents:






And of course, a couple of videos from the last week or two. First, Brennan "standing up":





Some giggling with daddy:



Lounging around:



The next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun. Daddy will be home with Brennan and they are going to take some classes together. Daddy's birthday is next week. We also have our first Father's Day coming up! In three weeks is Brennan's dedication. A bunch of our friends here in Boston will be there to celebrate with us, along with some friends and family who are coming in from out of town. Patrick's parents, Aunt Yvonne, and Uncle Bill are coming as well as Carl's good friends Adrienne, Sarah, Nikki, and Nikki's daughter Ella. Carl and Brennan will also taking the girls to Maine and to Newport, RI when they are in town.

The last 11 days

Papa has been enjoying the tail end of his leave time with Brennan very much -- going to parks, the grocery store, and other fun outings. And even trying to sneak the camera out to catch a good smile:



Hanging out with Daddy last week:


Papa taking a few videos while hanging out with Brennan last week:






Playing with Daddy after he got home from work and getting distracted by the camera:



Some more playing with Papa on Papa's last few days of leave (I'm sure we'll have more videos of Daddy when he's home with Brennan!)








This past weekend, Aunt Amy came to visit. Amy brought Brennan a new toy, which he loves:


On Saturday afternoon, we went to a park in Arlington that overlooks the burbs & the city. It has a great playground too that Brennan can't wait to play on with his cousins.






The view from overlook park





Chillin back at home:

Rolling Over & Other Stuff

Brennan rolled over from tummy to back for the first time this weekend. He had done this on mattresses before, but this was the first time on a harder surface. Of course, after he did it once and we got out the camera, Brennan denied our first attempt at getting this achievement on video:




We tried again, this time with success:




After that, it was easy:




But all this work had a minor side effect:




A few pictures to post too. Brennan has been smiling like crazy lately, but every time we bring out (or even reach for) the camera, he drops the smile. Here's my best attempt at capturing the smile yesterday:


Here's Brennan sitting on Papa's lap at dinner. He likes to sit with us at the table and watch us eat. We're going to set up the high chair soon.


I had a little better success at capturing some smiles today:



Hanging out watching hockey with Papa:


Hanging out on the floor: