Growth Spurt?

We went through a slight rough patch last week. I’m hoping it was a growth spurt, but I guess we’ll never know. It started Saturday night with him waking up periodically during the night (keep in mind he’s been sleeping through the night since he was six weeks old!). On Sunday, he barely napped all day and the longest I could get him to sleep was for about an hour and even then he would only sleep if he was lying right on my chest. He did the same thing Sunday night, just waking up constantly. Well of course Justin left Monday morning and wasn’t returning until Thursday night. So far the summer hasn’t been that bad without him here….until this week. He woke up a lot on Monday night too. We thought that maybe his tummy was bothering him (since he had just started solids) or that his legs were hurting him where he had gotten his shots (he still had these big knots in his thighs where they stuck him). So I know the little guy just wasn’t feeling good, I just couldn’t figure out why – tummy, legs, a little bit of both..?

I had hoped that Tuesday night would be a little better, but it definitely was not. The little monster woke up at midnight and I put the paci back in. He woke up at 2am, I put the paci in. He woke up at 2:20am and this time when I went in there, his eyes were wide open like he was wide awake. Putting the paci in this time did not do a thing. I would try to rock him back to sleep and as soon as I would lay him down again, he would wake back up fussing. I gave him some Tylenol, but that did nothing. Finally, I decided maybe he could be hungry. He had finished all of his bottles at school that day (something he rarely does) and he had eaten all of his solid food and rice cereal that night, but he only ate about 1oz from his bottle. So even though he hasn’t eaten during the night in 5 months, I made a bottle anyways. He sucked down 3oz so fast, I couldn’t believe it! As soon as he drained the bottle, he cried for more. So I made another 3oz and he had fallen asleep by the time he ate about half of that. I put him back down and low and behold, he woke back up. I let him cry a few minutes thinking he would cry himself to sleep, but then I realized the longer he cried, the longer he and I were BOTH awake. So I went in, picked him up and rocked him back to sleep for about 10 minutes until I knew he was good and asleep. I finally got him back down and went back to bed myself around 4:15am. By the time I got up at 6am, showered and got ready, he was still asleep! He didn’t wake up until 6:45am and then ate another 5oz then! I thought at this point that it was surely a growth spurt.

I had no clue what would be in store for myself on Wednesday night, and was just hoping and praying I wouldn’t lose another 2 ½ hours of sleep during the night again. It’s hard to be up like that during the night when it’s been months since you had to do it! You forget how much it sucks until you are doing it again!! So Wednesday, he ate all his bananas, all his rice cereal and 5oz from his bedtime bottle. We got all the way to 5am (not counting the few times of putting the paci back in during the night) before he woke up and would not go back to sleep. So I made a bottle and fed him at 5am and had him back in bed asleep by 5:30 – you know, 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off!! So I re-set my alarm for 6:30 and by 7:15 that little dude was still asleep. I woke him up just in time to get him dressed and loaded in his car seat. I didn’t figure there was any point in feeding him since he had eaten just two hours before that.

Thankfully, Justin came home on Thursday so I was able to get in bed a little earlier and knew I would have a tag team partner if we had a middle of the night feeding session again. But of course when I’m not alone, he sleeps all night. It’s like he knows – “Oh Mommy’s home alone, I’m gonna wreak havoc on her!!” Hmm..something I guess I’ll have to get used to.

This week we still haven't quite been back to normal, but we have now added stomach issues to the plate. On top of that, the little guy just won't eat his bottles. Luckily he'll eat his food but I worry that he's not taking much from his bottles. He is not waking during the night to eat but now he wakes up between 5am and 6am rather than 6am or later! That has definitely been an adjustment. Hopefully this phase will pass soon and we can get back to our regular routine!

Here are some recent pics I wanted to share! Not sure if this thing has any readers out there but if so, hope you enjoy!

This is quite possibly my most favorite picture of Austin ever!!Austin and Daddy playing and being sillyNow he wants to sit up in his swing and use the bar to swing himself!I found him completely sideways in his crib one night and he had the cutest look on his face when I found him...I couldn't resist the picture :)A few minutes after we put him down each night, he usually turns himself sideways or completely upside down. Justin has seen him upside down a few times, but this was the first time I saw it and again, I couldn't resist the picture! His feet are where his head should be!