Sleep

"My parents were not the type of people who went to bed at a regular hour. Sleep overtook them, but neither the time nor the idea of a mattress seemed very important. My father favored a chair in the basement, but my mother was apt to lie down anywhere, waking with carpet burns on her face or the pattern of the sofa embossed into the soft flesh of her upper arms. It was sort of embarrassing. She might sleep for eight hours a day, but they were never consecutive hours and they involved no separate outfit. For Christmas we would give her nightgowns, hoping she might take the hint. "They're for bedtime," we'd say, and she'd look at us strangely as if, like the moment of one's death, the occasion of sleep was too incalculable to involve any real preparation. The upside to being raised by what were essentially a pair of house cats was that we never had any enforced bedtime..." - intro to Full House by David Sedaris, from the book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

A pair of house cats. That's what Jon and I were before we had Dex.

Like any good developer, Jon can function for extended hours without sleep. But, after that project has shipped or after that list of bugs, fixed, celebrations usually involved alcohol and consequently, a long sleep, whether in bed or his recliner in the basement. I think he told me once that he slept for 12 hours straight. Now that's sleeping in!

I have a slightly different relationship with sleep. Not too many extremes like Jon, but I had my own quirks. I am, or was, by nature a night person. I got a whole lot of things done at night -- thinking, writing, whatever. As a rule, I never scheduled anything between 2 and 3 pm because that is absolutely the lowest point of my energy level. During university, I scheduled no classes then and when I started work, I avoided meetings during that time, primarily to save myself the embarrassment of nodding off and drooling in front of my colleagues. If I needed to be awake, caffeine was my best friend indeed.

But -- unlike David Sedaris' mom -- when I did sleep, I absolutely loved my bed! Great sheets (cotton in the spring/summer, flannel in the fall/winter) and an open window for a nice cool breeze whatever the season, were all I needed for a beautiful sleep. At least six hours a night and I was a happy, functioning person the next day.

That was then. This is now. If I count my pregnancy days, I don't think I've slept well for over two years. At first because of the discomfort of the bulging belly, and later...well, scroll past previous blog entries for other reasons.

Last night, I had four glorious, unbroken hours of sleep! The baby monitor was on but I slept through every fart, rustle, whimper and gurgle that Dex made during the night. I felt slightly guilty about it (what if anything happened to Dex during the night!!), but I guess my body really needed the rest. I never, ever thought I would find four hours of sleep as a luxury.

16 months

Our little toddler is growing really fast. With the kitchen renos not quite done and our house in a bit of disarray, I've been very bad at blogging. Lots of things to say, but for now here are the highlights of the last two months:

- officially walking!!
- first and second walking-related bruise to the face
- first haircut
- trip to Nova Scotia to visit Nana and Grandpa
- another plane ride
- another train ride
- delighted in the babbling brook at Nana and Grandpa's backyard
- ambulance ride (long story -- the subject of another post)
- graduated to his second car seat so he now rides facing forward
- can sign fish
- can roar
- sings to the Old MacDonald chorus (ee-i-ee-i-oooh)
- knows his body parts really well: ears, nose, mouth, tongue, tummy/belly, hair, toes, etc.
- knows his teddy bears by name
- started using his spoon to self-feed again
- started using his left hand to feed (he was favouring his right for a time)
- now working on teeth number 13 and 14
- can brush his teeth (sometimes)
- follows instructions like "please hand me your shoes" really well
- can clap (a little late with this skill, but he just was not interested in it, unlike his buddy Nathan who was clapping at month six or something)
- now wears size 18-month clothes
- loves his wooden blocks
- loves the swing, slide, teeter totter and sandbox in the playground
- ingested sand, grass and possibly a small pebble for the first time

Dex is really enjoying daycare and it is amazing how much he is learning. We're very fortunate to have him placed in such a great place -- and only a short walk from our house. Some daycare highlights:
- It took a couple of weeks, but Dex is now napping in his own crib.
- shorter bout of tears during goodbye at daycare
- can now blow kisses
- first and second bout of ear infection.

Overall, he is turning out to be a happy, bright, social, loving boy. Since he can wink and blow kisses on command now, he is also proving to be quite the charmer. His comprehension is excellent (as noted above, he follows instructions really well), but he does not seem to be very motivated to speak. And that weaning thing...he does not seem to be very interested in that either.

Sweet skill

Dexter's new sweet skill -- walking -- is a delight to watch. His confidence is really improving. Today, when I went to pick him up from daycare, he actually walked to me! It was absolutely amazing. A week ago, he would have dropped to his knees and komodo-dragon-ed his way to me. Now he actually prefers to walk.

Blue suede shoes

The all-leather Robeez shoes were no longer good enough for feet support as he was cruising. Besides, when Dex started daycare, we needed to get him a pair of rubber-soled indoor shoes so we got him these cute and ever-so-perfect-for-physics-profs-if-it-came-in-adult-sizes blue suede sandals.

There was a rumour from his daycare teachers that he was walking, but he did not show much evidence of it in our presence. Suddenly, last Friday night, he decided it was time to demonstrate his new skill. He walked all over the house. From toy station to toy station. From the kitchen to the living room. From the bedroom to the hallway. He was ever so proud of himself. I cried when I saw him take his first six or seven consecutive steps. My baby is growing up.

He hasn't stopped walking since.

AAAAAARGGGHH

Sorry, that's just me venting. We are now into week five of our "two to three week" kitchen renovation. Still no cabinets. Still no sink. Dishwasher still not hooked up. I can probably live without either sink or dishwasher, but not without both.

"Soon," I was told. The cabinets are coming soon. Once the cabinets are installed, they can hook up the dishwasher.

In the meantime, our little family lives in a one-bedroom apartment. Dex has the best set-up: he got the bedroom. Jon and I are in the living room with a mattress on the floor, living like university students. Correction: apparently, Jon lived better than this during university.

No internet connection in the apartment so my access to this blog is limited. Soon, I hope.