Thursday: We had our most successful outing to the new moms meet-up yet and I suspect this was because it was held indoors, in a dark bar instead of outside, in the bright, wide open park, a dark bar being more like home. Well, the dark park.
We arrived with only about 45 minutes left and Alden was fast asleep in his Ergo. I was afraid to take him out, lest the yelling commence. He eventually woke up and successfully nursed a bit, while still in the Ergo (a first!) and so I decided when he was finished to take him out and hope he'd stay calm for at least a few minutes. He did! Not only that, but he gave me a big silly grin, which I am excited to report was witnessed by our new pal J (whose birthday and whose son's birthday are the same as Alden's!), proving that he is not always the crank he appears to be in public. Hooray!
Friday: Spent the day napping and being fussy. In the evening, J and her little W man met up with us for the train ride over to MOMA to meet up with Papa. The museum is free on Friday evenings and we'd been wanting to see the James Ensor show for a while. I was worried pretty much all day about this outing, as the train ride would be about 45 minutes and then the museum would surely be crowded and I was certain that it would be far too much for our little man. But! He slept the whole way over and was completely calm as we walked around the show. I took him out of the Moby wrap and held him facing outwards, so that he could check out the people and the paintings. Alden received several gushing compliments (we noticed later that his outfit was very Ensor-like) and seemed to enjoy taking everything in, particularly a small painting entitled, Red and White Clowns Evolving.
Saturday: Alden's first concert! Ian and I took him to Williamsburg to see Damon and Naomi play an in-store show at Soundfix. He slept in the Moby on the way over and even allowed us to eat lunch at Wild Ginger beforehand. The show, though quiet, woke him up and I had to take him outside for a song or two, but otherwise he was very agreeable and definitely didn't dislike what he heard. Naturally, we decided to push our luck and walked over to the park. We drank iced tea and ate chips and let Alden out of the Moby for a little vitamin D. Normally he isn't fond of the outdoors, but he held it together long enough for our snack. The walk back to the train was filled with wailing.
Since he's finally settled into a somewhat regular schedule, I was worried that all of our irregular outings would upset his delicate sensibilities and ruin the night time sleeping, but luckily that doesn't seem to have happened. He was however, VERY fussy today. If he wasn't actively nursing or napping (the longest of which was half an hour) he was whining or wailing his WAH-OWWWWWW, WAH-OWWWWW, WAH-OWWW OWWW OWWW! It's hard to say what, exactly is wrong with him when he does this, but I think that this particular, melt-down style crying stems from over-tiredness. Over-tiredness also leads to hungriness, as he refuses to nurse when he's cranky. Once it gets to that point, we just have to rock him while he wails and gets it all out, then he gets tired of wailing and I trick him into nursing, as he's half asleep. Then he passes out. It's a very draining process for all involved and I wish there was a way to prevent it that didn't involve staying inside all day every day.
In any case, he's sleeping now, which is good, as it indicates that he's maybe back on schedule. Tomorrow we go to see the pediatrician. I'm trying to keep a level head about this. Though nothing of the sort was mentioned at the last visit, the two-month checkup typically involves round one of the vaccinations. Eeep. We've decided to follow Dr. Sears' delayed vaxing schedule, just so he's not pumped full of so many at one time. We are by no means anti-vaccination people, but I do understand (and feel) the concerns about side effects. Not the autism thing, so much. The proven side effects are enough to worry me. Even those that are "not harmful," like intense crying for hours. Oy. Wish us luck.
*Please note, I am most certainly wearing pants in that first photograph! They just happen to be particularly short pants.
wouldn't it be fun to bring leon and alden together for a fussy meltdown party? although my particular cross to bear is that he is the life of the party when outside, so no one believes me when i say that he is extremely cranky at home.
ReplyDeleteit's great that you're taking him out so much. we had to stop doing that once leon decided he needed to go to bed at 6pm. good thing the days are getting shorter, soon we'll all be going to bed at 4.
we're following the sears schedule now. after two rounds of the regular schedule (with fever and fussing) and one split visit (no issues), i'm hoping that splitting shots is better for him.
sounds like alden is overtired, just like leon. today wasn't a good day, he had one mini nap and one real (1.5 hr) nap, so he had a meltdown mid-dinner rice cereal and was nursed to bed without a bath. he's been waking every hour or so. wish us luck, we'll do the same for you!
oh, and for the shots, i found that nursing right after really helped soothe leon. he didn't mind the shots as much as the aftermath. i hope splitting works for alden.
Have you done any sewing for your little bun? I'd love to see.
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