Introducing the Elusive N.A.P.

Eliot is, so far, not a good napper. He has had three naps that have lasted longer than 30 mins. One of them was when Amy was here; one was when my Dad and Stepmom were here; and one is today. Right now! He fell asleep in the stroller around 12:15, and when we returned around 12:45, he was still asleep. I left him in the stroller, still all bundled up, and he has been asleep now for three hours. Crazy!

At night, he usually sleeps pretty well. We have been using an Amby baby hammock, which is great. It bounces up and down, or swings front to back, or side to side. And the hammock is nice because it kind of cradles him and, I think, makes him feel snug and more secure. And I know from experience that he likes the feeling of being suspended; I'm guessing it feels a little like being in the womb. I don't know. But, I would say about 75 percent of the time, Brady puts him down for bed between 9 and 11, he wakes up around 3 or 4 to nurse, and then goes down again until 8 or 9 am. That second stretch of sleep does not always occur in his cradle -- sometimes it's next to me because after I put him down after the middle-of-the-night nursing, he often wakes up and then when I bring him into bed, he sleeps better. But that's alright. I like it. I like having times when I'm not sleeping with him also, because when he's in bed with us, my neck gets kinked in the position we sleep in to ensure pillows and blankets don't cover him, and that he is close enough to me to feel my presence and not wake up. I'm not sure why it is that he can get to sleep and stay asleep easily at night, while during daytime naps he almost always wakes after 20-30 minutes, like clockwork. I guess it has to do with his circadian rhythms. But I would rather have him be a good nighttime sleeper than a good daytime napper. Hopefully, some day, he will be both.

In other news... Eliot is laughing and smiling a lot now. It is really fun. Also, his gas has gotten better. He still has it, but it's not as painful.