On Monday, Jan. 9, Wendy went back to work full time. Isaac had his first day at Toddler Town, a  home-based day care center in family housing. The care giver is named Lisa. We were a little nervous leading up to the first day. Lisa was the first and only person we really interviewed and we never were able to reach her references. Our gut instinct was that we liked her and she was willing to hold an infant spot open for Isaac (home day cares can only have 2 infants at a time) from June when we interviewed until now. All our fears were unfounded. Lisa is fabulous!! Isaac loves her and loves being around all the commotion of the other kids. The first day, Wendy came at lunch time to nurse and found Isaac sitting in a bouncy seat, contentedly watching the other little boys. We've not been able to get him to sit in his bouncy seat without crying for weeks! Last week, Isaac cried when Wendy loaded him in the infant carrier. Mason, one of the other boys, came over and looked down at Isaac. "Baby," he said. Isaac instantly quieted and sat watching Mason.

Isaac is much fussier in the evenings than previously. This, we understand, is normal. It is, however, no less frustrating. Isaac simply seems to be bored. For awhile his swing was enough stimulation to quiet him while we cooked dinner. Then, we attached some black and white symbols Wendy painted to the sides of the swing. These captured his attention for awhile. Last week, Wendy bought him a play-mat ($70 new, $6 at the used toy store)  that has all sorts of toys hanging over it to play with, squeaks and music in the mat to kick on, and a mirror to look into. Isaac only enjoys playing with this if we are sitting next to him. This is great for interaction, but not so great for getting dinner made in the evenings! 

About 6 weeks

Isaac at 10 weeks

Isaac at 8 weeks old.

When Isaac was about 7 weeks old, we decided to move him into his own room. We hoped that he would fuss less if he didn't know we were right next to him. It sounds logical, right? This is his first night in his own room. He looks so small in that huge bed! Well, it sort of worked. We are both really sound sleepers, so Isaac has to really want something to wake us up over the monitor. Consequently, night time feedings decreased. Unfortunately, Isaac still wouldn't go to bed until 2a.m. Once asleep, he only woke up about every 3 hours to eat. Staying up with him until 2, however, became a grueling trial. He screamed unless he was nursing:

Rocking and stories helped sooth Isaac, but are not what he really wants.

Isaac is a boob man. He will not take a pacifier and only takes a bottle when really hungry.

Sad.

Happy. (Check our his shoes. They are Brazilian and say "Pimpolho" on the bottom. This means little baby in Portugese, but we call them his "Pimpin shoes".)

The second consequence is that Isaac is ready for bed in the evenings. The kids keep him awake most of the day. By the end of the second week at the sitter's, Isaac was going to bed at 11pm with no complaints and sleeping 5 hours (a full night for an infant) before his next feeding. The first two days back to work, Wendy was so exhausted that we had to switch our soft mattress out for a firm one that would be safe for Isaac to sleep on. We put him in bed with us so we could get some sleep. Wendy tried putting him in his own crib first every night, though. Finally, after 3 nights with us, he started sleeping in his own crib. Yeah! We'll cross our fingers that this isn't just a passing fancy.

Return to Baby Isaac page.