Phew!

So much has happened this week! After a super week last week with Aunt Julie, Nate started part time at daycare this week. He did mornings at daycare and afternoons with Mimi, which worked out wonderfully for everyone. What did NOT work out wonderfully was the stomach bug he caught. That's right, less than a week at daycare, and he's already picking up everyone's germs. In all fairness, when I came in on Thursday, half the kids were gone. This thing spread like wildfire through the infants and mobile infants rooms.

Apparently, the only symptom of this illness is vomiting. I can confirm this is true. While Nate had a small cold a few weeks ago, this is really the first time that I feel he has been truly sick, and it breaks my heart. He's just having so much trouble keeping anything down. And since I usually feed him in bed, let's just say we did a lot of laundry today. But he seems to be getting better as the day/night goes on.

Despite potentially biting off more than we can chew, we also decided to deswaddle him cold turkey this weekend. He has been getting more and more frustrated at being swaddled each and every day. Why is that, you ask? Because of this:

That's right. The child is on the cusp of really and truly sucking his thumb. He got it once just long enough for me to snap that pic, and I haven't seen it for more than a suck or two since then. But Lord, does he try. And when he can't try and wants to, he is pissed. We figure the more he has access to his hands, the faster he'll get it and can soothe himself. Plus, where he used to give us a 5-6 hour stretch at the beginning of the night, we're now lucky if he goes 4 hours. I think he partially wakes, realizes he's swaddled, and wakes up fully trying to get out of it.

And get out he does. This little Houdini breaks out of his swaddles 2-3 times per night. Whether it be the Miracle Blanket (aka "baby straightjacket") or the double swaddle, this kid can't be confined. I'm not so pleased to walk in and see him surrounded by several feet of loose fabric in his crib each night.

See those happy babies in the videos who are so content getting swaddled? Yeah, that was never my kid. But we always thought he slept better when swaddled, so we stuck with it. Well, no longer. They say your child will tell you when he's ready to get rid of the swaddle. Well, I ain't deaf, Natey. I hear you loud and clear.

How's it going you ask? Well, we're 2 hours and 15 minutes into Night One. He is clearly ready to start this weekend, but we were hesitant after he became ill. But we also decided that he'll probably be up every couple of hours to get a little bit of food at a time tonight anyway, since his stomach is still a little upset. So why not blow through it? I guess we'll see how it goes...