Sleep Regression Update

Well I would like to be posting that the sleep regression phase is over and everything is back to normal. The end. Unfortunately the sleep regression has became our new normal and now we've just learned to deal with getting up early and giving Wyatt strategies for how he should act when getting up so early.
He has started sleeping through the night, since Sunday, and has been waking up around 5:30am every morning. Mike has left the house by this time, so I get Wyatt and bring him to bed with me. He knows that we won't go downstairs until the alarm goes off and he has to wait. We are working on patience, big time. He also has to lay there without crying and screaming about going downstairs. Today went much better than Monday and he did a good job of being quiet and laying down. In the mornings when I'm tired and don't want to deal with this I just imagine myself as Michelle Duggar and how she talks to her kids in such a soft, sweet voice. I do that and hope that some how this has a calming effect over Wyatt and I so that I don't harm him in any way.
Another trick that we do is he has to look at the clock and tell me the numbers if he thinks it's time to get up. I'm not saying that he can tell time but he can read the digital numbers to me and then I say how many more minutes until the alarm. The number that is the hardest for him is 9. He can ace all the others just fine.
So here's to our new normal and hoping that we get to keep THIS normal for a little while longer. It's so much better than getting up in the middle of the night.

Teeth Brushing Fool

Wyatt absolutely LOVES to brush his teeth. We have our routine every morning that after breakfast we go into the bathroom and brush our teeth. He gets to sit on the counter and put his feet in the sink. Then we get out his toothpaste and he gets to hold it while I put his toothbrush under the water. Then we put a drop of toothpaste on the toothbrush and he lets me brush his teeth. When I'm done brushing his teeth he gets to brush them. He does a great job of moving the toothbrush back and forth in his mouth. Of course, he likes to suck on it but doesn't just do that. Today was by far the greatest day of toothbrushing! He turned and looked in the mirror while he was brushing and went super brushing on his teeth. He was smiling the whole time and looked like a proud little boy! I was a very proud Momma! :)

Things that make you go mmm, mmm, mmm!

Wyatt has turned 8 months old and according to my Similac feeding chart he is supposed to be eating 3-4 bottles a day that have 7-8 ounces each. Well he has decided that he doesn't need that much formula. He's been eating 3-7 oz bottles and sometimes a 4 oz bottle before bed. He has found his love for food! He eats oatmeal and half a container of fruit in the morning. In the afternoon he eats half a containter of vegetables and then in the evening he finishes the halves of fruit and vegetable that he ate earlier. He has been an eating machine and loves it very much.
He still doesn't care for adult food. We have tried giving him different bites of things and he either gags or spits it out. We just introduced the Gerber Wagon Wheels that he can chew on and he loves them. He mainly chews the heck out of it and then squishes the pieces between his hands. He is definately a texture baby and loves feeling all of the different textures in his hands. I'm hoping this summer, when he can stand on his own, we can do some pudding drawing on paper outside. I think he will love it!!
On another side note, Wyatt's new favorite place to play is the floor! He doesn't want to be in his bouncy chair, johnny jumper, or jumperoo at all. He wants to be on the floor playing and rolling. Every once in a while he will let me put him into his walker and he will play in there but for the most part he has to be on the floor and moving. No crawling yet but that's okay, we still have quite a bit of baby-proofing to do before he gets there!

Can we bring the wedge back?

I know you are reading the title thinking "What? Why would they do that? He is able to sleep without it and usually doesn't sleep on it anyways!" Well this past week Wyatt has finally learned that he can move anywhere he wants in his bed. ANYWHERE! So that means he can play instead of sleep. We don't keep toys in his bed and he has a mobile that we play sometimes but there's nothing in there that is that interesting that he should still be awake at 8:30pm or even 9pm (last night)!
I'm hoping that this is just a phase and he will be through exploring his crib before the beginning my work week; Tuesday. Because I really can't get much done when he's awake until 9pm and awake playing at 6am or sometimes 5am.
Our plan of attack is: Keep him awake as long as possible before bedtime, any nap after 5pm will only last 45 minutes MAX, and let him jump in his Johnny Jumper as long as possible before bedtime.
So we'll see how that works for us and I'll keep you posted. Fingers crossed!!

Our new evening routine

We have started getting back into our routine of eating 6oz/5 times a day. We've been coming home from Aunt Cheryl's around 5:30pm and usually at 6:15 he takes a little cat nap until around 7pm. Once he's awake we eat rice cereal and then hop into the bath tub on bath night. The other nights we play until around 8pm and then it's bottle and bed. He's sleeping really well through the night. Last weekend we were waking up every hour and drifting back to sleep for 20 minutes and then back awake. Glad to see that we are over that, for now!!