The Wonder Weeks

So I know I already wrote a happy shining family post today, but I am seizing this rare evening opportunity to tell you about my rather intense day with Rory.

So in Rory's defense off the top, I will share that me sleeping for only a few hours (read - maybe 2 at the most) last night was not his fault. I haven't slept well in two or three weeks. Murphy's Law - My child starts sleeping through the night and I develop some weird sort of mommy-insomnia. Perfect.

So yes, it's not Rory's fault, but it is directly influencing my ability to cope with a very cranky baby (so relevant to this post).   Last night Rory went to bed at 7pm, got up at 330am for 20 minutes and went back down until 630am. This little boy has become a dream sleeper. Apparently I was a really good sleeper when I was Rory's age, so we seem to be winning the sleep battle.  What we're currently trailing in, is daytime playtime. I am not sure what has happened in the last week or two but Rory will not let me out of his sight!  If I put him down to play, he either screams immediately, or he cries within 5 minutes. It's exhausting. Here's the thing... Before this last little while, Rory hardly ever cried hard. If he cries at all, it's always for a reason and Peter and I have it down to a few minutes to settling him. I know. I know. My dad has already told me that I deserved a MUCH more difficult baby.  Peter's amiable personality clearly won the DNA battle in this case. Thank God.

So back to the crankiness. What does a mom do?  I sang, I danced, I rocked, I rolled, I bathed, I fed. And tears. Lots of tears.  Aside from cracking a beer once Rory was in bed, I really was beside myself with answers as to what the change has been?

So I started google-ing.  Honestly, how did people parent before the internet?
 
So here is what I found.  The Wonder Weeks.  Eight predictable, age-linked leaps in a baby's mental development. And apparently we're right in the middle of a biggie.BINGO.

Here is the publisher's description:"The Wonder Weeks. How to stimulate your baby's mental development and help him turn his 8 predictable, great, fussy phases into magical leaps forward" described in easy-to-understand terms the incredible developmental changes that all babies go through during the first 60 weeks of their lives.

The book is based on the discovery of a little known phenomenon: all normal, healthy babies appear to be more tearful, troublesome, demanding and clingy at very nearly the same ages.

These age-related fluctuations in need for body contact and attention are related to major and quite dramatic changes in the brains of the children. These changes enable a baby to enter a whole new perceptual world and, as a consequence, to learn many new skills. This should be a reason for celebration, but as far as the baby is concerned these changes are bewildering. He's taken aback-everything has changed overnight. It is as if he has woken up on a strange planet"


Again, what did mothers do before the internet? So, the 4 month mark appears to be a big one in many development areas, not to mention more needles on Thursday of this week. So... the plan is just for Rory and I to continue to hug it out over the next couple of weeks and hope his daytime fussy periods come to the same dramatic conclusion as they began.

Until then, I am amazons new favourite customer.

Bed.Time.