Our Sleeping Babe!

I remember thinking when Declan was 1 & 2 months old "Will this child ever sleep in the day?" He slept well at night! He would be up for long periods of time in the day with no sleep. I really was hoping for some breaks in the day. However, now, and for the last while he has been having some nice naps!! They aren't 100% predictable, but maybe more like 85%. He'll sleep all night from like 7:30 until about 8 the next morning. Then he'll nap at 9am until about 10:30. Then he'll nap from about 12:30 until 3 or 3:30. Then he'll nap from about 4:30 until 5:30. Then he'll go to sleep at about 7:30. And the cycle continues. Now just in the last couple of weeks I have begun dropping that last nap and getting him to bed more like 7. Believe it or not, he'll still sleep until 8ish. Of course, it isn't always as perfect as it sounds. During the holidays he was sick. He'd wake up in the middle of the night and want his soother. He'd also be unpredictable in the time he'd wake up. Also, we found out he was cold, so he sleeps in his little sleeping bag. It has helped so much!!

Declan's sleeping habits gives me a lot of extra time on my hands. Sometimes I use it wisely and other days I waste it away! I couldn't possibly find enough to do to keep me busy all day long. I've been trying to have some sort of schedule through the week, or do at least 2 extra things a day. I haven't been doing this stuff for the last month or so though. I feel like I am floating along. I am also kind of dreading when our maternity payments stop. Getting a full year is wonderful!! However, I am really going to miss just being home with our little gaffer! I am starting to try and line up some babysitters for Declan. I will probably have to work 2-3 days a week to have enough income. Some weeks it may be 4 days, and other weeks it may be 1 day. It can really vary. I am nervous about the whole transition!

Well, I better get off and actually accomplish something today! As soon as Declan wakes up we go for a walk. I need to get some stuff done before that.

Here is Declan in the bathtub on January 12th:

I am done the overview! Now on to the day by day stuff!

This past weekend was so relaxing. We had nothing going on. We didn't have to go to anyone's house and drag Declan out of the house, into his car seat, out of his car seat, and into bed here at our house. During the past two months we had to do that repeatedly. We did it so often that Declan would wake up on his own between 10 and 12 each evening, waiting for us to come get him. I really enjoyed all the excitement and visiting, however it is nice to have things settle down for a little while again.

Declan was given a sleeping bag sleeper to put over top of his regular pajamas from his Grandma Rutledge. We were mentioning that we think Declan was waking up in the night and getting up early because he would kick off his blankets and get too cold. She offered to make him a sleeping bag sleeper. It has worked wonders!!! He has slept well for over a week now (back to his usual self . . . before it got really cold).

Gary and I really enjoyed just watching and playing with our little guy. All day Saturday we kept the T.V. off. I read a really good book about giving the best start to your child. Gary played some gameboy. We took turns getting on the floor with Declan and really playing and interacting with him. He really loves to stand!! He is starting to pull himself up. In his bedroom he opens the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulls himself up to a standing position. He's done this at least three times. In the living room he will stand and stand as he plays at the leap frog table. He also loves standing at our Ikea chair. I put toys on it and he'll just play away. He tries to pick up toys he drops on the ground. We loved just watching him try to problem solve and figure out how he will maneuver his body to pick it up. So cute!

In later posts I am going to share some of the things I am learning from the book that I have been reading. Basically, the overview is that the most important things for babies under two are: Attention, Bonding and Communication with your baby. The author explains in detail (using scientific studies and explanations using the brain) why these three things are crucial. This book has made me more alert to why I am doing the things I am doing (e.g. playing peek a boo, smiling when he smiles at me etc.).

Declan is enjoying a nice snooze this morning (like usual). Things are really nice right now! The house is mostly tidy and clean. This is going to be a really nice and relaxing day. I want to spend lots of time talking and interacting with Declan today. I have been a little bit concerned with Declan's speech. I know how crucial it is to talk talk talk to him all the time. It is not natural for me to do this. I am really trying to be more conscience about this. He is only 8.5 months old, but he isn't really babbling too much. He makes lots of sounds, but not really babbling with consonants. I am not worried, just be aware, so that I can help him by remembering to talk talk talk. The amount of words a baby hears per day tremendously affects how well a child will communicate and read. Since Gary has a learning disability (has a hard time reading), I want to do all I can to help Declan over come this possibility.

Well, enough for now! I am off to get myself ready for the day, and then when Declan gets up we are going to enjoy a beautiful walk outside!!

I am done the overview!

More Pictures of Declan Through the months

Five Months:



Six Months:



Seven Months:



Eight Months:

More Pictures of Declan through the months

Newborn:



One Month:



Two Months:



Three Months:



Four Months:

Into the Winter

I find that Declan goes through phases where not much happens and then he goes through phases where he learns one new thing after the next. The same goes with his clothes. He grew out of the the clothes from 0 - 12 months sooooo quickly. I've had him in 12 months clothes for quite a while because I'd rather put on clothes that are loose and baggy and get some good wear out of them, then to wait until they fit and then only where them for a short time. I love to shop at value village for Declan and I've picked up quite a few pair of overalls. I love when he wears overall because they fit well with his cloth diapers. I had him in the overalls he still wears now, back in September. That's a good 4 - 5 months in the same pairs . . . and they should still last for a few more months.

Pictures of Declan with his overall on:




Declan has been teething since he was 3 months old. At his 3 month check up the doctor said he was teething. Well, I'll tell ya, those teeth must have went up and down about 5 times. Finally at 8 months the one has poked through (his left tooth ...when looking at him, it is the right tooth). I think today his other one is trying to get through . . . though I've said that many times. Declan's teething doesn't affect his night sleeps at all. It mostly just makes him cry spontaneously here and there and very unexpected. Since Declan is a very easy child to figure out and I have trained him to be on a schedule, when he cries at odd times, I always assume something is wrong. We've now been trained by Declan to get out his teething toy from the freezer when he cries in a weird way or at a weird time. More often than not, the teething toy helps him out! I haven't got a picture of his teeth or the teether yet. I'll remember to do that soon.

People say that when kids get to be about 8 months they start to have stranger anxiety. Declan had a bad boust of that during the Christmas Holidays. I did learn though, that mostly the problem was that Declan was feeling quite sick for a couple of weeks there. He sure was momma's little boy. He has been back to his normal self again (for the most part). Today I brought him to the church nursery while I was at a bible study and he cried in the middle of it for about 5 min. they thought. I realized at home that the problem was that he was teething. A spontaneous cry. They wouldn't know that though.


Declan has been in a good routine for sleeping for quite a while though. He doesn't have a perfect routing where I know exactly when he will get up. For instance. Normally he gets up about 7, but then he might sleep in until 8. Then he'll have a morning nap starting about 8:30 or 9 and sleep until 10 - 11. Then he'll sleep from about 12:30 or 1, until 3 or 3:30. Just lately he is dropping his evening nap which is normally about 4:30 until 5:30. I'm kind of glad he is dropping it, because he didn't really give us much time to do errands with him. He would sleep till 5:30 and then be in bed by 7:30. If we wanted to eat out without a grumpy child, we would really have to do some good planning. Now we have from 4ish until 7 ish to do stuff out of the house with him. Here is Declan sleeping:



We find that a big adjustment has been the carry carseat to the one that stays in the car. He reached 19lbs in the late fall so we bought the new car seat (which I love). We were anxious to put him in the new car seat because we thought it would be fun. We were having major issues trying to fit him in the carry carseat with his snowsuit on. We didn't want to buy one of those bags that covers the baby cause he was so close to the 22 lbs needed to be out of the carry thing. He was growing at such a fast rate (at least a couple of pounds each month). Now the funny thing is that I went to the appointment at the beginning of January and Declan was at the lower end of 19lbs! So....he could have been in the carry car seat that whole time, and still now! He lost a bit of weight over the Christmas holidays. I think it was because he was feeling sick and he wasn't eating much food and throwing up his bottle sometimes. My point is that he could have still been in the carry seat and it would have been worth buying one of those bags to cover him. Oh well. He really doesnt' like being in it though. He would have dealt with it, but he would slither out the minute he was untied. Here is Declan in the carry car seat:

Still updating on the missed months (3- 8 months)

I need to continue updating the months I missed recording about Declan. I looked everywhere for his baby book and have yet to find it. I want to start writing about his current doings, so I need to get this done.

We moved on the labour day weekend. We moved from a little three bedroom house that we fixed up to make more comfortable to live in, to a little bigger house. The new house also has three bedrooms. However the neighbourhood and yard is much nicer. This one is brick, the other was siding. This one has a basement and a sunroom, the other one didn't. I liked my old kitchen more though. The one we have now is dark and smaller. It feels rather gloomy. Right now I am trying to figure out cheap ways to make it more homey. These are pictures of our old house and new house.






Here are a few pictures of Declan outside at our new place:




I had mentioned that we went on several little trips in the summer with Declan. We also took a trip up to Ottawa to visit Lisa and Chris and their new little baby Elisabeth. Elisabeth was born 3 months after Declan. On the way home from the Shipleys we stopped close to New Market at this pumpkin stand. We decided to take a few pics of Declan:

Declan going on trips

We really loved taking Declan places. He would ride in his car seat and sleep anywhere. We took a trip to the Nascar races to see Gary's dad drive around the track. We went to Orillia to visit my sister. We went to the Toronto Zoo. He was an easy baby to take a long. We just had to slow down and leave time to feed him. Here are pictures of Declan on some summer outings.

































He was a very good eater from the start. He ate 4 oz off the bat. The nurses said that usually they would eat about 2, maybe 3 oz. He was up to a full 9 oz bottle pretty early. I would see other kids the same age, still drinking from the little Avent bottles. I am wanting to get the records from the doctor at his one year visit. She has everything recorded. I was so bad at recording everything. We moved when Declan was 3 months old and haven't had his book since. I have been looking for it. This sense of guilt is starting to get at me and that is why I am trying to get updated on Declan's doings. Once I get updated, then I can start recording his daily doings. Here are some pictures of Declan on some of his summer outings.

The first several weeks

After the first couple of weeks with Declan home, things turned into an enjoyable experience. Declan put himself on a four hour schedule (with a little help from me). He would be quite good at waking up just at the right time to be fed. He would often be fed at 7, 11,3, 7, 11, and then gradually his breaks between feedings at night got longer. By 5 weeks he slept all night for the first time (all night meaning 11 o'clock until 6 in the morning). That happened once, and then it started happening here an there. By three months he was consistently sleeping the night. By three and a half months he started sleeping from 8 until 7. Now (at 8 months) he is sleeping from 7:30 until 7:30. It has been such a blessing! Sometimes he sleeps in even longer.

Here are some pictures of Declan during the first several weeks:

Declan had professional photos taken

Declan had professional photos taken when he was 9 days old. That was a difficult day for me because I was really trying to push myself to do life as normal and prove that I could handle this 'parenting thing'. Yet, I was so overwhelmingly tired from the lack of sleep and not yet catching up from those 2 nights with no sleep at all before Declan was even born. I had struggled with the issue of breastfeeding. Things didn't go over so well with that, and then I felt the pressure of people saying I wasn't trying hard enough. I think I had about 10 major issues with it (e.g. over tired, sore breasts, swollen body, severe stitches, bleeding / scabbed nipples, hemerroids and the list continues). I just didnt' have it in me to keep at it when I was in utter pain. I tried pumping and that was just as bad (I would collect a couple ounces of blood!).

When I think about our second child (when we decide we are ready), I am leaning towards forgetting about the whole breastfeeding thing, and just start with formula. Another idea I had was to assume I am bottle feeding, but try breastfeeding and see how it goes. I put too much pressure on myself and didn't really realize that once the milk comes in, it is different / better. Well, Declan has been a bottle fed baby! He uses the PC brand iron fortified, Omega 3 & 6. So hopefully it will be sufficient. He has had about 3 colds and one bout of the flu. It seems like he only gets a break for about a month and then gets sick again. People tell me that this is just normal for babies (especially since it is the winter . . . and it is going around).

Brenda Coghlin took Declan's 9 day old pictures. I brought him to her house. I remember feeling sooooo tired. I remember thinking that Declan looked cuter in real life. I find that pictures change his face a little. I don't know if this is actually true or not, but it just seems that way to me.

Declan as a newborn baby!

I missed recording much information about Declan, during his first several months. I will attempt to do this now (during his 7th month).

Declan John Rutledge was born on a warm, sunny, Sunday afternoon at 2:29pm. It was May 13th, 2007 on Mother's Day. He was a very special Mother's Day present. I must admit though, I wasn't feeling too special that day. I was probably feeling about the worst I have ever felt. Though holding my brand new little boy was such a weird experience to me. It was hard to believe that this little boy would be mine forever. He was my responsibility.

Declan was a very good newborn. This was such a blessing because it took me over two weeks to recover from this birth. It really took a toll on my body (especially compared to some of my friends . . . who I am so jealous about). When people asked me how I was doing I'd say "Well Declan is doing wonderfully, but me . . . not so much!". Declan immediately went on a 4 hour schedule. It took me longer to realize this however. The first night was difficult mostly because I couldn't get Declan out of his little bed on wheels. I would have to call a nurse everytime. Or . . . I would struggle for about 10 min. trying to reach him. I planned on breastfeeding, but I found it too difficult and because of my state (utterly exhausted and physically in pain), I battled with myself for about a week and a half, and decided I would bottle feed). Not for one minute since I made that decision have I regretted it. It has allowed for so much help from Gary and really made Declan so portable.


Declan was born 8lbs 3oz and was 19 inches long. He lost a little weight at the beginning (like usual) and then really added on the pounds. My doctor told me that he was 95th percentile weight and length.




I remember feeling fascinated by Declan's hands. He would move them around a lot and liked to place them by his face. He would have them all spanned out. Also he had really long feet and toes. He had deep blue eyes and dark brown hair (just a nice amount).

Declan only cried when he wanted something. From the beginning he communicated what he wanted. He would anxiously stick his fingers in his mouth when he was hungry. He would only do this when he was hungry. This really helped us out a lot. I really tried to read his needs, rather than just make assumptions. We put him on the schedule of sleep, eat, change, play. We quickly learned that he was an Angel/Textbook baby. Thanks to the Tracy Mogg 'The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer', I really had a pretty good idea of what to do with this newborn. Declan smiled even when he was quite young. I was convinced that he was really smiling, though others said it was just gas. It was true, however, than when he really started to smile, there was a difference in the light behind his smile.



My love for Declan grew each day. I loved him from the beginning, though it wasn't an overwhelming love like some people feel. It was a gradual love. I felt like I didn't know my son when I first held him. As I spent time with him, I got to know him and then my love grew and grew. I was so proud of everything he did. Now as he approaches 8 months, I just love him to pieces.

Declan's First 7 months - A recap!

The journey of Declan's birth can be found on the blog 'Looking Forward to Little Baby Declan'.

I would like to recap the last several months of Declan's life on this new blog.




Declan's 17 week ultrasound.