Into The Woods

My 10 year reunion went great last night!  There weren't a ton of people there but it was fun to catch up with the people who did show up.

Ayden did okay for my mom.  He did wake up about an hour after we left, as per usual, and got pretty upset when he saw her instead of us.  She said he cried for a while and was looking all around but eventually gave in and went back to sleep.  That was the only time he woke up for her so that wasn't too bad.  She hung out and watched movies and told us we could have stayed out even later if we had wanted.  I pumped as soon as I got home, I don't think the girls could have lasted much longer!

The past couple of nights have been really rough sleep wise. I don't think I've ever been more happy about our choice to bed share. I cannot even imagine actually getting out of bed as many times as Ayden woke up. The thing is, he doesn't fully wake. It seems as though he's having nightmares. Every hour or so he'll start screaming and rolling around. He seems comforted by our touch and will resettle quickly but man it makes for a rough night. He finally settled enough around 6am to get us all about 2 consecutive hours of sleep which made a world of difference. We keep reminding ourselves that according to The Wonder Weeks, one of the side effects of Ayden's current leap can be nightmares so we are keeping our fingers crossed that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  We are half way through this "stormy" period...  He has also seemed to have a bit of a runny nose the past couple of days.  It's clear and not terrible but it could be bothering him at night.  David even suggested allergies?  I don't suffer from seasonal allergies but David always did so perhaps he takes after him?

After Ayden woke up from his morning nap (about 45 minutes in his crib) we got ready for a family practice hike.

One of the outfits from my consignment haul.
He looks like such a big boy!

We plan to go for a bigger hike in a gorge next weekend and David wanted to test out the framed backpack that we have for Ayden.

It went great!  Ayden was almost silent for the first half of the hike, just taking it all in.  Then he started babbling and enjoyed looking at and touching things as we passed by.  He eventually fell asleep but the carrier doesn't really have a great place for him to lay his head so it was bobbling around until he finally gave in and rested his cheek on his hand.

When we got back to the car and David took the pack off, Ayden was still asleep and it looked so funny!

Here are a couple of other pictures from the hike:

HUGE tree

Sneaky David...

The rest of the day was AMAZING for Ayden.  That nap wasn't long but he fell asleep peacefully, slept well and woke up extremely content and stayed that way until he went to bed.  David had plans to go hunting so it was just Ayden and myself for the evening.  He played so well in the kitchen while I cooked dinner:

Ayden actually consumes most of his foods now!
Here is the recipe for the cacao nib pork chops with butternut squash and spinach.

Then, in an effort to help Ayden sleep better, I started our evening routine a little earlier.  We went for our walk:

Cute hand-me-down jacket from NY cousins!
Maybe a bit girly, though?

Then he had a bath and was asleep by 7:30.  I think I'll keep trying to move it earlier until he's getting to bed by 7.  Right now it is only 9:24 and he's already woken up twice [[sigh]] so we shall see...

Now I'm going to put away laundry and clean up the kitchen from dinner while I wait for David to get home. Fun, fun!

~Sarah