Sleeping Wizard Baby!

 So Ryder has presented me with a conundrum.  Ever since we brought him home from the hospital, he has needed to be swaddled up tight in his blanket to be able to sleep.  I have tried putting him down without being swaddled, and that was a disaster.  I have tried leaving one arm out of the swaddle, and still no luck.  It wasn't a problem when he still liked being swaddled, but he grew out of that in like 2 seconds.  So every night is a battle trying to swaddle him for bed.  He screams in protest, but yet CAN'T sleep without it!  It's inevitable that he breaks out of the swaddle at some point during the night and then wakes himself up.  On top of this, he has eczema and always scratches and rubs his face to the point where he'll bleed!  So swaddling helps keep his hands away from his face.  Anyways, i have been trying to find a way to ease him out of needing to be swaddled because the situation really is getting ridiculous at night.  I found this website that sells these... "sleepers"  from New Zealand.  It's called Peke Moe and essentially, it's a little sleeping bag/sleep sack.  Ever heard of it? It's supposed to help with transitioning your baby out of swaddling.  I guess because they still feel nice and cozy, but also have the freedom to move around. Anyway, tons of people swear by it, but we don't have the funds to buy one, so i decided to make one.  It didn't look that complicated.  Pretty much like an over sized pillowcase with a neck hole and a zipper along the bottom.  So i made one out of some soft jersey material.  The whole time i was sewing it i couldn't stop laughing thinking about putting it on Ryder because it looked so dumb!  I tried it out last night and yep, he looked so funny in it.  Kevin said he looks like a wizard hahaha. Guess what though, as goofy as it looks, it worked!  I seriously had my doubts.  We did our normal bedtime routine and then i laid him down in his crib.  He played around for a while because he wasn't swaddled and therefore didn't think it was bedtime.  After playing, he started crying.  He cried on and off for about 45 min.  I would go in every few minutes to check on him and comfort him.  He finally settled down and went to sleep!  He woke up once during the night and cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to sleep.  UN SWADDLED!  That's unheard of for this kid.  So looks like they are on to something in New Zealand after all.  Hopefully it works again tonight, cross your fingers.



the wizard sleeper!

Not minding it



He could even still suck his thumb through it haha!



Ryder LOVES exploring his voice lately and all the noises it can make.  He goes through phases.  First was blowing raspberries.  He loved to do that and would get his mouth and chin covered in spit from blowing them constantly!  Next he discovered grunts/growls.  He would be growling all day long, it was so cute!  He still growls a lot when he is just about to fall asleep, it's his way of winding himself down haha.  He has now figured out how to suck the air in instead of out to make a noise almost like the little kid on the Grudge, a little creepy, i know!  When he does it though it mostly just sounds like a squeal of delight.  I have been trying to capture it on video, but he always gets so shy when i pull the camera out.  This video is the best i have gotten, but it's just a quick one, usually he draws the sound out much longer.  I also shows a little of his grunting skills.  This is probably such boring stuff to every other person in the world except maybe grandparents, but oh well!  I love watching him figure out all the new things he can do with his voice and then "talking" to each other all day long to practice them out :)