Yay internet.

The cable dude came back again today with a partner and completely recabled our apartment.  Turns out the lines were damaged, possibly by plumbing issues beneath our place, and definitely by squirrels chewing the lines above our place.

Squirrels!

So I am currently enjoying some speed on the connection.  Hoooray.

Zack smiled like crazy at the cable guys.  You know, that whole adorable baby for strangers routine--little showoff.

I think it was Sunday that Zack played ball with me.  I rolled a ball to him, and he got the game and rolled it back.  His version of rolling the ball back is holding it up high until it drops and bounces to me.

More and more like a 100% sentient being every day!  So cool. 

I also got Zack more books at the library.  Yesterday when I went to pick him up, he was asleep.  He's usually asleep now that I have a new work schedule.  I no longer work Saturdays!  So I took advantage of his nap to hit the library, which is right near daycare.  I got a new card and a whole bunch of board books.  Zack, unfortunately for me, preferred his old books!  But tonight he warmed up to a few of the borrowed ones.

He has been going down to sleep more and more easily.  We are slowly crib training him and training him to sleep through the night.  I hope what we're doing works.  So far, he has gone back to his old peaceful night routine.  After a bath, some playing, some nursing, and stories, I've started telling him that he's going to bed and giving him a big hug and a lot of kisses.  I do the whole rationalization about how awesome it is to go to bed, because then you get to wake up tomorrow ready to play some more.  And well, it's working!  He goes in the crib and he gets himself to sleep.  Tonight he chatted to himself for a while, and then O-U-T.  Great stuff.

He is still waking up several times a night to eat, so Jeff is feeding him only from a bottle for the first couple night feedings.  We're lessening the ounces every time.  The result so far is that Zack has acclimated to the smaller feedings, and then when my shift comes around at 3:00 a.m., he is completely ravenous.  Plus after those unexciting bottles, the boobs make an appearance and it is just a lot of general excitement.  He's eating a huge meal at 3:00.  I tried to shorten it last night, and he woke up at 4:00 and then 5:00.  Oh, and then 6:00.

But we'll get there.  I really want him to sleep through the night, but my unwillingness to let go of co-sleeping with him interfered.  I only wanted the evenings to myself.  Once I got that, sleep training stopped for us.  I just loved having Zack sleep next to me.  I will really miss it.  And I'm sure I'm not completely through with it.  It's just too great.

But at the moment, he is soooo into crawling that he actually wakes up in motion.  If he's sleeping next to me now, the way I know he's awake is that he is on his way out the door.  Seems slightly dangerous.

So we put him in the baby cage!  And he's actually starting to like it, I think.

He has also fallen asleep twice sitting up.  He is just so into moving around these days that he will play and play until his eyes just close.  So far in his short life, he's been a baby who went to bed at his bed time, and it wasn't something we had to enforce.  But now it is!  So I'm really happy we did the minimal sleep training, because it made it easier to just put him down awake and walk out the door.

I haven't heard "Mommy" in a while, so now I wonder if it really happened.  Today when we were playing ball, I said, "Ball," and he said, "Ba!"  It's more the tone that seems like he's imitating me.  Yesterday, he bit me really hard on the shoulder.  I said, "NO!" and he shrank a little.  Then he said, "Na!" and it really seemed like he was imitating me.  So funny.  First time I've ever raised my voice to him.  But hey, those teeth are sharp!