Week 37...

37-week highlights:

• Last week was not a great week for Charlie (or Charlie's mom). He slept horribly at night. He would wake up between 9 and 10 and then would not go back to sleep at all. We would let him cry and then go in to comfort him, but this did not work. Finally I would have to nurse him back to sleep at midnight-ish so that I could go to bed. So tiring.
• Naps were no better. He would not take a nap unless he was sleeping on me for the entire time. I LOVE holding sleeping babies, but not a26lb. 8-month old for multiple hours every day.
  
• He slept from 7:00pm-4:30am last night, and even took a morning and afternoon nap today, so I'm hoping last week's behavior is a thing of the past for now.
• I'm sort of blaming his antics on 3 things: teething (he's cutting 3 teeth right now), his eczema flare up, and the fact that he is just now starting to crawl. I remember with Henry that he seemed to sleep poorly during periods of time where he was mastering a new developmental skill (rolling, crawling, standing up, walking, etc.)
  
• Charlie's eczema has flared up and actually seems to be bothering him now. He was scratching his head like crazy last week, so after doing a bit of research, I have been using straight olive oil on his head, letting it soak in for 15 minutes and then using a comb or brush to try and slough off any of the dead skin. It sounds strange, but it has actually been working really well for us. I haven't seen him scratch his head for a few days now!
• To combat his eczema I am also trying a few other new things. I am not bathing him every day because many eczema sufferers say that water makes their skin feel worse, I am doing an extra rinse on all of his laundry to make sure the laundry soap gets thoroughly removed, and I am attempting to use more natural soaps and lotions. I am using lots of coconut oil on his skin and have also ordered some hard lotion and castile soap to try too. We'll see if these help, but at this point, I will try anything.
• Last week just wasn't a good week. Charlie's lack of sleep and need of attention meant that I had very little time for myself. My house was a complete wreck all week, dinners ended up being whatever was easiest to get on the table, and my sewing machine sat untouched. (Always the sign of a bad week in my book;) To top off the bad week, my Grandma Net fell and broke her hip on Wednesday, which made my weariness even more pronounced.
  
• We hope our Charlie boy is feeling better this week!