Sleep + Singing = One Happy Boy

I haven't posted much about life with Caleb and that is a travesty considering this blog will be a book some day. My posterity will be reading this. What will they think of me when they realize I haven't written much of anything about my daily, awe-inspiring, never-mundane life?

I don't want to find out. So today I will write about The Boy!

Here's the deal with Caleb. He is really really good. No, I mean, REALLY good. Super happy, very content, all-around easy baby.
Here's why I think he's like that.
I am the best mother EVER. EV. ER.

Ha ha! All kidding aside, what I really think keeps him Mr. Happy Baby is his inability to stay awake longer than 2 hours and my running renditions of a seemingly endless supply of show tunes.

Let's talk about the show tunes first, shall we? Who knew when I would become a mother that, when encountered with opportunities to sing lullaby's to my little one, I would break out into songs from Oliver, Les Miserables and The Sound of Music? Where did that come from? And who knew that my boy would like them so much? What does this mean? Okay, in all honesty, he doesn't just like show tunes.
He also likes The Carpenters. (Really, baby? The Carpenters?)
Maybe it's not just the tunes, but my smooth, sultry voice when I sing them. Yeah, that's probably it.

For whatever reason, my boys likes his music.
He's a little cranky while being fed asparagus? Sing the song about the little green frog. He smiles!
He's a little squirmy while getting his diaper changed? Break out into "Close to You" by the Carpenters. Happy boy!
He's getting tired, but it's still about 20 minutes before his nap time? Try a revised version of "Edelweiss" and he's entranced.

Lest you think he isn't getting a complete musical education, we also sing several Beatles songs to him with revised lyrics. "Bungalo Bill" becomes "Heeeey, Caleboo. What did do? Caleboo?" And "Nowhere Man" goes something like "He's my little Caleboo. Knows not what he's gonna do, Caleboo's a bit like you and meeee.... Caleboooo, please listen.." "Hey Jude" is "Hey Boog" and so on and so forth. The classics are not being missed at our house.

When it comes to Caleb, Singing=Happy Boy

Now about the sleeping. Caleb likes his naps. He still takes three a day. Each nap is about 2 hours long. He's done this since December. I'm to the point where I almost feel like a bad mom when I put him down for a nap. Am I only doing this because I like the naps? They sure do make my life easier. Does he really need to sleep every 2 hours or do I need him to sleep every two hours? The answer is easy: He really does need to sleep every 2 hours. I've tried to get him to stay up longer and he just doesn't like it. After two hours (sometimes right on the dot) he gets cranky. He whines. He rubs his eyes. Nothing will console him except constant singing and holding him. As soon as I put him in his crib, he grins. He GRINS, people. He likes this sleep stuff. And when I get him up 2 hours later, he grins some more. It's a wide, open-mouth grin that suggests he's expecting some sort of exciting surprise every time he wakes up. (I'm guessing the exciting surprise is me.)

There's no denying it; Enough Sleep=Happy Boy

For future posterity, and so I don't forget, here is a rundown of Caleb's current sleep schedule.

We usually wake him up around 6:30 AM.
He takes a nap from 8:30-10:30.
He takes another nap from 12:30-2:30.
He takes another nap from 4:30-6:30.
He goes to bed around 8:30.

He can survive when the schedule gets all changed-up and he only gets two naps or he wakes up late or goes to bed later or whatever, but he's not as happy those days.

Who says parenting isn't easy and you don't have time for anything? I've got 6 hours every single day to do what needs to be done. Where do you think I found the time to write this blog?
That's right, nap time.
Enough Sleep + Singing = Happy Baby Boy and Happy Mom