Alex Van Winkle

Yet another record smashed to pieces! Alex slept seven hours straight last night, from eight to three, beating his previous record of six hours by a whopping sixty minutes. (And wouldn't you know it, I had trouble sleeping last night and only slept about two and half out of those seven hours. Bummer.) He went back to sleep after I nursed him at three, but apparently decided that four sounded like a good time to get up and going for the day. I insisted he stay in bed until five, but after some negotiating, we compromised on four forty five. So up we were.

His sleeping/eating schedule is fairly consistent - when he doesn't decide to sleep instead of eating, that is. There are no holds barred when it comes to daytime naps. His early morning nap often lasts more than two hours (almost three, this morning). But on more than one occasion I've had to cut his evening nap short to preserve the sanctity of his bedtime routine. To all of you that are thinking "Never wake a sleeping baby", allow me to explain my motives. The last time Alex took a nap at 5:30 and continued to sleep well past his next feeding time, I decided to let him be and hope that he had just decided to have an early bedtime that night. Once he woke up for the first time around eleven, he woke up every hour after that until morning came around at five. Needless to say, I regretted that decision.

And I learned my lesson. Last night, when Alex's afternoon nap stretched into the evening and threatened to encroach on his bedtime routine, I did the unthinkable and roused him from a near comatose state. He was sleeping so soundly that it took him nearly five minutes to wake up. Pictured below is Stage 3 of the Alex Evans Wakeup Process, which occurs immediately after I undo his swaddling blanket. (BTW, notice the insane-looking mobile rabbit floating above his head. It's like a creepy version of a sweet sleep fairy from a children's story. Only not sweet. Just creepy. For some reason it cracks me up.)

Now let me be clear - I get sick to my stomach at the thought of having to interrupt a perfectly good nap. But it had to be done. And that decision was validated as it was followed by a most excellent night of record breaking sleep.

Timothy spent the night at the Primms last night because he was singing with Seth and Joy at church and needed to be there at the crack of dawn. So Alex and I were on our own this morning. It was Alex's first day of church since he was born and he was pretty excited to get dressed up and go see his daddy perform onstage.

He was quite adorable, if I do say so myself, but the reason I've posted two pictures is to illustrate the powerful effects of strategic camera angles. The first picture depicts my sweet boy Alex, with his petite little body, chiseled chin and skinny limbs.

This second picture is of Alex's chunky secret clone who we had made in case anything happens to the original. However, a genetic mutation has caused an obvious difference in stature. With his husky body, chubby cheeks and spare chin, it may be difficult to pass him off without raising eyebrows...

Alex did pretty well at church, meaning he sort of slept through most of the service. I had to stand in the back and jiggle him around for most of the hour, but Timothy and Seth and Joy sang so beautifully that I was inspired to dance and didn't mind holding A in the process. He really seems to love music and was quite riveted by Uncle Seth's piano playing.

He was exhausted by the day's events and took a superlong nap this evening that again had to be cut short. I'm hoping for a repeat performance of last night, only maybe I'll be able to sleep this time. Speaking of which, I should be going to bed right now instead of blogging. Good night, y'all!