7 1/2 Hours!!!!!!!

Much has happened since my last post, but I have to start with the most exciting news. Yes, Shane slept for almost 7 1/2 hours two times!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! The first time was Tuesday night. I put him down at 11 and at 3:30 I woke up because Shane hadn't. He was waking at 3 am like clockwork. Of course, I panicked. Even though we have the "Angel Care" monitor that will alarm if no movement occurs for 20 seconds, I was sure it had malfunctioned. So at exactly 3:38 am I made my way to Shane's room and stared at him until I was sure he was breathing. Then I went back to bed. When Dan got up at 4:45 he could not believe Shane was still asleep and at 5 am he went in to make sure he was breathing! Shane started to wake up around 6 am, but was cooing to himself and not crying! I let him do that until 6:20 when I went to get him. He woke up at 4:15 the next night, but last night we had a repeat performance of sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!! I am so excited - can you tell?
The probiotics are still working and even though the doctor told us we could stop them now, we would not dare. I did make sure they were safe to continue and they are. The doctor is just sure that they have already worked their magic and that they are just an added expense now. When I told Dan what the doctor said he looked at me like I had suggested Shane be a USC fan! (Notre Dame and USC are huge rivals and Dan is a huge ND fan) Needless to say, Shane's $2.00 a day probiotic habit will continue. We will try and cut it down to once a day in a week or so and then eliminate it at 4 months when colic usually disappears on its own. Shane has been really happy lately and other than his meltdown on my sister's birthday, he has been great. We went to my parents for Jorie's birthday and Shane was so irritable that they had to get out the vacuum cleaner to calm him down (It works like a charm!). As I vacuumed my parents condo with Shane in my arms, I had visions of this conversation occurring between Shane and us in about 18 years.
Me: Shane, which college do you want to go to? You are so brilliant that every school in the country wants you!
Dan: He wants to go to Notre Dame to play football, right Shane?
Me: He wants to go to whatever school will best prepare him for his future presidential career.
Shane: I just want to clean houses - there is something so calming about the sound of vacuum cleaners!
Dan: What??????
Me: Sobbing and unable to speak...
When I jokingly shared this with the family, my dad said he thinks Shane will be a pilot or an astronaut based on his affinity for loud noises. Who knows... we will love our little bugger no matter what he does! It is so funny to watch him screaming and then see it turn off as soon as the vacuum is switched on!
On Monday our wonderful friend John came over to help us plant. He must think we are such losers, but we totally need him. In fact, on Saturday I was shopping at Home Depot, sans Shane who was at home with daddy, and I kept thinking WWJB (What would John Buy?) Of course I failed miserably and John and Dan went back to Home Depot on Monday. John likes to choose plants for us that "thrive on neglect." What does that say about our gardening skills? In fact, he had to keep reminding us that we needed to water the plants. The funniest part is when Dan is always trying to throw out the perennial plants because he thinks they are weeds! Dan is into neat, trimmed, compact... if you know Dan, you know what I mean! In fact, I wanted John to look at the plants that we were given when Shane was born - the plants that the hospital nurses told me it was impossible to kill. Geri suggested I put them outside because I kept forgetting to water them (maybe that is why John feels the need to remind us to water?) and they were burning. When I went to show John, they were gone. When I asked Dan where they were, he pulled them from the garbage! John has saved them and they are on the road to recovery! As you can see, we do owe him big! It is because of John that we have anything other than tomatoes growing!
Yesterday I took Shane to my school to meet my students from last year and the teachers that had not seen him yet! He was a star! I on the other hand, was a mess. In fact, as I left school I realized that I left his changing pad & bottle cap in Caroline's room and his bottle in Jen's room - oops! Thankfully, I remembered Shane! It was sad to see my school without Dr. Hersh (my principal who died suddenly this year while I was on leave.) It was also hard to imaging that I will not work there anymore. I just extended my leave to stay home with Shane this year and that meant that I lost my position at that school. I would not have gone back there now anyway - too far - but there was something comforting about knowing that I could. Anyways, it was great to see Kim, Caroline, Debbie, Jen, Alison, Margaret, and everyone else who I miss!
The pictures of Shane include him with John, Shane and his daddy in their Yankee gear (that came to us from Shane's "Aunt Lisa" in Pennsylvania. Lisa has a trans-abdominal cerclage like me and had her beautiful daughter Emily 10 days after Shane. Shane and Emily will be getting married one day!), Shane smiling away, Shane and my mom playing on the floor, and Dan kissing Shane!