RIP dream feed, RIP

A sad day has come in the Hedke household.  Jack officially does not need his dream feed. This discovery was actually accidental. We had talked about gradually phasing it out once he turned 7 months, because at that point he would have had a month of eating lots of yummy solids. It would be very systematic-adding an extra ounce to a daytime feed every couple of days or so, and subtracting that ounce from his dream feed. Well, needless to say this is not how it went!

Weekends are my shift, and I usually have no trouble staying up until 10 PM when we start getting things ready for his dream feed. This past Friday, though, I fell asleep and did not wake up until 1:30 AM. I figured at this point, what was the harm in seeing what would happen, although I really expected to have him wake up around 3 or so, dying to eat. But the little guy did not-he slept until 5:45! We tried it again last night, and he slept from 7:30 until 6:15-no wakings, just big boy sleep.

I must say this is a bitter sweet discovery-while it is great to know that both of us could go to bed at 7 PM if we wanted, I really enjoyed my 10:30 cuddle session with sleeping Jack, as he gobbled up his bottle. His little hand would sometimes rub my side, and he just looked so precious asleep in my arms.  Right from the start, we would put him into his crib while he was awake, and 98% he would fall asleep without fussing or crying. He was so used to falling asleep on his own that even if we wanted him to, he would not fall asleep in our arms- he did not want to miss a thing! I definitely am not complaining, since he was such a great sleeper, but between the two of us, he has probably been sleeping in our arms a dozen times or so (not including dream feeds). So, dream feeds were a time to cuddle with our sleeping baby late at night. I often would rock him even after he was done eating, just so I could savor having him in my arms, feeling his little chest rise up and down with each breath, holding his pudgy little hand in mine. These past few weeks I have relished these moments even more, since he has been growing so quickly, and the little baby that entered our life 6 months ago is almost no where to be seen. Instead we have a mover and a shaker, a talker, and a little guy with a growing sense of humor.

This afternoon, Jack feel asleep trying his hardest to pull his monkey friend down.

Sweet afternoon naps

So peaceful

Love him

I guess this is just the first of many baby things that we will have to say goodbye to. Luckily, he keeps learning things that are even more exciting and sweet than the things he grows out of!