Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

Sam is almost a month old, and I can’t believe it. Among the zillions of new things I’ve learned each day in the last month (in addition to how to avoid getting peed on and , are the little things that help Sam calm down when he’s entered the Fussy Zone. I’ve become an expert at the Mommy Sway and the Booty Bounce. (Ahem, that would be bouncing HIM lightly on the booty, not bouncing my own booty. This booty still doesn’t bounce yet.) I’ve also learned the most effective swaddling for Sam (he doesn’t like his arms swaddled and just fusses and works them until they’re free), and the most effective “shushing” technique for him. I’ve also learned that the Moby wrap is very effective for calming him down, once you actually get him in it – he’ll fight getting in it, but calms down quicklky once he’s all snug in there. We’ve also found that music is very helpful for him. Aunt Lynne gave Sam some great lullaby CDs – a particular favorite is the Disney Lullabies CD (of course, it also makes Mommy want to watch old Disney movies like Mary Poppins and Dumbo, and yes, I’m not too proud to admit that even just humming “Baby Mine” chokes me up).

One day, Bryan went online to look up some new lullaby lyrics (he only knows about 2 lullabies–and sings them well–but he wanted new ones) and found some lyrics that seemed simple enough. I came upstairs to find him singing “La la lu/la la lu/oh my little star sweeper…” to Sam, and it was working. Neither of us recoginzed the lyrics, and we didn’t have a music file, so Bryan just made up his own tune for the night. The next day, he found the music file, and as soon as I heard it, I was, like, “DUH! That’s the lullaby from Lady and the Tramp!” (I’m a total Disney buff, so I’m kind of surprised I didn’t recognize it earlier!). Well, while the made up tune soothed Sam, the real thing is instant baby-soothe! Needless to say, I’ve committed the tune and words to memory and we use it often when Sam is in the Fussy Zone. “La La Lu” in combination with the Mommy Sway and Booty Bounce is second in effectiveness only to the Mommy Pacifier (which is, of course, fail safe but not always appropriate for company).