Reasoning with a 9-week Old

I know it's impossible to do, but I sincerely wish I could reason with my sweet baby. I wish I could explain to him that he will not have his pacifier to suck on if he keeps grabbing the stuffed animal attachment and throwing it. I wish I could explain that diaper changes are a good thing and will keep him from getting such a bad rash. I wish I could make him nurse for longer periods of time so he wouldn't be "starving" again in 1-2 hours. To date, our reasoning efforts have (obviously) not worked.

One thing has been a godsend for the past 3 nights: Nathan slept for 5 straight hours each night! We didn't really change anything--the evening always consists of tubby-time between 7:00pm and 8:30pm, starting just before he's due to eat again. Tubby time is followed by his baby-lotion massage, getting sung to by Mommy and Daddy, a long nursing session and off to bed it is.

This routine never did anything for his sleep before, but it has recently: we will put him in his crib, he will lie there, wide-awake for about 30-45 minutes, then fall asleep for almost 5 hours. 5 beautiful hours! When he wakes up around 2:30am, he nurses again, then proceeds to wake up every 1.5-2 hours, but that first 5 hours is fantastic. Due to sleeping more, he has been much more awake and generally happier during the day--just as any adult would be!

I wish I could reason with him about sleep, too. I wish I could say, "see? Isn't sleeping nice? Don't you want to sleep for TWO 5-hour stretches so you (and Mommy and Daddy) can feel so good and refreshed?"

Naturally, Nathan doesn't understand this any more than he understands anything else. One day, he'll like to sleep. He'll learn to find ways to soothe himself without chucking his pacifier across the room. He'll learn that clean britches are oh-so nice. For now, though, I'm just tickled pink about my 5-hours.