Noah has many talents besides his acting skills… such as his ability to strangle a beast of a bear one-handed…

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and (almost) shove his whole fist into his mouth…

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But his most impressive talent thus far is his ability to escape impossible situations.

I put him to bed every night like this:

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Okay. Maybe not that happy OR that awake, but definitely that trapped.

His imprisonment is as follows:

  • Fully buttoned footie pajamas,
  • A double-sided wedge sleep positioner, and
  • Swaddled ridiculously tightly in an extra large and completely un-stretchy blanket, rolled up in his tootsie roll so many times that you have to flip him four times on the bed to unravel him.

He looks like nothing but a detached Baby Bobble Head by the time I finish:

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And so, with all of that effort and the fact that he’s TEN WEEKS OLD, and, therefore, not exactly mobile, I fully expect for him to look like this when I come get him in the morning:

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But no.

About every fourth morning, I come in to find this:

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Yes.  Just casually laying there, pretending that he’s been doing nothing but sleeping all night long, rather than feverishly working on escaping from his pajamas AND his straight jacket swaddle.

 

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I can almost hear the over-excited TV Commentator start talking as I leave the room…

“Okay! Start the countdown!! The Great Houdin-O-Baby now has only eight hours to be the YOUNGEST MAGICIABABY EVER to escape from this impossible trap!! Look at him wriggle!!!  There’s a shoulder!! And another!! AMAZING!!! Will he make it??”

I suppose I should count my blessings that he hasn’t figured out how to escape his diaper yet, because once those morning stretches begin…

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…his bed would suffer a fate worse than death that no amount of magicianship could reverse.

 

33 thoughts on “Houdin-O-Baby.

  1. I love the sleepy smile :)
    Beege was like that – no matter what we did, she ended up out of everything and spread out like a starfish. She was also the world’s best sleeper, so I just left well enough alone and made sure the room was warm enough.
    Kee (once she finally decided that sleep was an option) would strip down to her diaper about five seconds after I shut the door. She doesn’t even wait anymore. She likes to put her pajamas on, but she’ll strip before we tuck her in. At least she’s honest :P

  2. Your 10 week old gets out of his pajamas?!?! That is amazing! I have never heard of that. He is going to have some amazingly cool talents when he gets older…I can only imagine. :)

  3. Oh my goodness. I wanna eat his arms! Those are the cutest baby rolls ever! Looks like you’ve got a pretty talented little guy! Reminds me of the time I was driving down the freeway, over a bridge with the windows half down because the a/c was broken.. and my 1 and half year old escaped his 5point harness system car seat and was standing, hanging his head out the window! Keep a careful eye on him! ;)

  4. Those are the cutest pictures EVER! I LOVE the first one of him sleeping. He looks like he is basking in the warm sunshiney morning glow. So precious. And what a doll baby! Love that grin.

    S also loves to houdini out of her pjs. She always busts out the bottom though, that is pretty impressive that he can get both arms out!

  5. This is so sweet! I want to meet him. Major is getting so big compared to this guy. He never liked having his arms tucked in.

    Is he sleeping all night?

    1. I’d love to see you sometime soon and meet Major, as well!

      Yes, he’s sleeping “mostly” all night – I put him to bed about 10:30-11:00, and he eats somewhere around 6:30-7:30. Sometimes he wakes up around 5, too, but I give him a paci and he goes back to sleep.

  6. My cousin always leaves a single arm out of the swaddling. She says that she learned from her eldest boy that if she captured both arms, he wouldn’t rest until he was free. She alternated arms as well.

    1. My daughter had torticollis, so we alternated arms, just to get her turning her head both ways. We also alternated which end of the crib/co-sleeper we put her in so she would look at different things and turn her head.

      I am mightily impressed by the pj removal.

    2. I’ve thought about that, but what’s weird is that he has trouble falling asleep if he’s NOT swaddled that tightly! He must do all of his escape act in the morning as he’s waking up.

  7. My Hazel did this a few times when she was just a week old. It was pretty amazing. I think she was even sleeping in between my and my hubby at that point. He’s such a doll!

  8. Elizabeth did this too! Also an early roller (so watch out!) Elizabeth wouldn’t rest until she had flipped on to her stomach. We stressed about it for a while and then decided that as long as she was sleeping the blankets didn’t matter. Turned up the heat and stopped worrying. Our midwives told us the stomach sleeping was ok in her case, since the other option was pinning her to the mattress! Figured there was no chance that she was going to suffocate given her ability to wiggle and lift her head.

    1. I let him take naps on his tummy, unswaddled – he seems to like sleeping that way. But then at night, if he’s not swaddled TIGHT enough, he complains! Go figure…maybe he likes the challenge.

  9. Your little guy has some serious talent there! I was surprised when my (13 months old) little one managed to get her shirt off the other day, I’m sure I would have been just floored to find a (half) naked baby at a few months!

  10. He is so cute!!! And in the close up photo he looks like a little red headed Ali. What color is his hair now?

    Are you sure that Chris isn’t going in in the mornings and changing his diaper before he heads off to work? That could explain the lack of swaddling every fourth morning. What a baby :) You may have your hands full with those two, what with Ali’s brains and his escape capabilities. Just think of the fun they can have…

  11. I am amazed that Noah is able to do this! I agree with another commenter, you really need a video monitor, so you can see just exactly how he gets out!

  12. Ok, that is the funniest, and STRANGEST thing EVER! I’m thinking maybe he and Ali have a pact to “freak mom out” and she goes in there and unbuttons his pj’s or something… I’m just bum-fuzzled! When Landon wakes up he looks exactly the same as when I put him down, except that his sleep positioner is inclined, so he wiggles to the bottom of it and his little head is right between the wedges, lol, he looks like his head is in a little vice – but he’s NEVER liked to be swaddled, his arms have to be free so he can eat also try to eat his fist… I keep telling him he’ll need those fingers one day! Noah is SUCH an adorable little guy!!

    1. The buttons aren’t ever unbuttoned – somehow he manages to scrunch up his shoulders and wiggle out the neckhole!!
      Bizarre.
      And I’m glad to hear that someone else is still using sleep positioners – they were all recalled, and Chris about had a conniption fit – he had me borrow a “contraband” one from a friend because it worked so well with Ali!! :)

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