Violet: Project SLEEP

Just a quick update on Violets sleeping, eating ect....
SUMMARY: UP and DOWN!

Violet is teething (I can feel the one on her bottom left!) and somehow I got it in my head that her mouth hurts, and it makes me want to hold her.  So I do.  So I've nursed her to sleep a couple more times than I was planning the last 3 days, but she has gone to sleep on her own, the majority of time.  She isn't nursing great (seemingly uninterested), but when I go to hold her she tries to eat my chin off.  I think my supply is o.k., so I don't really know whats up with that.  She also has started to know that the sound machine combined with my singing to her, means she has to go to sleep, and she grips on to my shirt SUPER tight.  It breaks my heart.  Yesterday and Today, she only took short naps for some reason, unless I was holding her.  Then she would sleep until I went to lay her down.  It's as if she's going backwards on this sleep training project.  (I think that she actually is just a lot smarter than I give her credit for!)  Tonight, I fed her(unsuccessfully) she cried for a while, I got her up to console her and feed her, then while she was still wide awake, I laid her down.  She let out ONE peep, and was out!  So, hopefully she learns to just eat good the first time, so we don't have to go through such an emotional process.

All in all, I think things are going well.  When she's dry, fed and well rested she's happier than a week ago. We're seeing success, but just not quite done establishing our "norm".  Maybe by Wednesday...

Ferber, Babywise, Attatchment Parents...blah blah blah

Readers Beware!  
Only proceed if you are needing some encouragement in your baby's eat/sleep story.  
For the rest of you...the following is really wordy and boring....Don't say I didn't warn you!

I LOVE being a mom the 2nd time around.  Its not that I didn't love the first time - I loved Benjamin (that statement seems highly inadequate), I loved cuddling and I loved watching him grow and hit milestones...But I HATED making parenting decisions.  I hated feeling as though I had to decide on a parenting method.  I hated that when I desired schedule and structure, People thought I was making my baby suffer.  I hated that when I stuck to structure I felt people thought I was cold to him, and that possibly he would suffer long term.  I hated that it divided friend groups.

Benjamin was schedule-less for a while.  I am foggy in memory of how he fell asleep.  We did A LOT of bouncing.  I think he began to fall asleep on his own around 3 months, and took 3ish naps a day.  He slept through the night o.k. till around 4 or 5 months and suddenly started getting up 3+ times a night.  That is when Joel and I said enough is enough and after 2 nights of patting his back and not picking him up, he was a sleep rockstar.  Predictable for naps, Solid Sleep at night - as long as we were at home anyway. (Thats another story...)

Well its no secret that Violet has called the shots the last 7 months.  She is held a lot, or wrapped with a Moby Wrap.  She nursed to sleep, nursed to eat, and nursed to pacify!  And we all lived happily ever after...0-6 months anyway.

I noticing Violet was a little more crabby than usual, and I started needing to do things without a 6 month old attached to me.  I began to add up her hrs of sleep and it was well short of the recommended amount.  I began trying to get her to sleep  more often, but I would nurse her and she would just laugh at me, I would lay her in her bassinet and she would get so upset she puked, I would wrap her and walk and my back would be aching, but her little head would just pop out from under the cloth and she would smile at me.  So after 7 months of her frequently sleeping with me and very rarely crying, the rules needed to change.  She needed to sleep.  Everything I read said that her sleep would improve if she could get to sleep on her own.  So I had a conference with Joel and we came up with a plan.

We decided to take an adaptation of the Ferber Plan.  She could cry for 3 min, 5 min, 7 min....etc up to 19 minutes.  After every interval we would pat her back, and start again. This would be for two naps (with an optional 3rd) and bedtime. Also I would work to get in an Eat, Play, Sleep Pattern.  We would do this for a Week and re-evaluate.

This was decided yesterday afternoon and around 4:00 it was obvious she needed to sleep.  We set the timer and on the 9 minute stretch, she conked out at the 5 minute mark.  At bed time, she fell asleep on the 7 minute stretch.  Her morning nap we started with a 5 minute stretch and she was asleep at 5 minutes!  And get this, she slept 1 hr and 45 minutes!!!!! (She usually only sleeps 30 to 45 min stretches!)  I started to put her down again at 11:30 because she was acting tired.  She cried and my momma instinct recognized it was a "different" cry, so I stopped trying.  I think I mis-read her sleepiness.  She fell asleep around 12:30 after just a few minutes of crying (broken up by one "patting" session) and slept another2 hrs.  She woke up in the middle of the nap, and I knew she wasn't done sleeping, so I did nurse her back to sleep this time.  The pro's seemed to outweigh the cons -if any!  Around 5:00 she was acting pretty sleepy.  I sang to her, laid her down and she was asleep within 7 minutes.  This was just a 45 minute nap, which seemed perfect so as not to hurt our bedtime!  Our 7:00 nursing session didn't go great but I foolishly tried to lay her down around 7:30.  She cried for 5ish minutes when I knew something wasn't right.  I went in, patted for a while, and eventually picked her up.  She tried to eat my face off so I nursed her again.  This time seemed a bit more satisfying for her, and then I laid her sleepy self down, and without a peep, she was out!

I say this all for just a few reasons...

• Because I'm flip'n excited that we are seeing super positive results - She's playing well without constant interactions, and she's sleeping longer!
• Because although I don't regret my 6 months of nursing glory, I am elated that as she changes, we're able to change with her!
• And for other moms out there with sleeping issues they are dealing with, and searching for a solution.  I sympathize with you.  I know its not simple.  I know you and your baby will be O.K.!
• There is such a thing as a Wise momma who takes advice from Ferber, is Attached to her Baby who is Happy and Healthy.  You don't have to only chose one method, but you do have to be moderately consistent and Lovingly gracious.  
• And last but not least, when your baby is crying during your sleep training moments, remember how happy he or she will be when they are getting adequate rest and are well/fully fed!

Wishing you all lots of sleep and tons of cuddles!

Violet's 7 months!

sitting up!

This little peanut is 7 months! (well two days short)  

Well, all I can say is that this little girl is getting much too old WAY too fast.  And she has a smile that is making it very hard do anything but hold her!

Everyone comments on what a happy baby Violet is and yes, she is very happy...when you're holding her, or looking at her.  In fact she's almost ALWAYS happy when you're doing one of those two things.  However, she is seldom happy for very long when you aren't.

She also won't take a pacifier.

She also likes to(has always been) nurse to sleep.

The facts above aren't in and of themselves a problem, but I'm of the persuasion that they (primarily the nursing to sleep factor) have created short - 15-45 min - or no naps.  This is a problem.

So for the sake of her happiness, the sake of her quality of life, and the sake of my claustrophobia this week begins her schedule.  So far so good.  Last week I was going to see if I could get Violet to sleep without nursing her their, and she got so upset she puked.  Today, I was much more planned out, I talked it out with Joel, and we are 2 for 2 in our attempts. I pat her little back and sing, "I'm a little bunny and my momma loves me" and away we go!

She also has started puffs, cereal, bananas, and applesauce.  In an effort to get her to go 3 hours between feedings, I'm supplementing these other snacks in the middle (thats right, she's 7 months and 3 hrs is a STRETCH!)

She LOVES Benjamin, and watching him, and when he plays with her.  

She's super ticklish, and giggly!

She sits up on her own (with many falls!) and LOVES to be wrapped.  She's not a fan of the car seat.  

I feel like I've failed in reading books to her.  I'm hoping to make up for lost time!

Well, thats all!  Happy June!

sleeping in our closet!

Benjamin reading video

Benjamin's story times are normally quite long, and more bi lingual but you get the idea...!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwsVz0_XcbA

Benjamin and Violet Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a8BlAPhmmk

Happy Stuff

• Benjamin cleaning up his trains, and without any cue or direction pulling his big green tub of trains behind him from the living room, to his bed room.
• Violet laughing at me when she's supposed to be eating
• Joel tickling either kiddo's feet with his unshaven face
• Benjamin playing with his planes and trains and cars and trucks and motorcycles...Crash after Crash after Crash
• Violet rolling her eyes to the top of her head to find me
• Joel not being able to sleep until he checks on everybody, making sure there's no pillions or blankets on our heads...
• Benjamin's inflection when he whips our his new phrases, "heeere it comes", "where'd it go?" and "thanks for coming!"
• Violets guaranteed laugh when I sing, "I'm a little kitty, and my momma loves me..."
• Joel's wresting matches with Benjamin, and ability to make Violet laugh and laugh

Time to Detox your Home!

I rarely do things that make me think..."that was a great thing...everyone should do that...Go Me!", but this weekend I did (when I say, I really me my husband and I).  We took a good portion of our "precious" belongings, and put them up for sale.  Ok, it was a very small portion, and they were quite well used items, but most all had some sort of sentimental value, and at times, it wasn't easy...the adorable little outfits of my babies, the dress that I wore that fabulous night in the Bahamas, the super cute coffee cups I registered for before our wedding, and those expensive pants I let myself splurge on...

But after the difficult task of bringing them out to the sale, and agreeing to the VERY small monetary exchange people were willing to give me for them, it feels pretty great!  You see, my little ones only wore that cute outfit for a week before they hit a growth spurt, I won't be going on a cruise again any time soon, those coffee cups hadn't been used in 6 years, and those pants never fit as well as I wanted them to, and especially don't fit now!

Well, the sale ended, and we felt great about what we got rid of, how our stuff might actually be getting used at this very moment, and how we have a nice little chunk of change to help us out on our next adventures in life!  We aren't done Detoxing our home yet (careful, it is a little addictive!) but this is how we started...

1. Stop seeing things as Yes-for sale, vs No-not for sale. EVERYTHING but your child is for sale, some things just might have a high price attached to them!
2. Go through your closet.  would you trade 4 of those pants for 1 great pair?  have you not had shoes to match that dress for 2 years?  is this the third season that shirt hasn't fit you?  think of how much less stressful it would be to get dressed in the A.M. if the only things that stared at you were things that fit, and that you might actually wear!
3. The burn test.  If your house burnt down, would you cry over that item? Would you even notice it was gone?  How much would it cost to replace it?
4. Advertise like crazy, and be happy salesmen.  People need to know your junks for sale, so use every free venue possible and even ones that cost a little...a $30 add is worth a couple hundred in sales!  Be helpful, be honest, and make buyers like you.  The chances of people buying something when they're ticked off isn't too high.
5. See Clean & Enjoy the free feeling of SPACE.  My basement feels so stink'n big and spacious right now, all because it doesn't have unnecessary crap cramp'n its style.   Its fun to be able to spread out, its fun to be able to pick up and see clean and not just cluttered

Well, our phase 1 of Mission Detox is over, and phase 2 has already begun.  Wish us luck as we hold on to our stuff with a Very loose grip!

cloth diapers

Several Econobum cloth diaper covers, with several more prefolds

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4060012&CAWELAID=524773592

$4 for 1 cover and 1 prefold. $1 for any extra prefolds

GARAGE SALE

People, we're selling everything but our children...


come one, come all, come short, come tall! Stuff for electronic nerds, stuff for babies, new clothes with tags, and name brands for Gents and ladies. strollers, wipe warmers, bedding & more,rakes, fishing poles, out door stuff galore! So come for a Diaper Champ,& find some new shoes, pick up some formal wear to wear on your cruise.


Seriously - be here-Saturday - 7-1


Couches, dressers, desks, night stands, recliner, Dishes, Bowls, Phones, ECT

GARAGE SALE

GARAGE SALE:
Saturday June 11, 7-1...
3418 west st...


weight bench, tread mill, hide a bed sofa, black recliner, Dell p4 system, set of poker chips, Symphonic TV and Converter, TV stand, Samsung SCH i760, ice cream maker, Senseo 1 Cup Coffee Maker, Simpsons DVD's Season 1-4, wireless Keyboard and mouse, Shovels, Gateway laptop, diaper pail,


TONS of clothes...
boys NB-4T, girls NB-9MNTH, Womens:Sm  M and Lg, Mens:XL, Winter coats, Toys and MORE! Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer, Limited, Nike, J CREW, etc

Walk in the Park

springing into summer