My friends where nice enough to snap some pictures of my cuties at molly's first b-day party, with a halloween theme.to see more pics, click on the links.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Halloween Cuties
My friends where nice enough to snap some pictures of my cuties at molly's first b-day party, with a halloween theme.to see more pics, click on the links.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sleep Blog Day 3
I put Jessie down last night at 8. I was tempted to keep her up longer so I could enjoy her company, but that seemed selfish with her yawning. She fell asleep right away, but then woke up at 8:30 and proceeded to cry about it for an hour. I went in every five minutes and did the patting. She was asleep by 9:30. She woke up at 3am and I nursed and she agreed to go back to sleep (crying for about 30 seconds). She woke woke up again at 6am but was asleep by the time I got to her room. I suppose that's how it's suppose to work, put themselves back to sleep and all. She woke up for the morning at about 7:50. Not to shabby. I hope she cries less tonight and sleeps through the night too. I think we are on the right path though. The teachers at Jessie's school applauded me yesterday and suggested I talk to some other parents ; ) I have to pat myself on the back too, it certainly is not easy and takes a lot of resolve.
p.s I can't tell you how much peace of mind the mattress alarm brings me. I no longer stare at the video monitor to make sure she's breathing.
p.s I can't tell you how much peace of mind the mattress alarm brings me. I no longer stare at the video monitor to make sure she's breathing.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sleep Blog Day 2
Last night we put Jessie down for night number 2 in her crib. I followed my same routine that I did the night before. Of course she fell asleep again while nursing, which I can't let her do (bummer). I put her down awake in her crib. She cried for an hour and 20 minutes. I don't know who was more upset, her or me. Jeff and I took turns going in to her room every 5 minutes, patting her and reassuring her, so she would know that we are still around. We kind of felt that things didn't go right on the first night. She fell asleep to quickly and didn't learn to soothe herself. The crying for over an hour is how I remember this process from last time. Poor baby, it was very hard.
I saved the good news for the last part because I'm so excited!!! When she did finally go to sleep, she slept the whole night!! I think if I did not have the mattress alarm I would have had a panic attack. There is a good chance that we will still have a couple of tough nights ahead of us and we may even have a night tonight that is worse, but.. I'm thinking in a week, she will have it down.
I saved the good news for the last part because I'm so excited!!! When she did finally go to sleep, she slept the whole night!! I think if I did not have the mattress alarm I would have had a panic attack. There is a good chance that we will still have a couple of tough nights ahead of us and we may even have a night tonight that is worse, but.. I'm thinking in a week, she will have it down.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sleep Blog Day 1
Background: Up until last night Jessie had been sleeping with me in bed. It started off that she couldn't sleep unless I was holding her, and there she stayed because I wasn't sure what to do with the fact that she could only stay asleep on her tummy (though she did back sleep next to me). The school where she naps even told me it's not likely she will sleep on her back, they tried and failed. So, now that she is nearly 6 months, can roll back and forth (when she really wants to), and I have the mattress alarm that I purchased (it arrived yesterday), it was time for her to move to her crib.
The Technique: We went through this sleep situation before with Jamie and the technique that worked for us then, was from a book, the sleep solution. How it works... You set up a routine, you do that same routine every night. for example, pjs, milk, book, say night-night. They need to be put to bed sleepy but not asleep. The book warns against forming associations like music or noise, that they might always need that to fall asleep. The purpose is that they learn to soothe themselves to sleep so they can always fall asleep. When they start crying you can go in every 5 minutes or so, pat them, say night-night (or whatever) and then leave. Once they are asleep and wake up you can put them back to sleep however you normally would (rock, nurse, whatever). The theory is that since they are learning how to put themselves to sleep when you put them down, they will eventually put themselves back to sleep at night.
Past Experience: When we did this with Jamie, she cried the first night for an hour, the second night for 2 hours, third 45 minutes, fourth 20 minutes and then she wouldn't cry to go to sleep anymore. 3 weeks later she was sleeping through the night. It worked exactly how the book said it would go down.
Night One: I do the night ritual, set Jessie down on her tummy, turn on the alarm, go sit on the couch and brace myself. She cries for 7 minutes and falls asleep. I could not believe what a contrast. Jeff says let's go to sleep (at 9:15). I'm afraid to believe that I could actually be so lucky, but 15 minutes later I agree. I get ready for bed and I'm in bed for about 5 minutes when she starts crying. I went to her room to try and put her back to sleep. She falls asleep I try to set her down, she starts crying. I repeat this again and again. I see 10pm go by, then 10:30, I think no big deal since I'm usually awake at that time. By 11, 11:30 I'm starting to feel pretty tired. I go back and forth between her room and mine. From 1:00am to 4am we both are sleeping soundly. Strangely the way I achieved this was putting her on her back, face to the bumper like she sleeps with me (don't worry, plenty of air around her mouth and nose). I felt the sting of irony. Jessie wakes at 4am. I'm thinking, ok, I'll put her back to back to sleep and I can still sleep till 7. I do the dance like before, putting her down, she wakes up and cries, back and forth between our rooms. Jeff sleeps soundly this entire night. I watch 4:30 on the clock, 5, 5:30, 6. At this point Jessie and I are both crying. At 6:15 I decided to just start getting ready for work. I slept for 3 hours the whole night. I'm tired. I put her to sleep in my bed so that I could at least get ready for work. She slept soundly.
Stay tuned for day 2.
The Technique: We went through this sleep situation before with Jamie and the technique that worked for us then, was from a book, the sleep solution. How it works... You set up a routine, you do that same routine every night. for example, pjs, milk, book, say night-night. They need to be put to bed sleepy but not asleep. The book warns against forming associations like music or noise, that they might always need that to fall asleep. The purpose is that they learn to soothe themselves to sleep so they can always fall asleep. When they start crying you can go in every 5 minutes or so, pat them, say night-night (or whatever) and then leave. Once they are asleep and wake up you can put them back to sleep however you normally would (rock, nurse, whatever). The theory is that since they are learning how to put themselves to sleep when you put them down, they will eventually put themselves back to sleep at night.
Past Experience: When we did this with Jamie, she cried the first night for an hour, the second night for 2 hours, third 45 minutes, fourth 20 minutes and then she wouldn't cry to go to sleep anymore. 3 weeks later she was sleeping through the night. It worked exactly how the book said it would go down.
Night One: I do the night ritual, set Jessie down on her tummy, turn on the alarm, go sit on the couch and brace myself. She cries for 7 minutes and falls asleep. I could not believe what a contrast. Jeff says let's go to sleep (at 9:15). I'm afraid to believe that I could actually be so lucky, but 15 minutes later I agree. I get ready for bed and I'm in bed for about 5 minutes when she starts crying. I went to her room to try and put her back to sleep. She falls asleep I try to set her down, she starts crying. I repeat this again and again. I see 10pm go by, then 10:30, I think no big deal since I'm usually awake at that time. By 11, 11:30 I'm starting to feel pretty tired. I go back and forth between her room and mine. From 1:00am to 4am we both are sleeping soundly. Strangely the way I achieved this was putting her on her back, face to the bumper like she sleeps with me (don't worry, plenty of air around her mouth and nose). I felt the sting of irony. Jessie wakes at 4am. I'm thinking, ok, I'll put her back to back to sleep and I can still sleep till 7. I do the dance like before, putting her down, she wakes up and cries, back and forth between our rooms. Jeff sleeps soundly this entire night. I watch 4:30 on the clock, 5, 5:30, 6. At this point Jessie and I are both crying. At 6:15 I decided to just start getting ready for work. I slept for 3 hours the whole night. I'm tired. I put her to sleep in my bed so that I could at least get ready for work. She slept soundly.
Stay tuned for day 2.
Friday, September 26, 2008
You win some you loose some
Well, as most of you know, whenever possible I like to follow the Dr. rules or if I've read something in a magazine or what have you. So, when Jeff decided he wanted to start feeding Jessie solids I called the Dr. office and asked if it was ok and where to start. The advice nurse told me that Jessie gets all she needs from breast milk and they usually advise people to wait until 6 months (unless she doesn't seem satiated with just the milk). So in my mind this is the law. To Jeff... not so much. I believe his response was something like "pbfhh". Needless to say, this was not a debate that I won. Jessie has had sweet potato, peas, and carrots.
First was sweet potato, she made a face like she was eating a lemon, but still kept opening her mouth. The next week we tried peas, Jeff felt vindicated as she lunged for every bite. This week we tried carrots. Carrots where well received and she is now showing a preference for them over the peas. Jeff is very happy. (Especially since Jamie never would eat that stuff. We kind of had to wait until toddler foods came around for her.... and we're still kind of there with her.)
Well, we don't give Jessie very much since I was told that it should not displace milk and we do wait at least 4 days to try something new (in case of allergies). So I suppose it has been somewhat of a compromise. More to come on baby food preferences. She does seem to have taken to it like a natural.
First was sweet potato, she made a face like she was eating a lemon, but still kept opening her mouth. The next week we tried peas, Jeff felt vindicated as she lunged for every bite. This week we tried carrots. Carrots where well received and she is now showing a preference for them over the peas. Jeff is very happy. (Especially since Jamie never would eat that stuff. We kind of had to wait until toddler foods came around for her.... and we're still kind of there with her.)
Well, we don't give Jessie very much since I was told that it should not displace milk and we do wait at least 4 days to try something new (in case of allergies). So I suppose it has been somewhat of a compromise. More to come on baby food preferences. She does seem to have taken to it like a natural.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Times, they are a changin'
Jessie and Jamie have changed so much with their first two weeks of school. It surprises me how much can change so soon. Jamie's reading and writing has taken a leap, she is doing so well. Jessie can roll from her back to her tummy (maybe she was supposed to be doing that a long time ago, I don't know I'm not caught up in that stuff this time around) she's playing so intently with toys (she never seemed to care before) and she's doing great with belly time. She is able to go to her baby school and be put down and play (big deal to me) and she's drinking milk from a bottle like a champ (yeah). Sitting and crawling are right around the corner. I'm cautiously watching the thumb the keeps going in her mouth, given the choice I'd rather her suck a binky. I'll keep you posted as the excitement continues.
p.s Jessie is 5 months today. next month will be a big milestone with a dr. visit, eating, and more abilities.
p.s Jessie is 5 months today. next month will be a big milestone with a dr. visit, eating, and more abilities.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A bit of Irony
So ... those of you that have been following the saga know that it's been trying, trying to get Jessie excited about the bottle. I've been really stressed with Jessie starting school and needing to take a bottle. Well, when I spoke with her teacher at school today she told me " I switched to a different bottle and it worked great, she took 4 oz (compared to the struggle before of getting her to take 1.5 oz)" Here comes the irony... The bottle she did "great" with is the avent bottle, the same one I have a bunch of at home because that was the bottle Jamie had. I've been running around buying all these premium bisephonol -A free bottles and she like the very one that I already have at home. go figure.
Another thing that is funny, Jessie for some reason likes to nap listening to Celine Dion. (I'm not much of a fan) Jessie's teacher is sweet and made a cd just for Jessie to listen to for her naps. I can add that to the lengthening list of why I like this school.
Another thing that is funny, Jessie for some reason likes to nap listening to Celine Dion. (I'm not much of a fan) Jessie's teacher is sweet and made a cd just for Jessie to listen to for her naps. I can add that to the lengthening list of why I like this school.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)