Loving Spring

It is finally feeling like spring is arriving after taking it's sweet time to get here. After living in Northern Minnesota all of my life I know that some years spring doesn't arrive until at least mid May. It seems as though this is one of those years. Today is May 6, 2011 and it was beautiful out. We spent our morning at home enjoying some play time. After morning nap we headed off to meet a friend and her son who is 4 months older than Eli. We had a wonderful 45 minute walk on a trail through the woods. This is another plus of living in Northern Minnesota. There is a trail in the woods pretty much in the middle of town. After spending some great time in the woods and sun we headed home for Eli to take his afternoon nap. Then it was off to my in-laws house. They live on a gorgeous lake and I headed out in the kayak. The water was smooth as glass and so beautiful. Eli put his feet in the lake for the first time. the water is still cold since the ice just went out a week ago but he is now obsessed with the lake. I love that I have a water baby and Dan loves it even more. Dan got off work and we headed into town for his softball practice. It was such a nice evening that Eli and I enjoyed the sun and company of some friends (other guys' girlfriends and wives) while the guys had batting practice. Eli fell asleep on the way home so we left him in the car in the driveway with the windows down and got some work done in the yard. Dan raked and played with Nala while I weeded the front garden. After this we came in and had a normal night. I had to share our day step by step because we FINALLY got to spend an entire day outside in the wonderful spring sunshine. Here a few photos of my adorable little boy while we were watching Dan at batting practice.

Watching Daddy play softball.

BSBC Night 3

It seems like nights are getting better. Eli didn't go to bed well last night but I was expecting that. He didn't get his afternoon nap making him overtired. This usually leads to a complete meltdown at bedtime. He had his expected meltdown as soon as I took him out of the bathtub. Of course as soon as he was able to nurse he calmed down. This is just one of the many benefits of nursing, you can calm your child right down, but that's another post for another day. Unfortunately because he was so tired Eli fell asleep after about 10 seconds of nursing. I snuggled with him for a little bit because I love it and it's the only time he will snuggle. Then put him down in his bed. He wok up and was very angry with me. Because he had been extremely hungry but didn't eat anything he woke up and realized he was still starving. I did something I never do, I took him back out of his crib and fed him some more. I usually don't do this but I knew he was hungry and was not going to deny my hungry baby his milk. This time I focused on keeping him awake so he would eat. He did nurse well and I put him back in his crib awake at 8pm. I didn't hear another peep from him until 12:30am. That was 4.5 hours. After letting him fuss for a few minutes and knowing he wasn't going back to sleep I went in and nursed him. He went right back down. He did wake up crying at 4:15am. I just fed him in my sleep deprived state I didn't even look at the clock. This really gets me in trouble. I need to pay attention to the clock or we will end up right back where we were. The good thing is that it was only 15 minutes early and tonight I will take special care in watching the clock and making sure we wait at least 4 hours. Eli then woke up at 7:40am for the day. I really think we are making progress!

I do want to note that I am not usually a by the clock feeder. During the day Eli nurses whenever he wants. This is usually every 2-3 hours. He does however go 4 hours on occasion. However, I feel like continuing to feed on demand all night is going to leave use even more sleep deprived than we already are.

Today I leave you with a new photo of my sweet little man that I took this morning, while typing this post. We will be back tomorrow to let you know how tonight went.

BSBC Night 2

Last night was much improvement over night 1. Eli went down without a fuss at 8pm like he does every night. His pre-determined feeding time was at 12am which was 4 hours after he last ate. Eli woke up at 11pm which seems to be what he is used to. He always wakes up around 11. I let him fuss for about 5 minutes and he wasn't calming down so I went in and told him he was ok. The main problem is that his blankie was out of reach. He can't sleep without it. I gave his blankie to him and he curled up and went back to sleep without my picking him up. Between 11 and 12 he woke up about every 10-15 minutes. He let out a cry and when I didn't immediately appear he would quiet down and go back to sleep. When he let out a cry at 12:10 I went in and nursed him laying him down awake but close to sleeping. I didn't hear from him again until 4:30am! That was past his 4 hour mark! He hasn't slept 4 hours straight in months. I let him fuss for a few minutes but he wasn't going back to sleep so I got up and nursed him and didn't hear from him again until 7:50am when it was time to get up for the day! It is so nice to see some progress. It seems like we are getting a little more sleep every night. I'll be back tomorrow to let you all know how night 3 went.

BSBC Night 1

Last night was night number 1 of Eli's BSBC. It was a rough one but saw progress even throughout the night. Going to bed is always easy for Eli. He hasn't fought it in a couple of months but staying asleep is hard for him. I went into last night telling myself I would only pick him up and nurse him ever 4 hours. He went down at 8pm like usual and awoke screaming at 11:10. For the next 50 minutes I went in over and over at predetermined timed intervals to tell him he was ok. He continued to scream but I knew he was fine. He had a dry diaper and wasn't hungry. He is just so used to having mommy pick him up and cuddle or nurse him every time he cries. At midnight when he hit the 4 hour mark I went in picked him up and nursed him. Laying him back down drowsy but awake and off to bed we all went. He then mad it until 3:45am! I then let him fuss until 4am which was his next feeding time. He didn't scream at all at this point. He was obviously unhappy but just fussing and whining. At 4am I fed him again and put him down. He awoke at 6:45 and at 7 he got to get up and eat. The reason this was not at a 4 hour interval was because he was getting up for the day.

We are already partway in to night 2 (and I should be sleeping). It is going better than last night and I can't wait to update you all tomorrow!

Sleep, or Lack of Sleep

Eli has entered into his mommy's own version of boot camp. I call it Baby Sleep Boot Camp or BSBC. My sweet little boy is not a good sleeper. He has no problem going to sleep on his own. I always lay him down in his crib awake and he chats to himself for a couple minutes and then he drifts off to sleep. However, this only lasts about 1 hour then he would like his entire night time routine repeated so that he can go back to sleep. I am only human and can only wake up so many times per night and still function. I understand that all babies learn to sleep through the night at their own pace and that it isn't something to be forced. I heard last month that night wakings are only as much of a problem as you make them. Well, after not having more than 3 hours of sleep straight for over 9 months they are becoming a problem. I don't mind waking up 1 or 2 times a night. I am not expecting him to sleep through the night until he is ready but I can not continue to wake every hour every night.

I have read MANY books on sleep, talked to doctors, nurses, and other moms. Everyone has their own opinion of what you should do. Don't let them cry. Let them cry it out. Put them down asleep. Rock them to sleep. Wake them to feed so they don't think they get fed when they wake. After all this input I created a plan using bits and pieces of everything I had hear. I used this method with success a couple months ago to get him back to sleeping in his crib instead of our bed so figured it was time to try it again.

Lindsay's BSBC Guide:

Stage 1: Getting to Sleep

• Be consistent! If you give in the baby knows. You need to be able to outlast your baby. It may lead to a few nights, even a week of even more sleep loss but it will get better.
• Have a bedtime routine. Eli knows when bed time is coming. We go in his room undress him, lotion, diaper change, teeth brushed, redress in jammies, then put on his sleep sack. As soon as the sleep sack goes on he starts to go nuts because he knows what comes next. He gets to nurse while I sing to him. I sing the same song every night. When he is getting drowsy and his sucking has slowed I unlatch him, get one last snuggle and off to bed he goes.
• He doesn't cry anymore when I put him down he is an old pro at going to sleep. However, when he did I let him cry for a few minutes, usually 3 and then checked on him, then 5 minutes later repeated, and 7 minutes later. We never had to go beyond 7 minutes. I told him he was ok, that I loved him, and gave him a kiss on the forehead while telling him he needed to sleep like a big boy.

Stage 2: Dealing With Night Wakings

• Set a predetermined amount of time you would like your baby to go between feedings. Eli goes anywhere between 2 and 4 hours during the day so I picked 4 hours. I know he can go that long without eating as he does it all the time during the day. This means in his 12 hour night he gets to eat 2 times.
• If he wakes up after sleeping for at least 4 hours I let him fuss for 5 minutes to see if he is willing to put himself back to sleep. If that does not work then I go in and feed him until he is drowsy and then back to bed he goes and the clock starts over for his 4 hours.
• If he wakes up prior to 4 hours I allow him to cry for 5 minutes before going in and checking on him. I repeat timed checks mentioned in the previous stage until 1 of 2 things happens. He either falls back asleep or he reaches his 4 hours.

Stage 3: Lengthening Sleep

• After successfully reaching the 4 hour interval I plan on lengthening it.
• Week 2 will be 4.5 hours, week 3 will be 5, week 4 will be 5.5 and week 6 will be 6 hours.
• I am planning on stopping at hours as this will be 1 night feeding and I feel comfortable with that. Eli will then be able to decide when he would like to drop that feeding.

I have read so many things that tell you to lengthen every night. I feel that is too soon. I want Eli to adjust and sleep well but not completely shock him.

Let's Try This Again..

This post was started on April 22 but deleted and retyped on May 2, 2011.

I have been such a bad blogger lately. I feel like I should set aside a certain day and time each week so that I can write and let all my friends out in blogland know what is going on in our life. Our days have been crazy here but we are having a lot of fun and enjoying life. Here are some updates of each of us. We will start with the cutest and most exciting member of our family:

E: Last week E turned 9 months old! I can't believe that he has now spent more time on the outside than he did inside! He is a very big boy! He just had his 9 month well child visit and weighs in at 25lbs and is 30" tall. He is in the 99th percentile for both. He has a big head too. It is in the 120th percentile! I just keep telling myself he has a lot of brains in there. E is babbling like crazy and loves to play with mom and dad. He hates playing by himself and lets you know that he wants your undivided attention by screaming. He doesn't move yet, just spins on his butt while sitting. This again leads to screaming as he sees so many things that he wants to get to but can't. He is happiest when he is given 2 fingers, one for each hand, and walked around and around and around. He could do this ALL day. E doesn't sleep well and has entered baby sleep boot camp. I will be posting on this later tonight but it needs its own post.

Lindsay: My life revolves around E. So really, there isn't much new going on with me. I just realized a few weeks ago that as of last week we have lived in our house for 1 year! I also realized that we have NOTHING on our walls. This led to a massive shopping spree at, Wal-mart, Target, ETSY, and Amazon. Our house if finally starting to look like a home.

Dan: Has been busy with work. He has been home a lot more lately which is nice. Back to just going in to the office for 2 days ever 2 weeks. It is extremely nice having him home. I look forward to him coming home so he can play with Eli and I can have a little break. Then it's my turn again as I get him to bed. Eli loves his daddy and Dan loves him but in the middle of the night Eli hates his daddy. He will cry and I will send Dan in. Eli stops crying when he hears the door open. Then he looks up and see's Dan and you would swear that he is trying to hurt him he goes nuts. He does this for anyone but me.

There's the family recap. Hope you enjoyed!

MIA

I have been missing in action lately from just about every online site I usually visit. I have managed to stay up on Facebook to update the Goodies 2 Shoes page but not much else. My husband is gone again. That means that he has been home for 3 out of the last 16 days. I miss him dearly but most of all I wish he was here to help out at 3am. When he was on vacation both E and I were sick. I had strep throat and a sinus infection and E had a nasty cold. I am feeling much better but just as E's cold was on it's way out he started teething. He has had 2 teeth for the last 2 months and the top right one popped through sometime over the night. Unfortunately he has THREE more that I see are working there way up and through. This makes for very long days and even longer nights!

On the business front; I have added another flower to the page and tomorrow will be adding some more and some bows. I will also be debuting the new spring dresses that I am making. Be sure you check it out!