A post regarding Mr. Ferber

OK, fine Dr. Ferber. But he's a mister too, so both work, right?

Anyhow, I digress. I must first paint a picture of what sleep in this house has been the last week.

Imagine getting used to the sweet, sweet sound of silence for 11 hours every evening after 7 or so months of no ok, hardly any sleep. Then, imagine one day waking up to high pitched, inconsolable, fervent screaming starting at 11 p.m. and going on every couple hours for the rest of the night. Ahhh!!! Guys, she was sleeping though the night for like a month and a half and then poof! Now she was screaming even when we tried to put her down at night, something she never did. What happened?!

Well, she had a cold. Two weeks before. But she still sounded a wee bit congested so when she cried out in the middle of the night and couldn't be consoled for the life of us, we brought her into bed with us. And there she slept. Beautifully. Like an angel. We, however, did not. Because her angelic sleeping involves intermittent kicks to our ribs (what have gotten much more painful less charming than the rib kicks I was feeling a year ago when she was in utero), and a rearranging of herself so that she is perpendicular between us, a sleep position that even our Cal King sized bed doesn't accommodate comfortably. Coupled with the fear that she would up and crawl out of bed and jump out the window or something equally horrific, we barely got any shut-eye.

But I'm not gonna lie, we were conflicted. I LOVE having her in bed with us. I love the snuggles. I love that she sleeps SO well with us there. Not a single cry all night long. I love being able to smell her and hear her right there, and watch her sleep so peacefully. But we also knew that we needed sleep! But not just us, we knew that she needed her rest, too. We had assumed she was teething, but wouldn't she have cried with us there too if she was in pain? Then we assumed it may be separation anxiety setting in. And we were afraid of this turning into a new habit that would take decades to undo (a wee bit dramatic?).

So we decided we would try some pseudo-Ferberizing. I say pseudo because, well, I never bought or read the book, so I don't have the details down. We had the weekend ahead of us, so we knew it would be the best time to start since we could always catch up on a little sleep during the day if it was a total bust. We decided to let her cry for a bit and then check on her at certain intervals, progressively letting her go a bit longer between checks. Night 1 we went in after 5 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and before 10 minutes was up she was asleep. She woke up at 3 a.m. and cried for less than 10 minutes and was back asleep. Night 2, I went in after 7 minutes, and before the next check she fell asleep. And she slept straight through until 7 a.m.! Last night was night 3 and again, she fell asleep between the first and second check (we started with 7 minutes last night). She did cry a little around 3 a.m. but fell right back to sleep within 7 minutes.

So what do I make of this whole Ferber thing? Quite honestly, I think it works. I will fess up and say that I may have had a mindset beforehand that letting a baby scream her head off is just plain cruel, but that's not really what this whole thing is about. It's about reassuring your little one that yes, you are there for them, but it's also being firmer in establishing that at night, there is no need for extra socializing! See, there are so many things that people say "I will never do that!" as a mother but, really, once you're in the game, the rules change!

Is there anything you thought you'd so never do, and then end up doing as a mama?

8 Months

is how long it's taken for me to get below my pre-pregnancy weight. 8 months! Whatever, I'm here and it's not stopping, I'm getting to my goal darnit!

But let's not let this be about me. Because 8 months means something completely different for this little somebody:

 

Gosh what isn't she up to these days! She's been crawling with proper form (tummy off the floor) since last Friday (the 18th). She pushes herself up to sitting. She's turning into a little monkey because she just loves to climb all over me! She walks when we hold her hands. I think she may just start cruising soon because she loves to be standing.

Her favorite toy is still the remote control. She likes the Elmo one I got her just fine, but there's something about the real thing that just has this magical allure to her. Now she's noticing and trying to grab at mama's newest toy: the iphone! Yes, I made the switch over to Verizon to snag this phone so I could be as cool as the rest of 'em, and let me tell you, I'm so glad I did! I love love love this thing. So any suggestions for some awesome apps are totally appreciated. I'll fess up and say I love Words w/ Friends, Angry Birds, Hipstamatic, 8mm camera, Bejeweled, and oh yes - Oregon Trail. AND the amazing Red Laser, which is like a scanner thing so you can check the lowest price on anything by just scanning in the barcode. Seriously if you haven't gotten on the bandwagon yet, go get one now!

OK, OK I'll end my rave. Moving on...

She has two teeth, both bottoms. #2 came in on the first of the month, and I'm expecting a top one to come in soon because she's back to drooling like crazy. Over the weekend I picked up some teething biscuits and she adores them - along with the organic puffs we got her. Here's a little video of her trying to eat them that I shot on (what else?) my iphone (did I tell you how much I love this thing?):



We moved her crib down yet again on Saturday because she's pulling up on everything, so she's now on the lowest level! It's so crazy, her once-adorable crib now looks like a little mini jail cell to me. Next stop is the transition to toddler rails, which I'm not ready for for at least 13 more years.

Anyway, she's much much better from the little cold she had over a week ago. What amazes me so much about her is that even when she was clearly feeling crummy, she still was all smiles. She has the sweetest disposition ever (her daddy suggests she gets it from him!). The other day I was reminiscing on how we used to have to hold her for all her naps, and I realized that she hadn't been held for a nap in months. It made me kind of sad, but the next day she humored her mama and let me hold her for one :-)

 And she's just oh so sweet that the next day she let daddy have his turn too!

I keep saying this as the weeks and months go by, but this is my favorite age. She just has so much personality and is so fun! When she was a couple weeks old I wondered how people ever managed to have more than one, but I can see now - there is light at the end of the newborn tunnel! "They" tell you having a kid is hard, and it really is, but man, is it rewarding!

Because 7 and a half months is a totally appropriate time to start planning her 1st Birthday party...

Yeaah I know. I'm nuts, whatever. I've been researching ideas to get a feel for what we're going to do, and I came across this...

http://partiesfantastic.com/ANPetting.htm

A bunny petting zoo!?!? Ahhh how cute! Is that a bit much for a first birthday party, or is it totally adorable?

I know I want some kind of theme, but I'm just not sure what it is. I know I'd like to do a "bee" theme for her 3rd birthday (our little bee is turning three!), and she's too young for anything princessy (plenty of princess parties up ahead, I'm sure). Of course I foresee a Candy land type party as well, but that too should be in the future (when, duh, our kid would like to eat candy) - maybe 5? And I always loved the idea of a little vintage circus, but our little back yard surely couldn't support such a production (and, well, neither can our wallets at the moment, let's be honest!).

Of course I'd like to do something that she likes, but I don't think a bath party would fly.

So where does that leave us? Bunnies? Petting zoos are fun, but I imagine they take up quite a bit of space... but bunnies? They're so small! And, well... cute! Thoughts?

Wait - do they bite?

The First Cold

Poor little G. She caught her very first cold last Friday. I had hoped we would make it through winter without her getting sick, but it just happened. Even though it was clear she was feeling lousy, she still was in mostly happy spirits. She was pretty bummed that she had to miss out on a friend's 1st b-day party, but we couldn't take her out and expose other babies to germs, or have her get more sick. Here's a pic of our little trooper:

Gah I love this little girl so much! Yesterday hubby wasn't feeling too hot himself after our big Valentine's day feast (we went out Sunday night) so he stayed home with her while I went to work. I got an excited text from him mid-morning saying she pushed up to sitting all by herself! Then he quickly asked, "Wait - she hasn't done that yet, right? Right??!"

Right, DH! He got to witness a first, and he was so happy and proud. He also sent me a little video of her standing by herself, holding onto the box her froggie humidifier came in. She's becoming so mobile, it's kind of scary. Gone are the days where I wouldn't have to worry about putting her on the bed for a moment while I change! Her favorite thing, and really this is what got her to finally start army-crawling around at top speed - the remote control. She LOVES it.

So much that I had to get her this one, so she could have a proper remote to gnaw on play with.

My Little Valentine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

disclaimer - I am by no means a professional photographer. But I'd like to be. Any tips on that and photoshop are always greatly appreciated! I created a mini "studio" here in our bedroom using two pieces of fleece (which I later used to make her this blanket). Oh and I got the little card template from MCP actions. Just search for them on Facebook. :-)

It's only February, but...

SQUEE!!
These obv won't be for me, as tempting as it would be to try to find one of these adorables in my size (and I'm trying my hardest to not buy her a bathing suit until it's at least spring!). This one's for mama:

Cuz as skinny as I'd like to think I'll be by summer, I don't foresee the dozen stretchies going away anytime soon. Boo. At least I won't scare people?

G sprouted her other bottom tooth on the 1st of the month! And as of yesterday evening we finally have forward movement when "crawling"! OK so it's not proper form or whatever, but she wiggles forward like a worm to get to what she wants: the remote control! Soon enough she'll figure out that all the rocking she's doing on her knees will help propel her forward :-) Oh and as of Wednesday, she's 20 lbs 2 oz and 28 inches long. Gah she's growing up so fast, every day there's something new!