life in general [l.i.g]

Just thought I'd give an Aida update :) She turned 5 months old last Wednesday - so hard to believe! We've had a few new babies at church the last couple of weeks and I can not believe that she used to be that tiny!

Aida's newest and very exciting skill (esp. for Mom and Dad) is that she is almost sleeping through the night - YAY! She was a very decent sleeper from birth to 3 months, but at that point we started a slow digression in her ability to sleep for long periods during the night. The culmination of this was around the 4.5 month mark and I will not even put a number on the times she was getting up because it's too big (and therefore depressing). Initially I thought she just needed to eat more because of growth spurts etc....until I realized she could go 4 hours during the day between meals, so there was no way she was needing to eat every 2.5 hours (or less) at night. What to do, what to do.....

I had read a couple of the "major" sleep training/baby schedule books (Baby Wise and Sears), and although helpful/informative on different points, neither really resonated with me as a great fit for our lifestyle and priorities when it came to parenting. Both were too extreme on opposite ends of the spectrum. At the 4.5 month mark, I picked up Weissbluth's book "Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child", and I have to say, I definitely recommend it over the other two. In my opinion, it road the middle ground in terms of the previously mentioned books. Weissbluth is an MD and started a sleep research center for infants and children at Northwest University. I learned a lot about the biological function and maturation of sleep habits and what (generally) can be expected at different ages. His ideas, solutions and scheduling suggestions were simple and straight forward, which I really appreciated.

Here's what changed:

Bedtime: Was 8:30 - 9pm; now is 7:15pm

Routine: Was pretty much nothing; now it starts at about 6:15-30pm with dinner (solids), bath, PJs, cuddle, nurse and into bed.

Our response to waking: I used to jump up at every whimper; now it's nothing unless it's time to eat (usually between 4am - 5am). Obviously that will be modified for sickness etc ;)

All these changes were recommended by Weissbluth and it sounds simple (and obvious), right? Well, it was and it worked. The first night Aida cried for maybe 25 minutes, which wasn't the most fun for her or us, but then slept straight through except for 2 feedings. She eliminated the first night feeding on her own after the second night and in the last 3 weeks of the new "routine", she has fussed during the night just a handful of times. PTL!

I haven't followed W's recommendation for nap times quite as closely. Although the basics hold true for us (nap times around 9am and 1pm), sometimes her ability to sleep for a longer (1+ hour) time is an issue. CIO during the day has yet to be successful and to be honest, it just makes me too sad. So we just work with general time frames during the day and go with the flow. If she wakes after 40 minutes and is happy we play and eat. Then we grab a bit more sleep on a walk in the Bjorn. As long as she gets one "good" nap (~1.5 hours) in her crib plus a few shorties, I'm happy and so is she :)

Aida has always been mellow and sweet, but both Peter and I have seen a marked difference since her nights have improved and enjoy our time together even more! Mom is also re-"learning" (seriously!) how to get 8+ hours a night with only one waking and it is a. ma. zing. :)

Words can not express how much I love walking into this face in the morning :)

Our patient little yard work buddy

We had a wonderful Easter celebration yesterday here in sunny COS! Worship at FRAC was a joyful celebration of our resurrected Lord who conquered death that we might live in justified relationship with Him - praise the Lord! Church was followed by a yummy brunch at Ben and Lyd's house. I wish all holiday meals consisted of breakfast foods. That would be pure bliss. Not so much for my waistline.

Peter's parents are getting ready to sell their house in MS and we decided about a month ago that it would be great if he could go down and help them get things ready. However, in the midst of the craziness that was March, we overlooked that fact that he had scheduled the ticket for Easter weekend. Whoops. So, Aida and Mommy spent Easter without Daddy. A little sad, but we're glad he was able to do so much around his childhood home in Gulfport to help out! And we are looking forward to his return tonight! Yay!

Here are some pictures of our favorite little Easter bunny: