Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We're still alive!

Sorry for not blogging lately...life here has been a little crazy. Will is not sleeping well at all anymore...in fact, I'm lucky if I can get a 2 hour stretch between him waking! Greg has been awesome helping out, but the little guy is wearing all of us out - himself included! I've had to cross one of the "I'll never's..." off my list. I swore up and down that we'd NEVER co-sleep with him. Yeah...that lasted all of a few nights until I was desperate enough to get sleep that I put him in bed with us. He's totally a fan of it. I'm not really, but it does mean I'm getting some form of sleep, and right now some is better than none. Any ideas for helping with our horrible sleep habits? I'm hoping I'm not going to be forced to grin and bear it until he's older!

Other news...Will officially rolled from back to tummy on Sunday! I'm counting it, even though he was on the bed and my weight made it a little easier for him ;) He's really started to talk - a lot! He babbles and shows off all the time...it is so cute! He grabs his feet when laying on the floor and he reaches for everything. I feel like everyday brings a new milestone...this age is so much fun. As of last Tuesday, he weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces...holy cow, he's almost doubled his birth weight!

Last week we took his first trip to Kansas and I cannot get over how wonderful he was. He had his shots the day before we left, so I was a little worried about how the car ride would go. He surprised both Greg and I by being a wonderful passenger. He slept for a lot of the trip, played with some toys hung from his carseat, and really only cried for the last 30 minutes of the 12 hour trip. He was also amazing in Kansas - he showed off for everyone! He is in love with my grandma...he would light up when he saw her and babbled away with her :) He took his first dip in a pool while we were there too and he loved every second of it. I definitely think we have a water baby on our hands! The water was even a tiny bit chilly and he couldn't care less. We're going to have to start taking him to the pool in our neighborhood or something.

Here's a picture from the 4th to fill your Will quota for the day! I've got tons more where this one came from...I've just gotta get them edited!


2 comments:

gena said...

Libby, so glad you're back!!! :) I love the new picture of you and Will! I can't believe how fast he's growing! Wish I could help with the sleep problem - it sure wasn't something I ever figured out. It seems to work itself out over time... . Thanks for keeping us updated with the great blogs and pictures - you are missed when you're gone!

Dacia said...

oh my goodness, he is so adorable great pictures, too!! but that boy has got to sleep some more!! you will go crazy!

okay, i wasn't going to give you sleeping advice because i figured it wasn't my place, but then you asked for advice, so here's my 2 cents. take it or leave it. :-)

i am no expert, but i have read several books and have one daughter that slept through the night by 6 weeks of age and a 4 week old that is only waking once in the night. i also have tons of friends with babies and have seen the same issues with them and have watched how they've fixed them. i hope what worked for them will work for you.

try these methods below for at least 4 or 5 days. i guarantee you'll be sleeping a little bit longer. the first couple days might be tough, but it's worth it. hang in there. if it doesn't work after a week, go back to what you were doing. but i promise, it will work.

i've never been a fan of co-sleeping and the reason is that no one gets a good night's sleep. i promise, you will ALL sleep better in separate rooms. will is at an age now where he is more easily awoken than he was as a newborn and i fear it will only get worse the older he gets. make the break soon because it won't be long before it's much more difficult to transition him to his own bed!

also, when he wakes in the night, are you getting him and feeding him at the first sign of stirring? if so, just wait a few minutes (literally 3 or 4 minutes) he will probably go back to sleep. often they will wake up in the night but not necessarily need to eat. (you should be able to tell the "hungry" cry by now...the loud shrill one that says "i won't stop crying until you feed me"...if he gives you that one, by all means, feed him. but at 3 months old, his body is able to go 8 hours each night without eating. (according to my pediatrician, and from personal experience). i know it's hard because as mom's we second guess ourselves and wonder if our child is starving and we're depriving him and that can start to do crazy things to our thoughts. but he will not starve. he needs to learn to fall back to sleep without eating. it is something we all had to learn at one point. some of us learned at 3 or 4 months old....some kids don't learn until they're well over a year. you don't want your child to be that one (trust me, i have tons of friends who have those kids...and it's because they never learned to fall asleep on their own)

you have to get yourself out of the mindset that will is still a newborn. i know it's hard and sad, but he's not a newborn any more and he has to start learning life lessons now. one of those is that he can't sleep in mommy's bed and snack all night long. :-)

i know this is long, but one more thing--he will sleep longer if he gets full feedings. the breastmilk that is the most filling is called "hind milk" and it comes at the end of the feeding. if he is snacking throughout the night, he is probably not REALLY hungry when he eats, so he is probably only eating enough to satisfy the hunger and then falling right back to sleep. if you wait to feed him until he is really hungry, he will likely finish his feeding and sleep longer. this begins with that first night time feeding before you put him down for the night. don't let him fall asleep while he eats. keep him awake until you are sure he's finished.

good luck. i can't imagine surviving on that little sleep. you must be truly exhausted. hang in there!! i really think these things will work. i will be praying for you and your sweet family!!