Yeah. What She Said.

Yes, we're still talking about sleep.

Did I mention that he barely cried during the whole sleep strategy adventure? Yes, we used the dreaded Ferber method and he barely cried. His longest bout was 15 minutes. His others were 5 minutes, 90 seconds, and 3 seconds. That was it.

I have spent months hearing moms talk about the horrible Ferber method of getting your baby to sleep. They had me convinced that it was the worst thing you could do to your child, and that I would be in tears by the end of it. (Give me another week without sleeping, and then I'd be in tears). But Jett was ready; we had very little crying. After reading the entire book, it's even a theory that I can support. So quit with the drama, Ferber-haters.

My baby is fast asleep and after a few more nights, I'll be functioning like a real human being again. A real human being who sleeps.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!

Another night of good sleeping. In fact, Jett slept through the night for the first time in 7 1/2 months.

I'm trying not to sound smug, but as you can see, Jett is very advanced. He's obviously spent the last 7 1/2 months staying up at night reading the sleep books. He probably had them hiding under his crib mattress.

We love this kid! He's always giving us bragging rights.

Maybe We Should Have Tried This Sooner (the books, not the wine)

This is the wine
sipped by the mom
who read the books

that laid the plan
which convinced the dad
who settled the baby

who laid in the crib
and fell asleep
on his own.

Two nights in a row.

Bath

I'm sorry it's been so long since the last post. We'll have a lot more to talk about by the end of this weekend, because we are trying a sleep strategy with Jett, and you know how much I like to talk about sleep. We started our strategy last night, and it's too early to tell if it's working or not. I'm sure it isn't consuming your thoughts the way it's consuming mine, but I'll share all the minute details at the end of the weekend.

In the meantime, here is a picture of yesterday's bath. Happy weekend!

One Year Later

We have this photo from Jett's ultrasound. He's just a one-dimensional, black and white little peanut with his thumb in his mouth. I remember that we watched him kicking me on the ultrasound screen, but I couldn't feel it, he was that tiny. That was just 365 days ago.

Exactly one year ago today.

Seven Months

Today Jett turned seven months old.



At seven months, you are out of the smallest clothes. He's outgrown his socks (size 0 - 6 months), outgrown his white onesies (3 - 6 months) and most of his pants, which are now too short.

In the last month or so Jett has learned how to sit up by himself with only the occasional toppling over. He can lean front and to the side, while he's sitting, to reach a toy. He now cries when we take his favorite toy away (his favorite toy is the tv remote first, and our cell phones second). But we can still fool him by throwing a blanket over them - he thinks they've disappeared and quits looking.

Jett has also started eating solid food and so far his favorite is bananas. We usually let him play with his food, and his spoon, and the bowl. Today at baby yoga I found last night's bananas in Jett's little neck folds. Oops. Did I mention that all of his bibs are in the clothes hamper, so he's been eating bibless the last couple of days? It's a mess, but it can't be helped, bib or no bib, so we just let him make a mess. Tomorrow he starts on the acorn squash, which should be easier to find in his neck folds, since it's bright orange.



Oh, Jett's hair. Some days it looks blonde, some days it looks brown, and some days it even looks reddish. So we haven't figured out the color, but he is getting more of it - so much so that sometimes his hair is messy and needs to be patted down. I know those of you who saw him last week won't believe me, but he seems to have had a growth spurt on his head this week.



Another milestone is his move to his crib. Unfortunately this was followed by an exhausting habit of waking up every 2 hours and wanting to nurse. But it's his birthday, so we won't dwell on the difficulties of a seven month old who doesn't sleep through the night.

Most of all, Jett loves to bounce. He bounces in the exersaucer, bounces on my knee, in my arms, on the floor, in the car seat - anywhere he can pump his arms, pump his legs, and move his butt up and down is a good place for him. And when you turn the music on - look out. He's a bouncing machine.

He's our bouncing machine and we love him. Happy birthday, Jett.

The Crib

Jett's full-time in the crib these days. We even had the guts to take down the co-sleeper today and put it into our storage area (i.e. the least crowded corner of our bedroom). So far whenever I crawl in to bed I miss Jett and the sound of his sleeping, and the knowing that in a few short hours he'd be laying right next to me, snuggled up against me with his sweet little breath on my cheek. But then I pick up my book and turn on the lamp next to my bed, and Charlie and I talk above a whisper, and I realize that there's something to be said for Jett sleeping in his own room.

After the first few nights of this, I even put away the monitor that lets us spy on Jett with our ears. We just don't need it. Maybe it's because our condo is so small, but I swear I could hear him sigh from down the block if I had to. Sometimes Charlie and I wake up to Jett's noises, and one of us rushes to his room, sure that he's been awake and crying for hours, only to find that his pacifier is still in his mouth, his eyes are still shut, his head is barely off the mattress, and we probably woke up to his inhale that came before this, the quietest cry in the world, because he is basically still asleep.

Asleep. Jett is, so I should be too. Good night.

Happy New Year

Obviously Charlie was a very good boy this year - check out what Santa left in his stocking.



It's difficult to say what Jett's favorite present is. The toy train? The building blocks? His own toes? No matter. We had a fabulous holiday. I hope you all did too.



Happy New Year.