Dinner, Brothers, the flu, and a fire truck

Well it has been an interesting weekend. Josh is finally done with work (although he is going to start studying so not all that much will change).

On Friday night I decided that we would eat on the porch. It was so nice. I can only remember one other time that we have eaten out there. I am not exactly sure why it is a very nice dining experience. I think that we will do that a lot this summer. It helps to control the mess somewhat.


Saturday evening Ben, Jacob and I all got the stomach flu. That was so much fun. I am so thankful for my amazing husband who helped all of us. I don't know what I would do without him.

By Sunday evening we were all feeling much better. Ben loves sitting outside and wants his brother with him all the time. He "let" his brother out and when I went to check on them this is what I found. They are so much fun lately because they are playing together a lot. It is lots of fun to watch.

After dinner on the porch again on Sunday we saw them testing out the fire truck at the end of the street. It was very cool and Ben and Josh went to check it out.

So that was about all the excitement of the weekend. Jacob has another ear infection. Hopefully he will be better soon. He just seems so miserable when he is sick. Poor baby.

Sleeping Through the Night (A baby's perspective)

I just found this online. It is so funny and reminds me of Jacob completely.

Enjoy

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened.

Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night).

At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months.

Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights.
Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!!

If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change.

If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it.

BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with.
My sleep sack tickled my foot.
I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
I burped, and it tasted like pears (I hadn't eaten pears since lunch - what's up with that?)
The dog said "woof" (I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.)
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am.
You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

He Walks Finally

Silly Boys

Jacob found this box next to the couch the other day and thought it would be a good place to climb. It kind of looks like a step which is one of his favorite things.

So here he is in all his chub showing off his sitting skills :)

And Ben couldn't resist the attention so he had to climb right in as well. Good thing Jacob is so easy going and didn't mind at all.