"miracle" might have been the wrong word

well, maybe I was a little overly excited in the last post.  Andy DID sleep through the night...but the following night he was up for his regular 3 am wake up call! DANG IT!  I let him cry for 2 hours (!!!), and then finally decided to go in.  Right when I went in he was on his tummy, fingers in mouth, about to fall back asleep on his own!  He heard the door creak open and he jumped up.  I was watching him on the video monitor, but I couldn't tell that he was almost asleep....shoot!

He was not soaked, however, when I went in, which makes me believe cutting back nursing him was the ticket.  He just wanted to kind of visit with me.  I changed him, just so he'd be dry, and then quickly nursed him and put him back down. 

Last night, I vowed to myself that he was going to cry it out.  I knew he was fine.  If I had only waited just a little bit longer, he would have done it the previous night. 

So, last night, right on cue, at 3:00am, Andy started talking/crying/screaming.  I refused to go in there.  I just laid in bed (hacking) watching him on the screen.  He put up a pretty good fight... cried for an hour and 45 minutes... but then he went to sleep!  WOOHOO! 

This seems so harsh, but I know he can do it... if you are reading this thinking I am an awful parent, please do not tell me.  Just keep that little tidbit to yourself.  We had to go through this with Cal and now he's a great sleeper.  It WILL be worth it. 

Just a few more nights.... I will survive..... I can do it.  Right??

Dear Cal....

While Mommy loves you so so so much, she REALLY is not ready for you to drop your nap. She thoroughly enjoys spending lots of fun time with you, but she also thoroughly enjoys your nap time.  That is her time to recharge her batteries so that she's able to chase you around constantly all afternoon with a smile on her face.   

Just because Mommy stopped napping all together when she turned two does not mean that you should.  Ask your grandma about the trouble she got into when she didn't nap.....

You are an active little boy who needs his rest...and mommy needs you to have your rest. 

That is all for now.  Sweet dreams, you little wild child.

Love,
Mommmyyyyyyyy

PS: It's tempting to read you this bed time story, titled "Go the F*#@ to Sleep", narrated here (fast forward to about a minute in).  (Mom, don't click on the link...there is bad language....that goes for anyone else that might be offended by foul language--or if you are reading this at your office...)

Sleep Update: 10 weeks

Mr. Andy will be 11 weeks old on Wednesday (cah-razy!), and I want to take a minute to do a sleep update, so I can go back later on in life and remember this stuff.

party at my crib! 12, 3, 5, 6...really allll night! come on over!

In weeks 9 and 10, I felt like Andy was making a lot of progress sleeping.  He was taking 2 great naps in his crib, at least 2 hours each, and a few cat naps in between.  I have been trying really hard to follow the eat, wake, sleep cycle, and felt like that was working well. 

Then, last weekend, we went out to dinner with some friends Saturday night.  We had a sitter and left milk for Andy. Well, long story short, Andy wouldn't take the bottle, screamed like crazy, and our sitter texted me before I even ordered dinner.  There was no calming him.  He screamed for 2 hours straight.  I came home before ordering dinner and found a distraught baby and sitter. 

That night, I guess he was so exhausted from all the crying, he slept a 6 hour stretch.  I was PUMPED!  He only got up one time that night and I was SO SO excited!  I thought we were turning a corner.  The next day, he was still worn out because he took two AWESOME naps in his crib-- it was just great all around!

you mean I am supposed to SLEEP at night?

You know how the bible says "Thou Shall Not Boast"?  Well, I was telling everyone what a great sleeper he was and that he slept for 6 hours and he only got up once and wasn't that so great..... well, he SHOWED me! That next night, Andy got up 5 times.  Yes.  5 times.  And each time, he was a challenge to get back down again.  Not just a feed and back in crib.  This was a feed, rock, burp, change, rock, pace, bounce, feed....ack! The next day, he went down for his morning nap (in the crib), and slept for all of 15 minutes.  hm.  I rocked him again and put him down again, and he was awake 15 minutes later.  I knew he was exhausted because every time I rocked him, he fell asleep instantly. 

We ran some errands, and he dozed a bit in the car, and then it was time for afternoon naps.  Again, he fell asleep while I rocked him, but then was awake again after 15 minutes!  This went the ENTIRE nap time!  I was soooo worn out from the night before and I spent the entire time Cal was down, trying to get (and keep) Andy down.  It wore me out. 

That has pretty much been the trend this week-- a lot of broken naps... I'm trying different things to get him to nap longer.  I just can't figure out what has changed...


Our pediatrician says it's time to let him cry it out.  I am ready for this HOWEVER, Andy sleeps on his stomach and I am not comfortable with him crying it out until he is capable of flipping back and forth.  Is that bad?  I just don't want him on his face screaming... if he could roll to his back and then back to his stomach, I'd feel better.


He is napping right now, and I put him on his side.  I think part of the problem too, is he is liking his paci and likes to fall asleep with it in, but when he's on his stomach, he can't turn his head without the paci getting caught and waking him up.  He isn't able to put the paci in by himself yet either...that will help too. 


So, there's the sleep update.  Hopefully, we can keep getting those long stretches at night...

Cal starts camp again next week for the month of August and then school starts in September...!!!!  It starts at 9:00, so I am going to have to figure out Andy's napping around drop off and pick up.  I might make him nap in the car for the morning nap!  I don't know what else to do-- unless Eddie does drop off every day....

Side note: I am going to be doing some mega tummy time this week so that we can start crying it out sooner! 

huh??  Tummy Time??  Noooo, thank you!

Weekend Update

It was a busy weekend in the Williamson household!

We hosted a couples shower on Saturday night for dear friends of ours, who are sadly moving to Philadelphia next week! Their baby is due in September and we are super excited for their growing families, and sad that we will not be closer to witness it firsthand.

On Friday, two friends (Andrea and Julie) came over to make the favors for the party and to tie up a few loose ends. I had such a great time with them. Sometimes, just sitting around with great friends makes for the best time. They came over at 10:45 and didn't leave until almost 3. It was just what I needed.

In in effort to get Cal's sleeping back on track, I decided to switch up some of his nap times. He was going down for his afternoon nap at 3...therefore, waking up at 5 or 5:30 and then going back down again at 7 or 7:30. I moved that nap to 1, and he went down like a champ....he did not, however, sleep through the night.

Eddie was also playing in a golf tournament this weekend, and on Friday night, we had a kick off party...actually, it was called a pairings party, where they announce who will be playing in which groups. After they announce that, the groups all get together to discuss their handicaps, etc, and then the foursomes are "auctioned" off. It was....interesting to watch it all happen. MUCH more for the guys playing than for their spouses, that is for sure! :) Eddie was in heaven and I enjoyed watching him. We had a babysitter--someone new--and it went perfectly well! She was wonderful and super trustworthy and I felt totally comfortable with her keeping Cal. Cal is at a great stage where he will go to anyone and he will smile at everyone, so when we left he was singing to Liz-- super cute! We got home early, 9:30, and the house was quiet! She got him down without a fight!

Saturday, I ran around like a crazy person trying to get ready for the shower that night. Cal was going to be spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house....ACK! His sleeping habits have been HORRIBLE lately and I was really worried about my mom. I also had to run the last minute things over to the house where the party was being held, AND get Cal all ready with his bag, etc, AND get me all ready, AND pump enough milk for the overnight party he was about to have!

I got myself ready during nap time, ran like crazy getting everything else ready, and was pumping right before I ran out the door. I got to my mom's house and realized that I left the bottle (the ONLY kind the kid will take) on the drying rack on my kitchen counter. I could have gone back home to get it, but the party was right near my house and I would have been late(r) if I was driving back and forth. Mom found another (different kind of) bottle and swore she'd be fine and sent me on my way.

The party was a HUGE hit and we had a great time. It was just so much fun to spend that time with my really good girl friends laughing and talking and enjoying each other. I didn't worry about Cal at all and I was REALLY looking forward to sleeping through the night.

After clean-up and getting home (and pumping....AGAIN! whew), I was sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was thinking about Cal, but knew Mom was fine with him :).

At 1:00, the thunder rolled in. I have posted in the past about how much Hank loves a good thunder storm. And by loves, I mean he is terrified. Isn't that some kind of irony? The ONE night where we are so excited to sleep through the night and we are up with the dog??? I got up and gave him a benadryl and then got back in bed. His cries did not stop and he was banging his head on the side of the bed over and over and over again (the whole bed shakes). Finally, Eddie got up and put him in the nursery with the door closed (the blinds were down so he couldn't see the lightning). Well, the smarties that we are, we didn't realize that the baby monitor was on, so when Hank started crying again, the monitor brought his cries right into our bedroom. We both had to laugh at that one.

I woke up at 6 in some pain-- Cal has been getting up every single night to nurse (well, I try not to nurse him, but that is the only thing that will knock him back out!), so I was really full by 6. I went downstairs to pump and then was back asleep until Eddie woke me up at 9. He was ready to go get his baby! I was loving sleeping! We called my mom and put the on the speaker phone.
Our conversation:
me: how'd it go??
mom: I do not know how you do that every night.
me: that good, huh?
mom: Carrie, how are you not exhausted every single day?
me: I am just used to it, I guess. Was he that bad?
mom: He wasn't "bad" at all, but he was sooooo active! I just don't know how you function after night after night of that!

Apparently, Cal woke up at 12, and mom cuddled him and brought him into bed with her (mistake one). He fell right back asleep in the bed, but woke up at 1:30 SUPER excited to see his grandma laying there. He started climbing all over her and trying to stick his hand in her mouth (he thinks this is the best game ever). Every time she would open her eyes, he would get a fit of the giggles and not stop laughing. She would put him in his crib and he would start screaming and jumping up and down. As soon as she would walk into the room, he would start laughing. This went on until about 5.

All I have to say: WELCOME TO MY WORLD! I really, honest to goodness, think that my child is going to be a late night talk show host! He loves to socialize at all hours of the night!

We have broken him of these sleep habits in the past and we will do it again, I swear. It's going to take some tough love though. And maybe some ear plugs....

He did sleep until 8 and he was exhausted when he came home, but wasn't quite in the mood for a nap. We went to the pool for about an hour, just to wear him out even more. I loaded him up in the car and he was asleep before I made the first turn leaving the neighborhood. We came straight home and he took a 3 hour nap.Sleeping on the way home from the pool....love the little tan legs and the shirtless baby-- sweetest little thing :)

We've been giving him Tylenol to help with his teething, etc, but a friend today suggested IBproferen instead. She said it lasts up to 8 hrs and is much better for babies that are cutting teeth. I just gave him a dose of that and he is sleeping away right now....fingers crossed for a good night!

Here are some pictures from Tiffani and Peter's Shower:
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Sorry this post is so long....I think I am a bit long-winded! Maybe tomorrow I will do a post about what a GREAT night's sleep we had over here.....??? maybe????? please???

Keepin' Cool at the Pool

I have been super busy lately with J. Hilburn and am having my best month yet-- very exciting! Anyway, that is making it hard to blog: excuses, excuses. (this post keeps getting longer and longer and lnger--I am cramming it all into one long post!)

We had Reagan's birthday party on Saturday and on Sunday, we had Giselle's at the pool. I am a pool freak and I love being there and I am glad to see that Cal is enjoying it too! We try to go after his morning nap and then play hard for a while and then he is ready to crash. A few times, I put him in his jogging stroller and walk him around the pool deck and he will take a great nap in his stroller! Here are some pictures of nap time in the stroller (gotta love the fan!):

Speaking of sleeping: I NEED HELP!
Ever since Cal "sprouted" those two teeth, he WILL NOT sleep through the night! I know he can do it; he's done it before! But right now, he gets up screaming in the night. I am about to lose it. Yes, we have tried Tylenol (there are more teeth coming this week, I think), and yes, we have tried letting him cry it out when he wakes up. BUT, the longer we lat him cry, the longer it takes to calm him back down. I let him for for 30 mins (of straight SCREAMING) a few nights ago, and then I was up for the next hour and a half trying to calm him down. I am averaging 5 hrs of sleep a night, which I guess is a lot, but it is catching up with me.

Any tips on what to do with a teething baby that isn't sleeping through the night? I never in a million years dreamed I would have an 8 month old who wasn't sleeping through the night! He is, however, a GREAT napper now. He is taking 2 two hour naps during the day.

I put up some new videos on mobileme, and I think they are pretty funny:

May: in pictures
One little monkey -- explains why he's a good napper!
If you're happy and you know it
Cleaning out the drawers

So, when I look at all of those videos, I've been pretty busy lately! Add that to a kid that is in to EVERYTHING, and a worn out momma......

Oh, AND, Cal is having his FIRST sleepover this weekend. I have not spent one night away from him in almost 9 months (not counting the time in my belly!) and my mom is keeping him over night this Saturday. I have warned her about his sleeping and she swears she doesn't mind. We are throwing a friend a shower and I will need to stay late to clean up/ect (read: I will be partying with some of my best friends!), so she agreed to keep him. She told me this morning that I deserve a night of sleep. I kinda agree :) I am trying to pump a ton of milk so I leave her with plenty to give him. So far, I have 4 ounces....better get pumping!

And one last shot of my little ham: