Sleep Update...Go Heels & Jewelry!

Here is proof that I have been letting him "cry it out." 

Last night he woke up about 45 minutes after he went down.  He didn't cry a lot but would cry in like 1 minute spurts.  I could tell he was still half asleep just by the way he was crying and stopping and crying and stopping.  He was really fussy in the evening and Grandma said he only slept about 40 minutes the entire day so I knew he had to be exhausted.  We agreed that we wouldn't go in there while he was having these crying bouts.  I headed to bed about 11:30 (after the UT/Kentucky game) and he had been quiet for about the last 45 minutes.  So I checked the monitor right as I got in bed and I saw the above.  He had fallen back to sleep sitting up, leaning on the crib bumper.  So sweet.  So I left him there.  I had to hold back the urge to go in there and gently lay him back down but to avoid waking him, I resisted my temptation.  I flipped off the monitor and went to sleep.  When I got up this morning I turned the monitor back on before I showered and he had made it through the night just fine.  We are so glad that he is learning to go to sleep on his own and our efforts are paying off (as all of you said it would...)

Because he slept so good he was wide awake all the way to Grandma's this morning just talking and singing.  He got quiet about the time I got off of 40 at the Chapel Hill exit and I looked back and he was sucking his thumb!  He hasn't done that in a while.  Then as he was closing his eyes, he switched to his pointer finger.  He sucked on that until he fell asleep and it fell out of his mouth, right as I was getting him out of the car, lol!

In honor of tonight's big game I am sporting a new pair of earrings.

My mom & sister make these and they have so many different styles!  I love them and get so many compliments every time I wear them.  Below are two others that I love.  Super Cute!

The sky is a beautiful Carolina Blue today and I'm feeling good about the big game tonight.  I'm ready for 9pm! 

Let's Go Heels.  Beat the Dookies!!!

Super Bowl Party

Sunday was a big day.  A day in which two big games took place.  First was the all important match up between Carolina & FSU.  The first game without Larry Drew II.  The first game where Kendall Marshall would have to step up to the plate and lead what is now "his" team.  I believe he did just fine don't 'cha think?  Anyway, we skipped our usual Sunday post church meal to rush home to catch the basketball game.  After a delightful beat-down we headed down to Graham to a Super Bowl Party at Ashwon & Annie's house.  They are such great hosts!  They always have tons of food, yummy adult drinks & so many toys for the kiddos.

I have mentioned before that Aja is 3 days older than Deuce, who is 4 days older than Zoe.  So they were all born within the same week.  We love getting together with them to let the kids play together.  I believe that Annie has every toy under the sun at her house so there is no lack of entertainment for the babies.  When we first arrived, Deuce did nothing but cry.  He has never done that before but there was a lot of commotion and new faces.  Every time somebody just talked to him, he cried.  He had just woke up from the car ride so I fed him and then he was fine.  After 2 seconds of playing with toys he wasn't bothered by the shouting and laughing.

We all went to high school together so having babies together has made things really fun.  The boys (Ed, Ashwon & Corey) all graduated in '97 and me & Annie graduated in '99.  Annie's entire family are huge Steelers fans so this game was really important to them.  Aja had on an adorable tutu that Annie had made for her!  She was so cute!  Annie's mom spent a good bit of time with Deuce.  She has a grandson that lives up north that she doesn't see as often as Aja so I think she was getting in her "boy" time.  Deuce made his way to the basketball goal, of course.

We left right after the game was over (but not before Annie's dad - who was VERY upset scurried out)! I think the kids had a blast at their first super bowl party.  Can you tell which one is the party animal?

Whirlwind Weekend!

Friday night we headed over to the Y and went swimming!  We love the Y.  TJ usually plays basketball and now that he is old enough, he can play a pick up game with whoever is in the gym.  It's nice that he doesn't have to be supervised every second that we're there.  Ed kind of floats around between the fitness center, the basketball courts and checking on me and Deuce in the pool.  Sometimes I work out but I usually find an excuse not to because I am deathly allergic to running & such.  So I would much rather swim in the pool with Deuce.  Seriously though, the child watch is only open until 7 on Fridays and that's what time I get home so by the time we get over to the Y, one of us has to stay with the baby.  That's my excuse and I think it's a pretty darn good one.  Our Y has a gradual entry shallow end which is great for babies because they can crawl or sit on their own and splash around.  There is one of those big umbrella things that "rains" water and there are some fountains that Deuce like to sit on top of so they splash on him!  We usually swim for about an hour and when he's ready to go, he's ready to go!

The Bat:
I wasn't lying when I said he carries it everywhere!  There are 2 things I'm sure my dad will make sure he is familiar with.  A baseball bat and a golf club.  I'm sure the clubs will be next.
Brotherly Love:
We decided to head down to Mebane to the outlets on Saturday night.  Ed & TJ had not been there yet.  Me & Deuce were there like the second it opened, come on now!  So I got Deuce dressed and TJ decided to change his clothes after he saw his little bro.  I may have to put this in his yearbook when he graduates high school.  Think he would kill me?  It'll be a good reminder when he's 16 and his 8 year old bro is getting on his nerves that he did love him at one time!

So with all of the Larry Drew II drama that happened on Friday, Deuce thought he should get a little practice in before Sunday's game in case Kendall Marshall needed his help.  Thankfully he didn't since KM put on a clinic for FSU & the entire Drew family.  Just in case anybody wants to know the Deuce Geer secret...you gotta put a lil' spit on the ball before you slam it through!  That's for you Coach Williams...don't forget to tell the boys on Wednesday!

Mirrors are Fun!
Who needs a bunch of toys when you have a mirror?  If your child gets fussy while you are dragging him around to shop...just put him in front of a mirror for a few minutes and watch him occupy himself!

Weekly Ihop Venture:
Ed & I should by stock in Ihop.  Seriously, I think we keep the one by our house in business.  When you know all of the staff, I would say so.  We go to Ihop at least once a week.  For several logical reasons. 
     1. Kids eat free after 4.  HOLLAH!
     2. TJ doesn't like to eat much, unless it's breakfast food.
     3. Deuce is an eating machine (ie: belly in swim pics) he already gets his own kids meal = FREE.
     4. 2 adult pancake meals at $5.99 & 2 free kids meals is a sweet deal.

Walking:
It's going to be very, very soon!

We went to a Super Bowl party last night but I will have to do a separate post on that.  Too many cute pictures that need their own post!

4 Nights in a Row!

Eyelashes = LOVE.

Night number 4 was a success!  We slept all night long without a peep!  Yea! 
Hopefully this keeps up.

TJ turned 9 on January 19th.  That weekend we allowed him to have 3 of his friends over for a sleepover.  Wow....  Not sure when we will do that again.  4 boys up at 3am wrestling in the living room and jumping off of furniture was not my idea of fun but they had a good time.  We took them out to eat and to do some Cosmic Bowling before going back to the house where they slept sprawled all over the living room in sleeping bags.  Luckily my mom agreed to keep Deuce.  I took a 3 hour nap after the boys left and before I went to get Deuce.  That was some of the best sleep!

I have mentioned how Deuce is pulling up on everything, right?  I am amazed at how fast he's learning to get around.  He rolled over at 5 months old and it wasn't for another 3 months that he started crawling.  Now he cruises around any piece of furniture he can find.  I was cooking dinner last night and he was in the living room.  I turned on the blender and it scared him.  I almost didn't want to turn it off because he was crawling to me sooo fast and then pulling at my legs for me to pick him up (kind of like he's doing to Ed above).  I know that's mean but I was laughing.  Once I picked him up and he saw what it was he was fine and it didn't bother him after that.  We are going swimming at the Y tonight.  I will try and get some pictures.  He LOVES the pool!  Happy Friday!

3rd Night Progress

Napping in mommy's boppy.

Okay so the 3rd night was somewhat of a success.  We went through our night time routine and he went down just fine.  We have been sleeping with the TV on so that it will mask any potential cries throughout the night.  The first two nights I really don't believe he cried at all.  But last night he woke me up somewhere between 4:30 & 5:00am.  I heard his screams (not cries) from across the house, with the doors shut and over the TV.  Again, I left the monitor off.  And I resisted.  I didn't get up.  As in physically.  I woke up and was awake the entire 2 hours he screamed so it was a successful night in the sense that I was able to listen to him scream for 2 hours and not get out of the bed.  Trust me when I tell you that it was quite difficult though.

All of these different scenarios constantly play out in my head.  What if he's thrown up all over himself?  Or what if he's got a dirty diaper?  I would probably scream for help too if I was trapped in throw up or poop.  Or maybe he's just awake and wanting to be picked up like usual.  I was tormented but I held back and didn't turn on the monitor or get up to go peak for if I did, my whole training would have been over and we would have had to start from scratch.  Don't know if it really would have been that detrimental but that's what I'm telling myself.  So I just laid there, and tossed and turned and tried to sleep all while my mind was running a bajillion miles a minute.  I watched some TV and then all of a sudden he was quiet.  So my mind starting going again.  What if he fell in his crib and hit his head or what if he's choked or can't breathe.  Or MAYBE he just went to SLEEP!  O.M.G. what is my problem???  Please ladies tell me this is normal mommy behavior!  Again, I resisted turning on the monitor or getting up to check.  Instead I just got up and got ready for work.  After my shower, I couldn't help but turn the monitor on to check.  I was already up by that time.  It's a good thing I didn't turn the monitor on earlier.  The booger had unplugged the cord from the camera so it was blank.  If I had seen that in the middle of the night I would have gone in there for sure!

So I went and peeped through his door and he was sound asleep.  It looked as though he had just fallen straight backwards like a board from his standing position at the end of the crib, near the door.  Picture: swaddled, standing and can't move legs.  Like a little butterfly in a cocoon he just falls back.  He probably sat down first and then laid out but who knows.  So I finished getting ready and went in to get him before it was time to leave.  When I changed him, sure enough...he had a dirty diaper.  So right away I felt bad for leaving him standing there screaming from poop in his diaper for 2 hours but then I told myself that if I had gone in there to change him, he would have completely woken up and probably not went back down.  He was alright with a little doo on his butt.  I bet that he wouldn't have gotten up otherwise.  So overall, not the best night, but not a complete failure either.  Success for me for not getting up though!!!

He slept all the way to Grandma's this morning and as soon as I tried to snap a picture with my phone, he woke up smiling like he was faking his nap...

2 Nights Down

And we had success on night number 2!  Seriously!  I actually had to wake him up to leave the house this morning to go to work.  Whether or not he was still asleep from crying throughout the night I have no clue but regardless, he slept in his crib, I slept in my bed and when I went in his room this morning, he was again, Alive and Breathing!  Oh thank goodness!

There is no other feeling in the world like the one when I walk into his room and his eyes meet mine and his face lights up.  And he giggles and holds his arms out for me to fold him into mine.  And when I turn the lights on and he buries his head in my chest and giggles at the all-of-a-sudden brightness of the overhead light.  Or when he gets excited to get up in the morning and lets out a high pitched "Hi-Ya" like he's doing a karate move.  Swear.  That's exactly what it sounded like.  There is no better way to start my day.

And there is no better way to end my day than with a sleeping child.  And you know he is truly gone when his paci falls out of his mouth yet his tongue is still sucking away.  When his uncontrollable facial muscles allow me to see just one more smile on his face before he's down for the night.  When I take that last peak at the monitor and see how he's rolled over onto his knees and sleeping with his butt up in the air before I can then turn it off.  He looks so peaceful.  So calm.

And then and only then, I can finally get some restful sleep!

1 Night Down

I am going to vent to the blog more often!  Thank you to all of my friends that posted on here and on my facebook with suggestions for helping little man sleep.  Actually for helping me sleep.  I left work yesterday feeling confident in my ability to teach Deuce how to sleep comfortably in his crib, on his own.  I was actually excited for the night so I could see what would happen.  I made a few changes to the nighttime routine and honestly, I'm not sure how it worked because I slept all night long.  Yep, I have no idea if the child cried for 5 hours straight (I highly doubt it) because I was asleep from 11:30pm until 7am.  I know you're saying that was only 1 night...don't get to excited, but I feel better about my ability to sleep without worrying so much.  If he did scream all night long, he was sleeping comfortably when I woke up this morning and he was alive and well when I went to get him this morning.  So in my mind...success on try 1 was achieved.

So the changes I made: 

I swaddled him again.  I am convinced that he gets cold at night.  I have a big people's boppy that I slept with when I was pregnant. (Highly recommended for anyone that is currently pregnant and sleeping without one.)  When I put Deuce in our bed, I lay him in the boppy and pull the covers over him.  He will sleep for hours like this, even if nobody else is in the bed with him.  I swear it's because he is warm and cuddled up.  But I don't have anything in his crib because they say not to put anything in there so they don't suffocate or succumb to SIDS.  So after swaddling him last night, I laid his Zoobie over him and put Mashaka's head by his head.  The blanket is light enough that I didn't feel like it would suffocate him but it would keep him warm enough.

I also put a sippy cup of water in his crib after a suggestion from Carrie.  He doesn't quite know how to use it yet but I figured if he woke up and found it in his crib maybe he would play with it for awhile and figure it out.  I also put his baseball bat in his crib.  He LOVES his baseball bat.  He holds it with a really strong grip and hits everything in sight.  He crawls with it in his hand and he pulls up on everything with it in his hand.  Then he beats on whatever is in front of him.  He's like a miniature caveman with that thing.  I thought well if he wakes up, he can pick up his bat and just start beating away in his crib and maybe that will occupy him until he falls back asleep.

I also bought a new formula for him to use at night.  He gets 8 ounces of formula around 8:30 every night.  Both Ed & I had noticed that when he was waking up at night he would let out an enormous amount of gas with each loud cry.  Now that should have been obvious to you Rachel, you are probably thinking, but let me just tell you...this child lets out an enormous amount of gas ALL DAY!  And laughs when he does it.  (He gets it honest, I must say.  Sorry honey, TMI, I know.)  I mean he poots like a grown man.  Ed tells me not to say he poots because the way it comes out of his tail it is a full blown FART!  It never bothers him during the day so I wasn't sure if that was the issue at night but I decided to get a formula for fussiness & gas for him to use at night just in case.  So we used that last night.  I also added cereal to his bottle last night.  I know it's a "no-no" to add it to his bottle but whatever.  I am desperate.  He usually has cereal in the morning and at lunch because it tends to make him blow out his diaper.  I mean the child has extremely healthy bowels with the way he "farts" and fills up his diaper 3-4 times a day. (Sorry if that's TMI again.)  So I never gave him cereal at night because I didn't want him to wake up from a dirty diaper, regardless of whether or not it would make his belly full.  But last night I gave him cereal with his new formula in his last bottle.  I topped him off with some Mylicon for the gas and some Ibuprofen for the sore gums.

Finally, for myself:  I went to bed without the monitor.  I just didn't turn it on.  I did wake up once during the night and turned it on to take a peak and he was sound asleep.  I have no clue what time this was I just know he was asleep.  Ed made sure I turned it back off and the next thing I knew it was 7am.  I got up and turned the monitor on and he was asleep on his knees and forearms.  I got up, showered got ready for work, packed his bottles & bag and he was still asleep.  When he finally woke up he stood up in his crib and kind of yelled.  Not really a cry but more like a "Hey, I am still in here" sort of yell.  I went in and got him and was very exuberant with him so he would know I was happy to see him and thankful for the sleep he allowed me.  He just smiled and kissed me when I picked him up.  Okay, more like sucked the makeup off my cheek, but close enough.  So he was in his crib from 9:45pm to 7:45am.  YEA!!!!!!!!!!

1 night down....