Berkley's Newest Achievement

We are proud parents! Not only is our little girl sleeping better (she goes to sleep around 8:30 - 9:00 pm and wakes up once to eat before we go to bed and then sleeps until 6:30 - 7:00 am - of course this could all change tonight!), but she is learning to put herself to sleep!

The pediatrician said at 15 weeks we could start sleep training her (i.e., letting her cry it out). She's 15 weeks today and last night is when we accidentally let her cry it out. I honestly expected her to cry for hours the first time we did this, but we got lucky. I'm probably totally jinxing us by even telling you all this, but here we go.

She was really fussy last night around 8:00 pm. At 8:50 Jon put her in her crib because she was screaming in his face and he needed a break. She cried until 9:00 and he went in and gave her her pacifier. She cried for four more minutes and then, I kid you not, the girl fell asleep! She slept until about 11:45 pm and then needed to eat. She then slept until 6:30 this morning. I gave her her pacifier so I could prepare a bottle and she fell asleep until 7:30!

Next up: naps! Today she started to fall asleep on me in the chair, our usual napping spot. I decided to see if she'd sleep with me in our bed. I let her squirm there for about ten minutes before she started to fuss. I swaddled her and put her in her crib. She cried for ten minutes and then I gave her the pacifier. She cried for another seven minutes and then just stopped. I crept into her room to see if she was asleep, but she was awake. I decided to leave her there for awhile and she passed out! She's waking up now, though, so I have to go. It was a short nap as far as morning naps go, but we'll try again this afternoon. I don't even know what to do with myself while I have free time! It's a whole new concept! There are so many options! I hope this napping thing works!

Oh and one more thing . . . GO SPARTANS!

Tammy and Jon

March 10, 2009 - 3 Months Old!

Our little Berkley is another month older! She’s getting so big and strong. She can hold that head up all by herself (and loves her Bumbo seat), can support her own weight when she “stands” on us and has a mean grip with those tiny fingers! She smiles a lot more and cries a lot less. She can grasp her own rattle when it’s offered to her. And, best of all, SHE ROLLED OVER! I’m posting a video of it! The day she turned three months old (March 10, 2009) was the first day she rolled over. It was so cute and we were so excited and proud! She’s done it a couple times since, too, so maybe she’ll keep it up! Her newest thing is sticking out her tongue and trying to imitate mommy’s and daddy’s sounds. She also blows a lot of spit bubbles!

We took her to Traverse City for the first time. She was such a good girl. She slept the whole way there and back (thankfully – she’s usually good in the car but sometimes she decides to scream)! She did have a little (okay, a BIG) breakdown in Macy’s! Now we refer to her screaming at the top of her lungs as “Macy’s crying.” Seriously – who knew SUCH a loud, blood-curdling scream could come out of something so small and cute! Whew!

Last week when it was warm outside, I took her for her first walk in her stroller. It was nice. She seemed to like it. I can’t wait for spring so we can take daily walks.

She’s starting to sleep longer. She still gets up once per night to eat and still needs to be rocked to sleep, but we can deal with that for now. I guess technically she’s been sleeping through the night for the past few nights, but we can’t wait until she starts sleeping for 10+ hours! We all know how much Tammy likes (liked) her sleep! Plus, she tends to have a 3 or 4 day pattern and then, once we think she’s starting a routine, she changes! The pediatrician said that once she hits the 15 week mark we can let her cry it out . . . we’re just not sure yet if mommy’s sanity can take that yet.

Thanks to everyone who has come to visit us! We really appreciate it! It’s just so much easier that way than us having to pack up and go somewhere else (we don’t travel lightly these days!), though it is fun to get out of the house every now and again.

Tammy and Jon