Well, no sooner had we all gotten better from our stomach bug, than we got hit with colds and poor, little Emma had her first ear infection! It was a miserable week or two, with almost no sleep at all for me. Emma has never been a good sleeper, but during this last bout of sickness she began waking up every 45 minutes to an hour all night long...even after she became well!
In hindsight, it was actually a good thing for three reasons: 1.Every sickness she gets builds her immune system. 2. I was able to call on our homeopath, Dr. Fine, for some remedies which completely handled the ear infection and cold without any drugs, and he put her on a remedy to help with sleeplessness and teething (she is also getting two more bottom teeth)! And, 3. It brought me to my threshold of sleep deprivation, and made me finally commit to a sleep training schedule (and back to Dr. Fine, his remedies for the sleeplessness and teething have been a HUGE help in making this plan successful).
In order to make this plan work, we finally moved our princess into her very own room downstairs (We moved just her crib into the school room- hence, the map. We still have a porta-crib upstairs so she can nap there during the day and the older children have access to the learning closet and school room). I was sick the first night and must have laid awake half the night watching that monitor...but, she did well and didn't seem to mind it at all! In fact, having her milk source out of her direct sight and smell seemed to help her sleep much better.
My wonderful Sis-In-Law is coaching me through sleep training Emma. She did this for her work, and is very knowledgeable about this subject and is also very inspired by the Spirit. I have been following her advice exactly for 7 days, and Emma is doing wonderful! She is still getting up about 3 times per night, but only for about 10 minutes, and pretty soon I hope to eliminate at least two (possibly all) of those feedings. Oh, what it will feel like to sleep through the night! I have forgotten what that is like, but I long for it. :)
The major part of this sleep training that I think I naturally did with my others, but for some reason never got around to with Emma, was creating a very strict schedule for naps and bedtime. We have just carted Emma around with us everywhere we go, not paying any attention to time or schedules. Some days she would nap once, some days twice, some not at all- and never at the same time! Since I have implemented a strict morning and afternoon nap time, and bedtime, I have a completely different baby. She was always happy, but she is happier! We all have consistency in our day, and I can really plan it out. Plus because she was so overtired all the time from lack of consistency, it was taking James or I literally an hour to get her to sleep every night! We would have to rock her until she was dead asleep, and if she woke up when we tried to leave herwe would pick her up and start all over again! And this is our FOURTH baby, people! We know better than this!
Ah, at any rate, I do not regret the hours of cuddles and kisses, but I love that it literally takes me 5 minutes to read her two short board books, sing our sleep song, lay her right down awake, say goodnight, and leave the room. It is to the point in just a week that she doesn't even cry when I lay her down...at all. She smiles up at me and feels so safe and content that she knows what is expected of her and has time to rest her growing body. It also feels good as Mom to allow her the opportunity to learn how to fall asleep without my help, and to have special cuddle/reading/singing time several times a day with her feels very comforting (for both of us). I don't do the cry-it-out method very well. I have done it a couple times this week, but if she gets real upset we go in and rub her back and assure her that we are still there. It has only happened once or twice- she is really taking to the schedule!
She also had her first bath in the big bath tub this week. I have been bathing her in the sink since birth, but now that she is crawling around EVERYWHERE, I am going to have to start bathing her more often. She wasn't too sure about the bath tub. She liked it for about 10 minutes and then wanted out. I think tomorrow I will have one of her brothers go in with her to keep her company.
Couldn't resist this picture. I love the back of babies' heads, especially with the little duck tail.
Another milestone- Emma is finally eating! Just in the last few days she is finally showing some interest in real food. Right now she just has one small meal (about the size of an ice cube) around lunch time. Today she had her first green smoothie- spinach, apples, and bananas. She absolutely loved it! An ingenious way to get raw greens into your baby. I wish I would have known about this with my other three. Raw greens are so nutrient dense and practically digest themselves (raw fruit too), that there is practically nothing better to feed new eaters. I'm also hoping that feeding her solids during the day will tide her over better at night- every little bit helps!
Benjamin wanted you all to know that he drank his shake too!
My friend Jen bought these baby leg warmers for Emma. They are so darn cute! And I've been putting them on her and pulling them up above the knees to cushion her little legs as she crawls on this tile. And yes, she has had a few spills already. I knew it was coming! But, she is pretty tough and if you look away or smile at her she only cries for a second.
She pulls herself up on everything and has begun walking hanging onto to furniture. I really don't think it will be long until we have a walker on our hands. She sees her brothers running around and she goes crazy! She can't wait to chase after them!!
Oh, and she just learned to wave too (see the videos below)! Whenever you say hi to her she will smile big and wave with one hand (sometimes two), and she sometimes says "Hah"...which I think is baby for "Hi." :)
June 16 - 29, 2011
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