Jonah and his "sealy"-- the toy that Jeff has had since he was a wee babe. His mom, Sharon, actually carried it around like it was a baby before Jeff's younger brother Greg was born. She's not crazy:) She did it so that Jeff could used to be a new baby being on the scene. So cool to see Jonah playing with his daddy's childhood toy (I'm sure it's not the last toy of daddy's with which he'll play...lol). Love that in the last pic he has no idea where the seal has gone- even though he's the one who tossed it over his back! :)
First, I just wanted to let folks know that there is probably a way to unsubscribe to this blog if you don't want to receive updates. I see that only one person has viewed the last post, so I imagine most people have figured that out :) The last several posts have been mostly about sleep, in hopes that maybe another suffering momma while stumble upon them and not feel so alone (or inadequate- I can relate to that!). I also originally thought maybe develop some insight into these sleep issues, but I'm not so sure that I have discovered any.
I did follow my "Addie plan" and Jonah went down to nap faithfully on time with just a few minutes of tears. But those tears, I suspect, caused incredible fear of the crib :( At night (ALL night) he would fight with all of his almost-one year old energy to stay awake and to definitely at least wake the second his sweet little cheek hit the crib sheet. And he didn't just whimper, he screamed and stood up, hysterical. Breaks my heart. And it nearly broke my sanity (and Jeff's too) from 2 am to 4:30 am the other night!
So, yesterday, I retreated. After much prayer, I decided to not let him cry. When he cried at nap time I put him in the baby carrier on my back. He stayed awake playfully and happily past his morning nap. In the afternoon Jeff rocked him down while I was grocery shopping and he slept for two hours. In the evening Jeff rocked him down again (the squirmer has to be held up and rocked for a bit and Jeff's upper body strength can outlast me:). During his three night time wake-ups I nursed and rocked him and he went peacefully back down in the crib all but once. And that time he only woke several minutes after being laid down (Jeff came to my rescue on that one again!).
So, where do we stand now? I dunno. I'm stumped. I think my tolerance for my baby's crying it out in a crib has returned to zero. But I desire him to be a good napper. And I can't hold him and sway forever (heck, I can hardly do it now- the kids is 21 pounds!). I may get a mattress so that I can lay down and nurse him off to sleep at least at night. I'll have to lock the closet and take everything out of that room though for safety. I'm not sure. It's a stumper. But I am praying. And I do believe God cares immensely and will respond. He is good.
On a soap box note, I don't believe that God designed the world to be like this. Tired, sleepless parents. I really do believe we were meant to live in tight-knit community (I mean, multi-generational homes with cousins and grandparents, etc). I think that we're meant to have several people holding and caring for these needy wee ones throughout the day. I think it was designed so that we would have that kind of support. This article describes it well.
Anyway, I'll add some updates as life goes on- on sleep and other topics as I'm inspired. Mostly, I'm just buckling down for a long year ahead! :) I look at Addie, going to bed peacefully at nap and bedtime, and I give a little thanks knowing that this sleepless time with Jonah won't last forever :) And I'll try to get enough rest to cherish the time as well :)
Apologies for typos...too tired to proof read today and gotta go to work (from home)!
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