Sleep Saga Continued..........

So much to tell. The last month we've made significant progress in our goal to get everyone a full night sleep without the drama! It was about two weeks ago that it really started to shift. We'd had a busy morning and Bear was exhausted. He fell asleep in the high chair and I picked him up put him in his crib gave him a kiss and off I went. He cried for a while and then there was silence. It was the first time he'd put himself back to sleep alone. You know that little light bulb that goes off and you realize you've been a sucker? I had a very and I mean very bright light bulb go off.That night I started a new routine for bed. He gets a story then I rock him and then he goes in the crib. He inevitably wakes up and screams bloody murder but it has not lasted longer than 10 minutes. Karen (our babysitter) did the same thing and he fussed about 10 or so minutes and then he's out. I think my exact words to her were something to the effect of, "He goes in the crib for his nap. I don't care how you do it but I'm outta here!" I have to admit that it's been a little bit, okay a lot, freeing. Jamie kept telling me it I would know when it it was time. She was right. (As usual.)

So we are able to get him down to sleep and his naps without being hijacked any more. So then we realized we had to work on his 5:30 am wake-up. He would wake up and crawl out of the crib and sometimes go to sleep until 6:30 or 7 am. We would get two good mornings and then we have the "I want to nurse battle". He has enough stubbornness from me, Jim and GiGi. He's incredible. Just to give you some perspective on his stubborn streak. It's been almost a year now that I've been complaining about his habit of sticking his hand down my shirt and pinching me HARD. I have yet to ever give in and let him do it. I woke up a few times with him pinching me and stopped him. Yet he still continues to reach down all the time. It amazes me, just amazes me.

So last week as I'm debating what to do (put his crib with Cooper or switch them) Jamie says that until he has his own room he will keep waking up and needing us. (Did I mention she's always right?) So much to Jim's chagrin I pull out the air mattress and make up our bed in the living room. The first night he woke up at 12:48. I had on my eye mask and was completely disoriented. Jim had to remind me where I was and what was happening. He cried for a little while and lo and behold he went back to sleep. Jim left for the weekend and I'm thrilled to say Bear has slept through the night both nights!

They both got me this morning though. I woke up and heard Coop talking and giggling. Then a few minutes later I heard Bear starting to fuss. I peeked out my eye mask and saw it was 6:38. I couldn't believe how tired I was though. I got them and they were thrilled. They both crawled into bed with me and I tried to go back to sleep as they played over me. I looked again and it was not even 6 am yet! I guess it was 5:38 and I was too groggy to realize it. I can assure you that won't happen again.

But out of this whole saga here's what has had us in stitches cracking up. Bear just hates being in the crib. Every night we find him in our bed with his blanket or our blanket over him. This took the cake though when we went in and he was in the middle of our bed and under our covers.The next month should be even more fun as we transition him to just his crib and then into Cooper's room. (Not sure if our backs can survive an air mattress for that long.) This way when we get to our new home by the end of summer they will be used to sharing a room and will hopefully transition well. We'll keep you posted.