Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sweet Dreams & Finger Foods at Last
It's official. Samson finally sleeps through the night! We're on Day 13 of sleep coaching (you can read the gory details from the beginning here) and for the past 5 nights, he has made it from bedtime to morning (around 5:30 or 6a) without a peep. Best of all, Mama and Daddy are now getting 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, with 2 0r 3 hours of grown-up time in the evening after Samson hits the crib. On the horizon, we can see a date night out while Samson hangs with a sitter or Grandma & PawPaw....
This morning, we felt so chipper and well-rested that Daddy suggested we go out for breakfast. The family made a quick trip over to the Original Pancake House for a very tasty meal. After his usual cereal and pureed fruit, Samson got to try his first finger food that is also eaten by non-babies: fluffy, yeasty buttermilk pancake - yum! Watching Samson work so hard to get the few floppy morsels from the table to his mouth was more entertainment than any variety show. After he had his fill of pancake, Samson enjoyed 10 minutes of quietly playing with his chewy green spoon while Mama and Daddy read the paper. We hate to brag, but Samson was clearly the most well-behaved baby in the joint!
Now that he's on the verge of mobility, it's time to purge the house of Samson's outgrown baby gear. Mama has become a Craiglist selling demon, already pulling in $200 for things we can't use anymore. The things we can't sell will go to charity and the kids resale shops.
One more thing.... The new bathroom in the finished attic above the garage is almost complete! Soon we'll have space & privacy for our overnight guests. Samson says he can't wait for Grandma and PawPaw to come stay for the weekend and spoil him rotten.
This morning, we felt so chipper and well-rested that Daddy suggested we go out for breakfast. The family made a quick trip over to the Original Pancake House for a very tasty meal. After his usual cereal and pureed fruit, Samson got to try his first finger food that is also eaten by non-babies: fluffy, yeasty buttermilk pancake - yum! Watching Samson work so hard to get the few floppy morsels from the table to his mouth was more entertainment than any variety show. After he had his fill of pancake, Samson enjoyed 10 minutes of quietly playing with his chewy green spoon while Mama and Daddy read the paper. We hate to brag, but Samson was clearly the most well-behaved baby in the joint!
Now that he's on the verge of mobility, it's time to purge the house of Samson's outgrown baby gear. Mama has become a Craiglist selling demon, already pulling in $200 for things we can't use anymore. The things we can't sell will go to charity and the kids resale shops.
One more thing.... The new bathroom in the finished attic above the garage is almost complete! Soon we'll have space & privacy for our overnight guests. Samson says he can't wait for Grandma and PawPaw to come stay for the weekend and spoil him rotten.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Action Samson
Last weekend, PawPaw helped us hang Samson's first swing. Thanks, PawPaw!
And this week, Samson had his first trip on Daddy's shoulders. He's growing so fast.
And this week, Samson had his first trip on Daddy's shoulders. He's growing so fast.
Goodnight
For all the well-meaning people (and you know who you are) who persist at inquiring about Samson's sleep habits, we finally have something to celebrate. On Tuesday, July 10th, Samson slept for 9 hours straight! That's a record for the baby who had never slept more than 3 hours without waking. We're not out of the woods yet (see daily 4:30am wakeup scream), but our big boy is well on his way to sleeping through the night.
Mama and Daddy had decided that after Samson's 9 month check-up, if he were given a clean bill of health, we would be ready to start sleep coaching in order to move him out of the family bed and into his own crib, as well as to put an end to the all night Dairy Queen. Though we loved having him so close at night, we were just exhausted (especially Mama, the human pacifier) and we needed to have more uninterrupted sleep. Plus, we wanted Samson to get more sleep and to have the skills he'd need to be able to go to sleep when Mama and Daddy are out during naptime or for the evening and need to use a sitter.
To prepare, we read every sleep expert book we could get our hands on and talked to everyone we know with young children about how their kids sleep and what they did/do to help everyone in the family get enough rest. We decided to implement a modified version of the Sleep Lady Shuffle to teach Samson to fall asleep on his own, without nursing or being walked.
Samson has been sleeping in his crib for 6 nights now. Way to go, Samsonite!
As I type, Daddy and I are in our room on our computers, keeping an eye on Samson snoozing on our TV. That's right, we have a night-vision camera on the crib which can be quickly connected to any TV in the house. Thanks for the tip on a supercool baby product, Turners!
Mama and Daddy had decided that after Samson's 9 month check-up, if he were given a clean bill of health, we would be ready to start sleep coaching in order to move him out of the family bed and into his own crib, as well as to put an end to the all night Dairy Queen. Though we loved having him so close at night, we were just exhausted (especially Mama, the human pacifier) and we needed to have more uninterrupted sleep. Plus, we wanted Samson to get more sleep and to have the skills he'd need to be able to go to sleep when Mama and Daddy are out during naptime or for the evening and need to use a sitter.
To prepare, we read every sleep expert book we could get our hands on and talked to everyone we know with young children about how their kids sleep and what they did/do to help everyone in the family get enough rest. We decided to implement a modified version of the Sleep Lady Shuffle to teach Samson to fall asleep on his own, without nursing or being walked.
Samson has been sleeping in his crib for 6 nights now. Way to go, Samsonite!
As I type, Daddy and I are in our room on our computers, keeping an eye on Samson snoozing on our TV. That's right, we have a night-vision camera on the crib which can be quickly connected to any TV in the house. Thanks for the tip on a supercool baby product, Turners!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Family Self-Portrait
Samson has become so accustomed to the camera, he knows to smile as soon as the red light shines. What a ham!
Can you see all four teeth?
Sorry about the lack of recent posts, dear readers. We've been super busy at the Hobbit Hole this summer and Mama hasn't had much time to write. We promise to get back on track this month....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
