As I re-read many of my previous posts it feels like forever ago that we were having so many new struggles and I was so so stressed out. I would start crying at the drop of a hat because of the hormonal changes and also because I knew that if Mason was not crying now he would be crying later. I realize that I had a constant sense of foreboding that lurked in my days and prevented me from actually enjoying my son.
Now I know that we are both so much happier and all of my hard work with sleep training paid off in a big way. Mason will still fuss before some naps but for the most part - I lay him down in his crib with his nook, he wiggles to get comfortable and shuts his eyes and goes to sleep. It. Is. Awesome.
AND bedtime and nights are so predictable! Jake and I have a bedtime routine - we wash Masons face, read to him from his bedtime prayer book, I sing a song to him, and off to dreamland he goes. He sleeps all night, usually only waking up once to eat and even if I put him back to bed wide awake he will close his little eyes and go back to sleep (sometimes he chats with himself for a minute, it's pretty cute).
I feel so much more rested and we are on such a good schedule that I never need to set an alarm anymore, Mason just knows when to wake up.
I still take a nap with Mason in the morning, and try to get as much done as possible during his other naps but I feel like I can relax and not worry about the impending possibility of a crying baby. If he cries we can work through it. Usually with a swaddle, a nook, and some sensory deprivation. Basically you wrap him up sung, give him something to suck on and cover his eyes and bam he is out, but I do have to rock him during this time - which I usually don't mind doing. This happens about once a week - otherwise his naps have been like clockwork.
In other news, Mason smiles and giggles! His little laugh is so adorable and sometimes he smiles so big that his little eyes basically close. Super heart melting.
He has a favorite toy that he smiles at and is slowly learning to hold things in his hands. Mostly because mommy opens his hand and puts them there, he has not quite mastered picking things up on his own yet.
He can roll over from his stomach to his back and we are working on getting him to roll the other way, because if by chance he rolls over during nap time he finds it hard to fall back asleep and mom has to come in and flip him back over (this rarely happens, knock on wood!).
Our little guy is growing fast and is almost 13 pounds! We have had to retire quite a few little outfits but it is always fun to pull out a new one - although it is a rare occasion when an outfit goes more than a few hours without being christened by spit up. or other substances. Still, new things are fun and we are in for a whole lot of new things in the next few months and years to come!
Mama Mia out!
