Sleeeeeeep

It's almost Valentine's Day and this year is particularly special because I am able to share it with John and Thomas.  John and I decided to celebrate early, because my niece is scheduled to arrive on the 15th!! We will be taking our first big trip to Nashville to see her.  I'm so excited to spoil her.

 I decided to take some Valentine's photos of Thomas in an adorable big boy bow-tie.  I didn't want to buy one, because I knew he would outgrow it so quickly, so I just made one myself.  Doesn't he look handsome? 

We've been really working on Thomas' sleep schedule and routine.  After a period of not sleeping consistently you begin to refer to sleep as if it is something you once had, loved, and will probably never have again.  It's almost like an amazing meal at a five star restaurant that you tried once, but can no longer afford.  You can't even say the word "sleep" like a normal person anymore.  It has instead become the long drawn out "sleeeeeeep," as if hanging on to the word will somehow get you closer to the actual activity.  Needless to say, sleep is important and becomes even more important the longer you go without it.  Getting it down has taken about a month of hard work.  Now, he sleeps from 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and takes 3 short naps during the day in his bed.  I have tried various sleep routines, methods, and techniques to get this schedule down.  I know some people naturally have easy babies who sleep whenever and where-ever.  If you are one of those parents thank your lucky stars and quit bragging about it (just kidding)!  If, however, you are anything like me, you have a child who loves to be awake and active.  Thomas doesn't want to skip a beat, which is a blessing and a curse.  I'm so happy to have a child who loves to play, explore, and socialize, but it takes extra special care to get him to sleep properly.  His reluctance to sleep had gotten so bad that he became overly exhausted and (the irony of babies) had an even HARDER time sleeping.  John and I were in a down-whirl spiral of parental misery.  First, we had to break him of being overly exhausted.  This required some gas and antacid drops and just plain ol' rocking for a couple of days.  I had to get him into a routine of sleeping, so I read that after a baby becomes fatigued you may have to rock them to sleep at the same time for three days.  This worked for us.  After that period we were able to put him into his crib at the same time that he was typically rocked.  I had to adjust our routine, making sure to do the same things before naps and bedtime.  This typically consists of a couple of stories, a couple of songs, and then to the crib while he is still awake (that's important).  At night I had to break him of his habit of waking up at 1 a.m. to eat.  To do this I first tried crying it out (at our doctor's suggestion).  It was horrible. Many long nights were spent painfully listening to him cry.  We could never make it to the 30 minute mark, which is what our doctor recommended.  I always gave in much sooner.  I eventually couldn't stand the  CIO technique so I turned to a gentler Ferber method of progressive waiting.  With this I would go back every 3-5 minutes to pat him, give him his paci, sing to him, or hold his hands.  The key was to not pick him up.  After two nights he stopped waking up and would sleep anywhere between 8-10 hours.  Although this method is exhausting the first two nights (expect not to get much sleep), it's a lot easier than having to listen to him cry and it worked like a charm.  He still fights his naps and there are times that he becomes overly tired and then he REALLY fights them.  During these times I do some progressive waiting and go back every couple of minutes while he is fussing to give him his paci, pat him, etc.  After 5 or 10 minutes he usually falls asleep. 

Sleep can be one of the biggest challenges with children.  It requires a lot of patience, prayers, and love.  Continually we are having to re-evaluate and adjust our methods to make things work for him.  I'm not going to lie and pretend it's been easy for me.  It hasn't! There have been moments that I've held Thomas screaming in my arms and I've had to ask for God's grace, peace, and help.  If you want to see yourself at your worst (and who ever would?), deprive yourself from sleep for 4 months, add the normal stresses of every day living, and sprinkle a good dose of screaming, fatigued baby on top of it.  It's incredibly humbling.  These moments are just a wonderful reminder of how much I need God and the love and support of others.  I think that realization has ultimately made me a better mother and a better person.  In difficult and joyous moments, in times of exhaustion and times of rest, in days filled with laughter and days filled with tears, I hope I am always able to remember that God's grace is sufficient.  To remind me of this lesson I've posted the words of 1 Peter 5:10 in Thomas' room: 

" After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you."