Sleep

My baby has lots of strengths- a friendly smile, beautiful blues eyes, strong legs for crawling & standing- but sleep is not one of them. She's been a light sleeper since the day she was born. It should not have surprised me when my baby still was waking multiple times a night at 7 weeks old (the age my friend's baby was sleeping through the night). While 7 weeks is awfully young, 8 months seems a bit old to still be waking multiple times a night and eating once.



So, for the last three weeks we've been doing sleep training. We've been trying to let her cry it out a bit when she wakes up at times other than an eating time so she can better learn to self soothe. Also, we have been pushing back the night feeding by 15 minutes gradually until she is weaned from night feeding. We made it to 5:30 and had gotten stuck. Several times she has cried for over an hour until 5:30, even with me checking in on her.

But then! Friday and Saturday night she didn't eat until she woke up for the day! I can't say she slept through the night because she woke up crying 4 times Friday night and 1 time last night, but she didn't eat until she was up for the morning! She slept right through the 5 o'clock hour. I'm thrilled! It's amazing how much more rested I feel without having to get up for a half an hour feeding in addition to the multiple trips just to give her the pacifier back.

I'm writing this on Sunday night hoping she'll do the same (or maybe even better!) tonight. I'm so proud of my girl :)

Hopeful Things

For this Friday, I thought I'd share with you a few things that have been making me happy this week. You'll notice a common theme: hope that winter will, indeed, end eventually and spring will arrive.

Beautiful daffodils


Brightly colored nail polish.


Fresh strawberries


Meredith's first summer romper.


Enjoy your weekend!

little people giggles

meredith was napping. i crawled into bed, curled into a ball and buried myself under our layers of flannel bedding. as i rested my eyes and prayed for sleep, i heard a little squeak. disappointed my baby was up after such a brief nap, i listened a bit longer. quickly, i realized the sound was not coming from the baby's bedroom but through the window. the tinkering, joyful sounds of preschoolers playing at recess across the street. the sound bounced over the road, down the side of our house, through our rickety window and danced right through my ear and into my heart. and in that moment, just for that moment, i missed kindergarten. i wanted to be back in my bright blue and yellow classroom during free choice time. i wanted little boys chasing me with their lego creations while little girls drew me into their hair salons sharing love and lice. i wanted to be back watching the pure joy in little five year old faces while they simply enjoyed their surroundings.



but just for a moment. kindergarten is a magical place. a place i may want to go back to one day, but for now, most of the time, home is where i want to be.

deepest gratitude

February was a hard month. It felt like the longest month even though, in fact, it's the shortest. but then, a blessing came on the last day.  It was nothing in particular, but instead lots of little things that made me feel so grateful for the incredible blessing it is to get to be home with Meredith.

The day started with swim class. This is always one of the highlights of my week. I get to see my girl in her cute little swimsuit splashing around like a fishy. Meredith's nana came to watch the class and, let's be honest, I love an opportunity to show her off :) I also got to see one of my best friends and her baby who are in the class with us.

After class, we hurried home so Meredith could nap. She took a nap for an hour, which was so nice. I got to shower, wash, dry & fold several loads of laundry and watch the View. Once Meredith woke up her nana came over for lunch. It was so refreshing to have company and to watch nana delight in my baby. Not long after nana left, Meredith was ready for another nap. After fighting it for a while, she gave in a slept for just over an hour. During this time, I was able to take a nap myself. I woke up feeling warm and rested.

I hurried around changing over laundry, tidying up toys, heating up hot chocolate and grabbing some cookies all before Oprah at the Oscars started. I then settled down to start the show. Quickly after I heard my baby squeaking to tell me she was up. We returned to my bedroom so she could nurse and I could continue my show. As I nursed her and she ate contentedly, I felt overcome with gratitude. Gratitude for good-nap-days, gratitude for days of productivity, gratitude for getting to enjoy the simple pleasure of television, gratitude for being a stay-at-home mom and gratitude for my precious baby girl. Reading over my day, it might not sound like anything special (probably really boring) and I guess it really wasn't (and kind of was) but sometimes that's all it takes. A few good things to remind me that my life really is great, even if sometimes short months feel long and a little crappy.

Patron of the Arts

Last week one of my childhood friends came to visit. Because it was a rainy, blustery day we decided to venture out to the Museum of Fine Arts. It was all-around a wonderful visit. We spent the majority of our visit in the new Art of the Americas wing, which I would highly recommend. This was Meredith's first visit to a museum and I have to say, I think she's an art lover.

with the ancient egypt pieces

 

 in the salon style room

 me & my girl. all that art viewing is exhausting.

the three of us :)

happy girl in the museum

LOVES van gogh

leaving after such a fun friends outing

seeing your baby love your friend & your friend loving your baby is SO special