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Thursday, April 21 Everyone slept great last night. Except me, of course. John slept in his own bed in his own room all night without crying. We set him up in there again last Friday. My mom bought him a SpongeBob tent for his bed and a SpongeBob nightlight on her last visit a few weeks ago. We put up some navy curtains, made from sheets, and a SpongeBob poster. It's a nice little room for him. I wrote out a bedtime routine and hung it on his closet door. First he goes potty, which he has been doing very well lately, then washes his hands, gets a new diaper and pajamas, brushes his teeth, we sing ABCs and Twinkle, read a couple books, kisses for everyone and then into bed. Max slept for a good 5 hours last night, too. I started cutting the night feedings last month, but then he seemed a little under the weather so I went back to feeding him all night long. Now I'm back to cutting down to twice a night. I got a book, The No Cry Sleep Solution from the library to help with ideas. With John we just cut him off cold turkey, but I thought that would be tougher with Max since he doesn't use a pacifier at all. He's doing okay with it. And he's been falling asleep without a boob in his mouth lately. Although he seems to prefer falling asleep on his stomach now, which freaks me out like it would most moms. John has begun repeating everything he hears pretty much. He's talking a lot more, to our relief. We've been going to the library on Thursday evenings for Books and Babies and last week he said his first unencouraged/unprompted sentence. He ran into another little girl and immediately said, "I sorry." I almost cried. Max is sitting up very well and has been acting like he wants to crawl away, although he's not up on his arms and knees yet. I've been trying to feed him cereal and fruit but he hasn't really gone for it yet. I think that could help with sleeping all night. If he's only getting a liquid diet I would think he's more likely to be hungry at night. John was cut off from night feedings at four and a half months but didn't start on cereal until he was almost 6 months. It's probably more likely that Max uses me like a pacifier. They have been enjoying baths together. It's pretty cute. The little tub that we had for John also works as a tub seat and is perfect for Max right now. They both seem to like taking baths a lot, but it's one of those chores that is easy to let slip. I'm glad John handles it. Little John has begun getting upset whenever his daddy leaves for work or just walks outside. He's really attached to him. John has been sitting in his room with him at night until he falls asleep and then goes to him when he cries. Last night had to be the first night in a long time that he's been able to sleep all night without John crying or crawling on him. There was one night last spring or summer that John slept all night in his own room. I think our sleep will be getting much better in the next few weeks. Max and John have been playing on the floor behind me while I've been typing. They love each other. They are so cute together. When they wake up from their nap in the afternoon, they just sit and smile at each other. John will crawl over next to Max and hold his hand or put his arm around him. I'm glad they have each other. I had a few bad days last week. I let the monotony get to me. It can be tough going through the same routine, not getting out of the house or any time to myself. Baking and trying new recipes for dinner have become my new personal challenges. I contacted a restaurant in town to ask if they needed any help with desserts. I talked to the chef and he was supposed to get back to me. He mentioned that he gets requests for pie so I made an apple pie last week and took him a sample. But I haven't heard anything. I would love to have something to do, especially something that would bring in some money. |