Growing Boy

William has been growing up so much lately. I thought I'd show you all of his new talents. :)

William started grabbing toys last week

He can now sit up very well if we support his back

Look at that face

Because he can hold his neck up, the Bumbo is our best friend ;)

He can look around and smile while holding his head up 

AND he can grab his toys and bring them to his mouth. YAY

Of course, he forgets that he is holding the toy in his mouth as soon as he can't see the toy anymore. But Isaac and I love, love, LOVE to play with him now. Will is so much fun and has started laughing too. He doesn't consistently laugh, so we haven't managed to take a video of him yet, but we will soon. I started doing this thing where I talk to him in a whisper/growl and he thinks it is hilarious and he tries to copy me too. Isaac laughs at us both. I guess we sound pretty silly. :) Oh, well ... 

Family Photos

Hi Guys, I'm sorry I haven't been posting things lately. I'll try to catch up this week. We have had a lot of fun lately with craft shows, my birthday, Isaac got a promotion and then we took a trip up to PA to see my family for Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures of our family in the past few weeks.

  

Car Accident

 ... Life just got a lot simpler...

One minute Isaac was kissing me goodbye and then the next minute he was calling me to tell me that his car was totaled. All I could think of on the way to go get him was ... what if the accident had been worse? What would I do with a baby and a husband in the hospital? Isaac told me afterwards that if he hadn't been wearing a seat belt, he would have flown through the window. He hit the car in front of him very very hard.

I feel sick.

When I got there, I could tell Isaac wasn't ok. He was smiling and laughing too much. I kept saying little prayers for him while William was crying in the back seat. Its odd how in just one second nothing matters but your family. It didn't matter that Isaac was going to meet the guys at the movie theater. It didn't matter that I was supposed to have a Girl's Wine Night. Only my family mattered. I knew my only job was to keep my family together and safe.

Isaac couldn't think of anything practical last night. He talked and talked about everything, the accident, the consequences with insurance companies, towing, the citation he received and how we would handle only having one car. For my part, all I could think of was how wet he was from standing in the cold rain for an hour last night. I wanted him to get warm and dry, I wanted him to eat and drink something, I worried (and still do) about him getting sick and about his injuries ... He said he wasn't hurt, but no one can go through a collision like that and not be hurt. With my own back being weak since I was a little girl, I need Isaac's back to be in perfect condition.

I think Isaac would have started looking for a new car last night if I hadn't stopped him. Everything inside of him wants to fix this. I encouraged him to wait a bit. We don't need to be spending thousands on a new car without thinking it all through. I don't have a huge need the car for right now, so we can be a one car family for a few weeks. Isaac has a lot of Christmas leave and we could look for a car then. That would give us a month to think of what vehicle would be best for our growing family.

I don't know how to end this blog post. I keep thinking about how much worse this could have been. Thank you, Lord, for protecting my family. Please, please keep our other car in good condition, Father!

The two most important people in my life

2 Month Check Up

We did it. We made it through. I say we because it was just as hard for me as it was for him. I can still hear his cry in my head and it breaks my heart. I have NEVER heard him cry like that before. It really hurt him. He was sleeping when they gave him the two shots in both of his legs. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord, for letting him go right back to sleep after he cried. If he hadn't recovered so fast I would have been in tears myself. Why is it so hard to be a parent? Why can't it all just be sweet cheeks, kisses and coos? Heck, I'd rather wake up a million times a night than go through getting shots again.

Did I mention that we need to get two more shots next month? Yup .... I'm sad already. :(

Anyway, moving on to bigger and better things ... William weighs 12 lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 inches long! He is actually 100th percentile for height! Where did he get it from? Isaac is average for height and I am below average. Silliness. This boy is going to be taller than me when he turns 2 years old!

Our Little Mountain Man

One of my friends gave me this hat and William looks so cute in it. He kinda looks like he just needs an ax in his hand and then he would go chop down some trees. :)

Sleep Training

Last week I reached the end of my rope with William and his naps. It would take 10 minutes to get him to fall asleep, then I would  lay him down and he would sleep another 20 minutes on his own. I was exhausted and frustrated. I knew he needed more sleep than this and I couldn't feed him every hour and a half to keep the schedule of Eat-then-Play-then-Sleep.

Look at that pouty face :(

So on Tuesday after Isaac came home from work we laid William down in his bed, gave him his pacifier and left the room. He cried for 30 min before we gave in and got him. Both Isaac and I were almost in tears from hearing him and we were not confident at all that we were doing the right thing. I sat on the couch reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and crying "It says that now is the right time to do this. The book says we should do this now!" We tried again for his next nap, but only made it for 15 min before we picked him up and put him to sleep on us. I knew that we needed advice from friends to tell us what to do next.

I knew a friend of a friend whose son (Jackson) struggled to take naps all year and I called her to see what encouragement she could give me. She backed up the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and told me that she started even earlier at letting Jackson cry himself to sleep. She told me that it can take as long as 2 1/2 hours for a child to cry himself to sleep, but she said it never took Jackson longer than 45 minutes. She encouraged me to struggle through the tears and keep going.

... and those sad eyes

As soon as I got home I put William down for a nap, gave him his pacifier and left the room. Thankfully Isaac came home right then because William cried for 40 minutes before he fell asleep exhausted. It was very hard to hear, but I think I knew how hard it was going to be that time and braced myself for William's tears. The next nap was better. He only cried for 20 minutes and the nap after that he cried for 15 minutes. I couldn't believe how easy it was becoming. The next day was even better. He would cry for anywhere between 5-15 minutes and would sleep at least an hour, but several times would take a two hour nap. One time I even had to wake him up to eat!!! I felt like a new person. I cleaned the whole house that day, did several loads of laundry and even had time to sit around and rest. 

I can't believe how well William is responding to all this. He is so much happier and feeding him is easier as well. I'd like to say he doesn't cry anymore to go to sleep, but he does. The  longest amount of time is 30 minutes, but usually he only cries for 15 minutes and occasionally he just complains a bit and goes right to sleep. It is wonderful! 

I wanted to write this blog for any other young parents out there that need encouragement to let their children cry themselves to sleep. I'm not saying it is the only way, but if you want to do it this way, please call me and I will encourage you to push through it. It takes a certain hardness of heart. You will probably cry the first time you try it, but the result is worth it. Isaac had to remind me that I am William's parent and it is my job to teach him hard  lessons that he needs to know to be a good adult one day. Isn't sleep one of the most basic lessons? How can I expect to teach William really hard lessons when he is a teenager if I don't start teaching him something as easy as sleeping on his own? It helped me to put that into perspective. I hope all this helps you too. :)

But now his eyes are bright and happy :)

Mommy and Me - Black and White