babies

Picture of the Week

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I actually have 2 for you guys today, both featuring Small Fry.

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This was only his second time in a swing. Because he was born in July, he was too little to play in one last year, and then it got cold and rainy. It’s finally nice enough that we can go to the park again :).

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Last night, we had my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner, along with their two sons. The two babies (Small Fry is 9 months old, and his cousin – though bigger than him – is 7 months old) played together too beautifully not to document photographically :).

Have a wonderful weekend!

–Wendy

Sleeping All Night

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I’ve always been a big softy when it comes to my kids. I know in some cases it’s not healthy for them or me, but it’s hard to change…

The most recent instance of this is the fact that Small Fry, even though he’s 9 months old now, still hasn’t been sleeping through the night. And let me tell you, 9 months of not getting a full night’s sleep is hard on the mama!

Our old apartment was only a 2 bedroom, so we put him in our room when he was born; when we moved, we kept him with us even though we have more bedrooms now. Hubby felt it was more important for me to have a sewing room than for baby to have his own room. What that meant for me was that I got up with Small Fry every time he fussed all night long because I didn’t want hubby’s sleep to be (too) interrupted. Having a baby scream for even 15 minutes in the middle of the night wouldn’t be pleasant for him. Of course, it wasn’t pleasant for me, either, but I didn’t have to work during the days. What I didn’t take into account was that to be an effective teacher for Seahawk and Munchkin, I needed sleep too.

Well, yesterday, hubby had had enough. He was tired (no pun intended) of having a cranky wife in the mornings. So he dropped the mattress in the crib and moved it to the living room. It’s just there temporarily while we train Small Fry to put himself back to sleep instead of nursing throughout the night.

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Last night was the first time we made him “cry it out,” and it was a raging success. He cried for about 10 minutes around 1 a.m. and (apparently) for under a minute a couple of other times. I was blissfully unaware of those other times :).

Here’s hoping the rest of the week is a smooth as last night and all he needed was for me to leave him alone during the night.

–Wendy

Calming a Cranky Baby

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Every baby is different. There’s no doubt about that. Small Fry is not the same as either of his brothers were. Or maybe it’s just that hubby and I are different people since he’s a bit of a gap baby. Who knows?

In general, he’s a pretty happy baby, but like all of us, he has his moments – usually when he’s not had a good nap. There are times during those tantrums (for lack of a better word) that I’m not available to comfort him. Since I’m still his favorite person, this can pose a problem for the rest of the family. So we’ve found something that’s almost as good as me: this song.

9 times out of 10, this will calm him down. It’s not strictly limited to this particular song; anything Leigh Nash sings has a calming effect on him. I think he has a baby crush on her ;). But this one definitely seems to be his favorite.