Sleep Training/Crib Transition - Success so far!

We finally did the crib transition last weekend, and last night we started sleep training. Over the past month, Ariella had been waking up to nurse quite a bit, and there were many days when I was zombie-fied, yet I still had to function at work. It was time. DH and I are no longer worried about sids, since she's almost 11 months old.

Saturday night and Sunday night we did the crib transition, but I made sure to stay with her until she fell asleep. And, when she cried, I came in and soothed her, even nursed her once a night. I felt it would be too abrupt to go from co-sleeping to sleeping in a totally different room by herself with cry-it-out. But, after that second night, I was completely wiped. So, last night we started "sleep training".

When she started showing her sleepy cues around 8:30pm (rubbing her eyes and yawning), I took her upstairs and put her in her crib. I turned her seahorse on for her to have some soft music, and I left the room and went back downstairs. She cried a little, but not too much. She went to sleep a lot faster than the 2 nights that I had stayed in the room.

Overnight she woke up several times - the first time around 11:30pm. That first time, after a couple of minutes I went in and put my hand on her chest and talked softly to try to reassure her. It didn't really seem to do much good, though, so I left and went back downstairs. She cried for about 10 minutes (almost hysterically for a little bit of that), but she put herself back to sleep. She woke up several additional times through the night, but we just let her work it out herself. We didn't go in or anything. She actually put herself back to sleep faster those times that we left her to herself.

So, no overnight nursing, and I only went in once. Not bad at all for a first night. I was able to catch up a bit on my sleep. When she woke after 6am, Tyree went and got her. I think she got a lot more sleep than she had been getting. I know she didn't need to nurse overnight because she had been sleeping without nursing until after 4am, sometimes until 5:30am or so. She was definitely capable. I think her having a dark, quiet place to sleep (no tv, no parents walking around, etc) will really help her in the long run.

Hopefully as time goes by, she'll wake up less and less and get even longer blocks of sleep. I would think that would really help her overall.

Slideshow of my Trapeze Pics of the Ariella Performance

"Joanna"

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Ariella's First Christmas

We had so much fun for Ariella's first Christmas! Having a little baby really makes everything such fun. We're pretty lucky that she's not quite mobile yet, so she didn't try to pull the tree down or anything. But, she's old enough that we can get to see her enjoy the new toys and the Christmas dinner.

I almost didn't dress her up for her first Christmas, but then at the last second I figured it would make everything even more festive. So, I put her in her new Winnie the Poo red velvet dress. She looked so adorable.

Ariella didn't quite get the hang of unwrapping the presents this year, but I'm sure that won't be a problem next time around. But, I helped her to unwrap her gifts. The inflatable ball pit that we got her was a huge hit.

She is such a joyful little baby girl. I'm so thankful that I have her.

Ariella - Snow Angel!

We had our first snow of the season a week ago, and I dressed Ariella up in 2 layer of pants, 2 layers of shirts, a winter coat, socks, boots, and gloves! We were only outside for maybe 5 minutes. But, Ariella made a snow angel, and I pushed her on her little round snow sled down the hills in our backyard. Fun times for her first snow!!!

I feel soooo much better today!

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Ariella's had a cold for the past 4-5 days, which has meant stressful crying in the morning when I go to clean her eye (clogged tear duct which is really bad during a cold) and clean her nose. Also, for the past 2 weeks, she had stopped sleeping through the night and was waking up to eat once or twice a night!

Last night, though, Ariella slept from 9:30pm to 4am! And, there was no crying in the morning when I had to clean her eye (which was MUCH better) and her nose (which was also MUCH better). The reason - we bought a Vicks warm air vaporizer thing. We had been using a cold air humidifier (which is what the doctor had recommended the first time Ariella had a cold - she's only been sick 2 times so far), but it wasn't doing anything really. So, I asked Tyree to get this one on the way home.

I feel soooo much better today! It's amazing what a little extra rest and a non-stressful morning can do. :-) So for babies with stuffy noses/cough/cold, if you don't have the Vick's warm air vaporizer, give it a shot. It was like a miracle thing for me.

Ariella Meets Santa!

Last night we went to a Winter Social hosted by our local school system. Ariella was able to meet Santa, and he was a huge hit with her! After a short time of just looking at him in fascination, she started smiling and laughing. Then, she and I posed as snowmen. It was a fun party. There were a lot of older children (2 years old and up), so it was hard to find babies her age to try to meet other parents. I did see a lady from the playgroup that we attended last Thursday, though. It was sponsored by the same group. Hopefully as I go to more of the play group meetings, I'll be able to start to make some parent friends. It meets about twice a month.

Our Shutterfly Christmas Card 2010!

Here's what we decided on!

Scarlet Script Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card

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