Friday, February 27, 2009

A Bird's Eye View

Well, it might not exactly be a bird's eye view, but, now that she can sit up, the world is even more interesting!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

More pictures!

I've just updated the links to Lily's photo albums. Check 'em out and see what fun we've been up to. Yes, Lily did meet the Cat in the Hat and went on a fun filled trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. She also took her first trip up to Crystal Mountain ski resort where my dad gave her his old snow suit which she happily slipped on for pictures in the snow. Our Bug is also sitting up on her own now and loving her fruit and oatmeal. Veggies are not quite as yummy, but they're growing on her.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

On January 8th Lily became 6 months old. She got to try solid foods, was perfecting her rolling technique, and was about to reach another growth spurt. We had one night with a blissful 8 hour stretch of sleep and then it started going down hill. We had moved her into the Pack n Play and out of the moses basket. Maybe it was just an adjustment to the new bed? Or maybe she's ready to move on from swaddling? I held on firmly to our friend, Anne's words: "Everything is a phase and they will go into another one soon enough." Part of me enjoyed the extra quiet time with the bug, but on some of those up-almost-every-hour nights I longed for just a 3 hour stretch.

This week I was on mid-winter vacation from school and figured this would be our week for serious sleep training. I would try to keep her in bed and not move her to the swing part way through the night. First step was getting a crib. We had a few offers of cribs we could either borrow or have. Andy called cousin Ted and asked if he could drop the boys' old crib off on his way home from work. He did two steps better and brought along a mattress and bedding and put it together in our living room. Thanks Tacoma Warren-Christensen Family!

That night Lily was in no way interested! I eventually put her down in the swing after a few attempts at the crib fully planning to put her in the crib after her first nightly wake. She lasted a little over an hour in the crib before I gave up and went back to the swing. The next night would be better!

The next two nights she slowly spent more time in the crib and less in the swing. Then yesterday Andy suggested maybe we take down the swing. Can you imagine the look he got?

Andy has yet to experience the full brunt of one of these sleepless nights. He tries to help when he can and I appreciate everything he does when he can. However, with his job, having a bad night of sleep is actually dangerous. The less rested he is, the easier it is for him to get the bends and be sent to Virginia Mason Hospital to spend the next day in their hyperbaric chamber. He's already been sent there once this year and we don't want it to happen again. So, on nights where he'll be working the next day and needs to be well rested, he takes a sleeping pill and puts in his ear plugs while I handle the night duty. Most nights aren't really that bad. She's just had a rough few weeks.

Until last night, that is! The work toward staying the entire night in her crib paid off big! Yesterday I put her down for all her naps in the crib and even put her in there to play while I ran up and down to the basement to do laundry. Then, at 7, I started getting her ready for bed. A story or two. A nice long bath. Swaddle. Vitamins. Milk. Then down in the crib. Lights off. Mozart on. I went into the bedroom to put away laundry and get myself ready for the night. Andy got home an hour later. I fell asleep and woke on my own at 4:30am! Lily hadn't cried out once! I laid there for a few minutes and hoped she was still alive. Do I dare risk going out to check and possibly waking her up? You bet! I wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep otherwise. I crept out, put my hand on her chest, and... Hallelujah!! I snuck back to bed and was woken only by Andy's alarm. He had to get ready for work at 6:30. Lily woke as Andy was getting ready for his day, but that's when I'd be getting her up during the week anyhow. With any luck we'll have a repeat performance tonight!