Nap Nirvana and Cry-it-out

Holy Toledo, I thought all those other mom's were just lying to me when they told me their kids slept for two hours straight at naps. Leo slept for a straight 1 hour and 20 minutes today--TWICE!

And, this is the second day in a row that he's done so.

Leopleurodon has always been a crappy napper. I mean, when he was small he would only sleep during the day if he was held. He then graduated around 4 months old to cat naps that only lasted 20-45 minutes max if I wasn't holding him.

I know. I know. You're supposed to put the baby down drowsy, but still awake. All I can say was that I knew that before I even had a baby, it just didn't work. And really I don't know when that's supposed to work--after you go on the one hour walk around the neighborhood just when the baby is starting to calm down...yeah, that's what I thought. 

Two weeks ago, I reached the breaking point for bobbing Leo for 40 minutes before he fell asleep at night. Especially because out of the blue he also wanted to be bobbed for another 40 minutes every time he woke up to eat. So I broke out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child for the second time. Decided that I was going to bite the bullet and try out Extinction at bedtime--which basically is exactly what it sounds like. I kiss Leo on the forehead, close the door, and then its pain and suffering for the whole family before Leo finally falls asleep. It's supposed to be 1 hour of crying the first night, a half hour the second, and maybe 10 minutes the third night. 

On night #12, the least he had ever cried before falling asleep was 45 minutes. *insert feeling of guilt and doubt here*

But then I stumbled across this blog. Many interesting and informative points there. But the real game-changer for Leo: blackout curtains!  (I know sounds obvious, but there's other stuff there too)

We hung up the blackout curtains before bedtime, Leo only cried for 35 minutes. Next day Leo napped like I was dreaming. Genius!

Tonight, dinobaby only cried for 15 minutes before he fell asleep. And today I ate lunch  s l o w l y, not my usual madwoman wolfing down food because I knew I wouldn't need to run in at a moments notice to try to salvage shreds of naptime for my tired kid. 

Sincerely, thank you God. You are good.

What has been your greatest sleep challenge? Any silver bullets like blackout curtains for me?What do you think about cry-it-out? 

6 Months in 6 pictures and a video

2 Weeks---I loved that shirt  for obvious reasons
 Good thing we caught him wearing it during the 5 minutes it fit him

1 month

2 months---and the best face ever

3 Months

4 Months

5 months--yes, wearing the same shirt.

6 months

Teeth

Leopleurodon has teeth--that's right, I used the plural. Yesterday a front tooth on the bottom emerged razor-sharp, and this morning I felt three more little points to the right side of the first tooth popping through the gums. So Leo spent today trying to gnaw on everything that came near his face...like my glasses. And being slightly more snuggly than normal--poor little man, he's been running a fever for the last two days too.(No need to worry, we're talking 99 sometimes 100 degree fevers).

Ever tried teething biscuits/ crackers? Do they help?

Nature Walks

Nature walks are our favorite part of the day-- ...maybe tied with mealtime

 

First days of Fall mean the adorable bear hoodie is definitely warranted

So what things do you see on your walks around your neighborhood? What's your favorite place to walk around with your kids?

Happy Birthday Grandpa

It's my father-in-law's birthday, and like yours truly, really, really likes chocolate.

So I made him some truffles. They were significantly easier although much messier to make than I thought.

I just made normal ganache with Gharadelli 60% chocolate chips and whipping cream.

These had cashew centers

I dipped most of them in semi-sweet chocolate.

 I salted a few. These were delicious but I definitely have a weakness for salty sweets. I also think the crystals look rather pretty.








A few truffles were mixed with peanut butter before the ganache cooled, and these I rolled in cocoa powder. Although this is the traditional route, the end result is pretty dark. However, I must say that in the future I'd use higher quality semi-sweet chocolate for dipping. And for that reason the texture of the cocoa-rolled ones was better. At least I thought so.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Neal!

What's your favorite truffle filling/flavor? Do you like salty sweets too?

Six Months!

Leopleurodon is officially six months old! It's amazing.  Leo is right on the brink of a whole new stage of development, he's leaving the non-mobile newborns and is quickly approaching the Mobile Infant Stage.

Gross Motor: He pushes up, rolls over front to back, pulls his knees underneath him, and a brand new achievement in the last few days is pushing up with one hand and reaching with the other. Oh my little man is growing up. Crawling is imminent. He can sit hunched over his legs using one hand to balance for short periods (around 45 seconds), he can sit for longer periods (5 minutes or so) with back support. Sitting unsupported will occur in another month or so. 

Fine Motor: Leo can grip toys with both hands, but hand cooperation is still rudimentary. As of right now, Leo is right hand dominant. When I give him small things to explore he usually uses his left hand to stabilize his body and grasps with his right hand. Purposeful hand to hand transfer should be coming anytime now and in another month or so he'll be holding with one hand and exploring with the other. While is grasp has definitely developed he still can't use his palm to get things into his mouth, rather he tries to fit his fist into his mouth but that will also develop soonish. Pincer grasp (index and thumb grabbing) is still three months away. 

Food: Leo now has eaten avocado, oat cereal, applesauce, black beans, and rice puffs. He also is improving his ability to drink from a cup--he now swallows slightly more watered down juice than dribbles down his chin. Although he still nurses around every 3.5-4 hours,  I can tell that he's definitely entered the sensitive (albeit long) period for weaning. He's easily distracted and he would much rather be exploring things. 

Sleep: Leo naps around 9 and 12:30 for an hour and again at 3:30 for 40 minutes. He goes to bed at 6ish with a widely varying night feeding that ranges anywhere from 1 to 4am. Half of the time he has a second feeding right before dawn, and gets up for the day at 7:20...almost to the minute. And always falls asleep with a very specific combo of shushing, bouncing and bobbing (those are different actions and Leo can tell the difference). That is until tonight. After making the controversial and hard-thought-out decision, Leo fell asleep all on his own after 1 hour and 15 minutes of crying. More about that later.

The moral of the story is my little man is getting just a little bit less dependent on me-- I used to be his whole world, but now my job is to help him discover it. My lovely little baby is ready for adventure.

P.S. Realizing that this is only my 7th post in three years shows that my stick-to-itiveness is suspect. However, seeing as I've emerged from the cave of school, newborn, cross-country move, I have a lot more time to write things down, and a lot more inclination to do so now seeing as I have such a fascinating subject to write about. *winks* So go ahead and expect pretty regular updates on everyone's favorite baby dinosaur here.