My bookshelf- Edition #5

Auschwitz- Dr Miklos Nyiszli
Throwaway- Heather Huffman
Power of Six-
Divergent-
The Giver-

Developmental Crying

Lately we've (and by that I mean Afton) been having some sleeping problems in our home. Up until the last month Afton had been a pretty good sleeper. Even if she woke up at night we could usually get her right back to sleep.

Then August happened and suddenly Afton started waking up at least once a night and sometimes it took us more than an hour to get her back to sleep.
This usually involved rocking and soothing and even sometimes feeding when we got desperate for sleep.
This last week Afton has been waking up 3-5 times per night and it is HARD to get her back to sleep. It gets to the point where I'm so frustrated and half asleep that I just put her in her crib and crawl into bed (plus I usually stomp back to bed. I have to take my frustration out somewhere right? It might as well be on the floor.)
So last night was no different. We finally brought Afton back to bed with us after 2 hours of unsuccessfully trying to her back to sleep in her crib.
So today I called the Kaiser nurse line to get some advice. This was hard for me because I am not a ask-other-people-for-advice kind of mom. I am a google it or read a book or ask my sister(she doesn't count as other people. But both of her kids sleep like angels so that was out.)
After explaining the situation to the The Kaiser nurse, she immediately said it sounded like "Developmental Crying." In a nutshell it just means that babies start to abruptly wake up in the night often around 4-12 months of age after they have been sleeping through the night. There is no real reason. And she told me what I really was already thinking and dreading: you are going to have to let her cry it out. Go in and check on her every 10-15 minutes or so. Comfort her, pat her back, kiss her and lay her back down. Then leave. Repeat X amount of times until she goes to sleep.
Tonight I put Afton to sleep at about 7:30. She woke up crying at 8:30 and so it started. We are now on about the 4th cycle and she is half halfheartedly crying now off and on so I am thinking it shouldn't be too long until she falls back to sleep for good. Not too bad.
Now let's see how I feel about it at 2 in the morning. That will be a whole different story.
So, the moral of the story? I have learned since becoming a mom that life will NEVER be the same. Not only does life change once you have the baby but then it KEEPS changing after said baby gets older and older. I will certainly not take for granted my precious sleep ever again that's for sure. I got used to sleeping 8-10 hours straight and then WHAM, Afton throws developmental crying at me. Ha.
But, through it all, seeing her beautiful smile in the morning after a long night still makes me happy. And her laughs make my heart melt and throb at the same time. And her weird one legged crawl makes me continuously laugh. And... I could go on but I think you get the picture.
What I am trying to say is she could wake me up 2-3 times a night for the next 18 years and I would still love her. Because that's what being a parent is all about. Selflessly giving your precious sleep up and then not being grouchy about it in the morning.


(And Afton if you are secretly crawling out of your crib at night and sneaking onto the computer and reading this, it would NOT be cool if you woke me up at night for the next 18 years. I wasn't serious about that.)

New Car Smell

After almost 6 years with Flora (Yes, I name my cars, don't you?) it was time to trade her in.

It was bittersweet. While I won't miss trying to get Afton out of her carseat in and out of a two-door vehicle, I will miss my first car.

I had many a fun moments in Flora... She drove me to Utah after graduating college to start college at BYU.
She drove my around with my wonderful friends during those said BYU years.
She was there when Chad and I met and drove us to Utah to pick out my wedding ring.
She lived in Salt Lake with us for the first 3 years we were married and endured the snow and salt.
She moved us back to California and spent the next few years driving us from place to place.
She was there for us when others weren't...ahem...The Audi who we do not speak of.
She brought our first baby home safely from the hospital.
And she took Afton and Oliver on their first road trip to Idaho and Utah.
She saw many great scenery and mountainside views.
But alas, all good things must end someday and unfortunately Flora's days were numbered. But I am sure she will make some other family very happy.
As for us, well, we got a newer model. And we are very happy.
Say hello to out 2012 focus. Not sure what we will name her yet. Any suggestions?

9 months

Dear Afton-

(First of all can we address how hilarious this picture is? Note the squished food in her hand. That habit makes for a very fun cleanup. Also note the huge chunk of peach stuck to her chest. This just makes me laugh. Not to mention the face. Now THAT is a funny face.)

Where to start? These past few months have brought so many new exciting adventures to our family. You mastered sitting up and then went on to scooting around on your butt. You entertained yourself often with that maneuver. But of course that wasn't enough so you taught yourself how to stand up in your crib. Then you were pulling yourself up on anything and everything. Then came crawling. Now we can't leave you in a room by yourself for more than 30 seconds (if we're lucky!). And all that in a 3 short months. Whew!

I'm tired just thinking about it. But it is so fun to see you learning something new everyday. When your face lights up with a smile because you know you accomplished something big, my heart melts.

You also have your first two teeth now and I am pretty sure you are working on more due to your mood swings. But don't worry we love you all the more for those. Except could you PLEASE sleep through the night maybe once a week? Right now you are waking up at least once a night (the last few nights has been more like 3-5 times) and it is killing your dad and I. See what you can do about that, k?

You also know how to feed yourself pretty good now too and have been trying lots of new foods lately. I still try to feed you mainly fruits and vegtables but we have tried beans and corn now. Of course all your grandparents and aunts and uncles sneak you some good stuff now and again (I.E. mashed potatoes, popcicles, ice cream and ketchup).

You love Baby Einsteins and always give me a big smile and a scream of excitement when you hear the music or see the caterpillar at the beginning of the DVD. You also are starting to explore the house more. You have tried to eat Oliver's dog food on multiple occasions now and are getting pretty good at cleaning our floors of any lint.

You have waved once for Grandpa Terry although we can't get you to do it again. You also clapped your hands when Dad was playing patty cake with you the other night. AND you repeated "Mama" for me the other day. No one else was around to hear it but I am thinking about putting it down in the books as your first word. We shall see. We shall see.
Afton you are such a sweet little girl. I get told everyday from strangers how beautiful and well behaved you are. You are the center of my world now and I don't know what I would spend my days doing without you. Thankfully you still let me rock you sometimes and those are my favorite times. I am trying to remind myself to slow down everyday and spend time with you because you are growing up so fast. Thank you for bringing me so much happiness and making your dad and I better people. We love you.

Mom and Dad

Afton, don't eat that fuzz.

She mastered the art of sitting up in a few months. Now she can play with toys like this.

Then she mastered the art of pulling herself up in a few weeks.

And finally, she's working on crawling.

So I've been using phrases like "Afton, please don't eat that fuzz." or "Afton, Icky." a lot lately.

Next, we will move onto walking and at the rate we're going she will probably master walking in just a few short hours.
Slow down life!

Like daughter, like dog

Afton is watching this because she likes dancing chickens that sing.

Oliver on the other hand just likes to eat chicken.

These two constantly keep me laughing.

Who knew a dog and baby could be so much alike?

Payback

Most people that know me well, know that I am pretty opinionated and very passionate, no strong willed, fine, stubborn.

No kidding, when Chad asked my dad to marry me, my dad replied, "Are you sure? She's really stubborn." Yeah. And by the way I get this stubbornness mostly from my dad...
Chad and I are a perfect match because we both have this quality. So he didn't mind answering yes to my dad's not so subtle question.
Fast forward four years which is how long we've been married and I think I have toned down a little on the stubbornness and learned how to compromise. You really have to to be successful in a marriage, right?
Well then came the baby in the baby carriage. Enter Afton.
My mom teased that maybe I would get a stubborn baby as payback for being such a hard baby for her. Apparently I wouldn't go to sleep or something like that. Hmmm...
Well I think her wish came true.
(In her defense this picture was right after a nap. One, I am cranky after a nap too. Two, I would be mad if the flash went off in my face right when I woke up.)
(And this was isn't so much throwing a fit or being cranky but it's just so dang funny I had to throw it in. It looks like she's making a westside sign and making a "yo" face. To answer your question, no she's not in a gang.)
Moral of the story: don't be stubborn because you will pass it on to your children and then you will have to deal with their stubbornness and your stubbornness.
*cough cough* Dad.
Don't worry he doesn't read my blog. Not that I know of at least.