Sam is now sleeping through the night. It took two nights of crying and then she has slept for the past 3 nights. Last night she did wake up at 4 am but I felt that anything after 4 pm is pretty much sleeping through the night. The other two nights were 7 pm to 6 am. Wow! Amazing. I barely slept those two nights because I stood by her crib rubbing her forehead and patting her swaddled tummy and sending her loving vibes. I did however let her cry 5 mins, then 10 mins and then 15 mins alone in her room. I watched the monitor like a momma bear watches her cave. I actually felt ok. I felt ok because her cries were whining cries and not blood curdling cries. I slept her half of the night in the crib then the other half in the swing. I wanted to be gentle with her and myself. Then the next night I slept her half the night in her crib and the other half in her bassinet that rocks back and forth for ten minutes before automatically shutting off. I figured what the hell..I am doing this in a gentle way. Don’t get me wrong it still sucked and I barely slept and my nerves were shot but she is now sleeping.

Since I felt so pumped about helping my little girl and of course helping myself we decided to take the binky away from Max. Well actually max had his 3 month speech and language evaluation and they said the binky had to go. Thank goodness I had just toughened up from my experience with the blood test and the sleeping stuff with Sam because I only had a mini melt down. Just the week before my friend said she took her little guy to the dentist who said her son’s teeth were shifting due to the binky etc and so she took it away but guess what I said…HELL NO I WOULD RATHER PAY FOR BRACES FOR TEN YEARS THAN TAKE IT AWAY but his speech is another thing and if it helps him then we have to do it. Apparently, the tongue must be at rest in the mouth for speech development and when a kid is sucking on the binky, well the tongue is not at rest. So we took it away yesterday am. Max was only sleeping with it but I was so scared it would screw up sleep, which has never been easy with Max. But he did nap yesterday with ease and slept last night fine and had a rough time this nap today but he finally passed out. Wow! I actually think I am growing up as a mom.  We told him we lost the binky’s and we could not get anymore.

I will keep you posted on both situations. Hopefully all goes well.

 Aren’t they adorable? I am so happy it is warm outside so we can play.

So I can finally handle the tears. I have out off a blood test for Max for 1 1/2 years and finally we did it. We got a blood test today that will show us what foods he is allergic to. The test is amazing and they test so many different foods, not just the basic ones. Most allergy tests just test whether you are allergic but they do not test sensitivities and this one does. Scott held down Max’s chest and arm and I held down the legs and we were able to draw almost 2 viles. I shed a few tears myself in the hall and then I pulled myself together and stood strong for my son. Max was great. He screamed and fought but in the end we got it done.

As for Miss Samantha, we have decided to do a gentle method for helping her to get back to sleep. At this point it is just habit because she was waking the past month due to being uncomfortable but now it is just habit. So last night I did not give her a bottle during the night when she woke up and she was not happy. She did not want to be held or have her binky-she just wanted her bottle but I did not give it to her. She cried on and off for about 1 1/2 hours and finally went to sleep and did not wake again. She used to sleep great and I know she can do it. Max was a different kid and still is. Max, even in the hospital, wanted to sleep with me but not Sam..she wanted her own space.

This morning as I saw her look up at me with her big beautiful blue eyes and loving me so much..I knew that she was ok. I really struggled with doing this because I felt that a parent should be there at any time of the day for their child but I see now that it is good to help your child self soothe. No matter what, Max had such bad ear infections that this was never possible anyway and we did actually have him sleeping in his crib almost through the night when he was 10 months old but then the ears got really bad.

So with all that said, I am so tired. I barely slept. Max had a really bad night and woke me up at 5 am after I had only slept a few hours but in the long run this will be good. I guess we are doing a very gentle method-one that involves Sam knowing that I am there but also knowing that she needs to put herself to sleep. We will see..

I guess Max is really lucky that he has such great hair. I did not cut his hair for the first 7 months but it was so long and crazy that we had no choice. He has had about 6 haircuts since then and still his hair grows and grows and grows. He has a combination between my curly locks and his fathers hair, which is kind if curly but can be combed straight. 

Luckily we have this col place called Kids Cuts and they have a slide and dvd for the kids and it is a lot of fun and distraction but still when the women gets near Max’s ears well then it is all over. I wish there was a better way to ease the mind of your kid during these times but if somebody was coming at me with scissors and I did not know them, well I guess I would scream too. At least he looks cute at the end of the day.

And yes we still allow the binky. I guess we will not take it away either till he gives it up or after the next baby. He loves his binky so much. We do not give the binky when we go out but he is allowed at home and in the car. Some kids have blankies, he has a binky. Either way, I am sure we will be fine. I think too many people make rules about when kids should not have things that make them feel secure. I am sure it will all balance out. I do not think he will graduate school with his binky in his mouth. lol

We cannot handle the tears. We thought we would be comfortable doing sleep training but we are not. We had tried when Max was about 10 months and Max cried and cried and threw up a few times. We did manage to get him to sleep in his crib a few nights with only spending the 5 am and on in our bed but now-we just can’t. We both thought that we would wait until after the ear tube surgery but now that we talked about it-it just does not make sense for us. Of course it is hard when Max gets up for a mid night party and is up for 2 hours but that usually only happens when he is really teething or when he had an allergic reaction to a food. Max sleeps in his bed from 7 pm till 11 pm or 12 am and then sleeps in our bed the rest of the night. He typically does not wake up until 6 am and since the surgery it has been 7 am (*YEAH!! Please GOD keep this going for the sake that I am pregnant and tired). I have always had a tough time thinking about the sleep training. I have no problem letting his fuss and cry when it is tantrum but the sleep thing is just too hard. I guess it is hard for me to train Max to know that I am not coming at night. I do not say this to pass judgement..this is just to explain my feelings. I am jealous of those moms that have perfectly sleeping kids but we cannot handle the tears. I was worried that Max would not learn to self soothe but after watching him evolve this past 16 months, I see and independent and fearless kid who knows how to soothe himself to sleep at 7 pm and for his naps. As for the sleeping though the night, I am hoping he leans by the next baby. And if he does not, well then I guess we will have to figure something out. Please understand that i no way and I passing judgement. We in no way set out to be parents who did co-sleeping but it worked out that way over time. All in all Max is a very special kid and so I am thinking that we are doing something right. What have you experienced with your kid or kids when it comes to sleep? 

He slept for 7 hours and then another 4 hours. WOW!! OMG!! All in his big by crib. He woke up at 2 am. I went in and told him that I love him and put his binky in his mouth and left the room. He whimpered for about 2 minutes and then wen t to sleep. 7 pm to 6 am with one wake up. Cannot believe it. I was almost scared that he was not ok. Well I will see what happens tonight but he is putting himself to sleep in less than 5 minutes after I leave him.

Pictures to post later of our run in the park.