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.

As for last night, the sleep went like this. He woke up at 9 pm and I gave him a ounce of his bottle in his crib and then put his binky back in. He woke up at 11 pm and I put his binky back in and left the room. He cried for 4 minutes. Then at 12:50 am, he woke, I gave him a bottle in his crib and he slept till 5 am. At that time, I picked him up and we went into the other room and slept for another hour.

I know Max is having a tough time sleeping because he is teething so bad again. But at least he slept in his room. I was so proud of him this morning. Each time he went right back to sleep. He was also rested and that made me feel happy for him. Although Max is always happy.

As for teething, he is starting to shove his whole hand in his mouth again. Poor Max. OUCH!

We saw Daphne Goldeberg today. Max is 29 1/4 inches and he is 22 pounds. Grew 3/4 of an inch and gained a pound. WOW! I was so happy when she told me that he does not have an ear infection anymore. Thank goodness. I am so happy. We also talked in length about his sleep and we both agreed that my version of taking it slow and trusting my instinct with the crying is the best for us. I do not need it to happen overnight. I just want to make sure he can learn to self soothe and learn that he can put himself to sleep. It was wonderful to talk with her about it in detail and hear your mothering experiences ads well. We also talked about the weaning and I feel the same about that-meaning that I am going to listen to Max. If he wants to nurse then he can and if he wants a bottle then he can. As ong as I can pump milk for him-well that is the most important to me-getting him those nutrients from my breast milk. He also had a flu shot today. But one of the reasons we chose Daphne as a doctor is that she buys from a distributor in England, who makes the shot without mercury. Can you imagine? All of the flu shots are made with mercury and only one place makes the shot without and it is exensive. Amazing huh? Then as before, I have him the homeopathic remedy, Thuja, which helps his body to not reject the vaccine so that he would not have a reaction.

Then we went to the Narberth Playground to meet one of the babies from our Music Class. It was great to talk with another mom and I just had fun. Max loves swinging so much. So it was a nice treat after the doctors visit.

I am very proud of my little guy. Last night it went like this. I put him to bed at 7:15 pm and said, “Ok little guy, momma and daddy love oyu and it is time to go to sleep so you can wake up feeling good”. He cried for about 15 minutes with me in the room and then he went to sleep. He woke up at 9 pm and put himself back to sleep. THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED. Then he woke at 11 pm and this was where it got to be tough. Let me first say that I love co-sleeping with Max but for me-it worries me that he cannot go down in his bed for the second part of that night. I also think abot the next baby and two babies not sleeping makes me a worried momma. I want Max to be able to do something I could never-Self Soothe. I am sure kids who co-sleep for as long as they wish all turn out to be amazing kids too but as I have said before-IT NEED TO BE WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR FAMILY.

So then Max cried on and off, with both Scott and myself, in the room for the next 2 hours. He would be half asleep for 30 minutes and then start to cry-so it was not a constant 2 hour thing-it was very on and off and a lot fo the cry was a type of moaning. TRUST ME-IF IT WAS HORRIBLE-I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IT-SCREW THE BOOKS-I AM TRUSTING MY GUTT ON WHAT FEELS RIGHT FOR ALL OF US. I READ OF THAT MUMBO JUMBO AND NONE OF IT MADE SENSE FOR ME-I TOOK A LITTLE IN THIS BOOK AND A LITTLE IN THAT BOOK AND CAME UP WITH MY WAY OF DOING IT. So then he slept from 1 until 4:45 am which was amazing. Then I took the little man and went a lied down in another room till it was time to get up. Another thing he did from the 1 am until 6:30 am (when we got up for the day) was he slept without his BINKY. OMG.

Then this evening-it went like this. Put him down-he fussed for 3 minutes with his eyes wide open and closed his eyes and went to sleep. OMG.

I will keep you posted about the late shift.