A Letter

Dear Dr. Ferber,

When Presley's pediatrician suggested that I get your book, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, I was a bit skeptical. Yes Presley had become a horrible sleeper, and at 6 months old she should be sleeping at least 8 hours between feedings, but I had heard not so nice things about your methods. See, your suggestions of letting the baby "cry it out" was not something I was willing to let my sweet baby girl do. First of all, I could not stand the sound of her cry, especially when I know what I can do to make her stop. Secondly, I did not want Presley's crying to wake up her big sister, Rebecca. So instead of letting Presley cry when she woke up three and four times a night, I would rush in her room and feed her. It did the trick. She would eat and go right back to sleep. No problem, right? Wrong.

Big sister also has some sleep issues which we will address at a later time, so most nights I was getting up about 4 or 5 times. Not much sleep for a mommy who LOVES her sleep.

At Presley's 6 month check-up my biggest concern was her sleeping. Why was she getting up so many times? The answer...it was all my fault. She would wake up, cry, I would feed her, she would go back to sleep. She would wake up, cry, I would feed her, she would go back to sleep. She would wake up, cry, I would feed her, she would go back to sleep. I taught her that she had to be nursed to be able to go to sleep. This pattern also carried over into her napping. She wouldn't nap unless I fed her first.

Dr. Knox assured me that Presley was not crying out in hunger every night. She was crying out for comfort. She was crying out because she did not know how to get herself to fall back asleep. He assured me that letting her "cry it out" was not going to hurt her in anyway.

I trust Dr. Knox, so as soon as we left the Dr. office, we went straight to the bookstore. During nap time I speed read the chapters that I thought would be the most beneficial. During dinner I explained the plan of action to Presley's daddy. I had to assure him of everything Dr. Knox had said. I thought he would argue with me and tell me that there was no way in h*ll that I was going to let Presley cry it out, but he didn't argue. He was more ready for me to get some sleep than I was. I think he was ready to have his nice wife back instead of the tired, grumpy wife that took her place.

So the plan of action was something like this:

1. We had to address the eating first, then we could work on the falling to sleep on her own.

2. The first night she had to go 4 hours between feedings. The second night she had to go 5 hours between feeding. Each night we would add an hour until we reached 8 hours.

3. If she did not make it the allotted amount of time between each feeding we were to let her cry for a few minutes. We could not go in until she was full out crying. When she was full out crying we would go in, comfort her without picking her up, and leave. Then after 5 minutes go back, comfort, and leave. After 10 minutes she is still crying, do the same. Then 20 minutes. If she is still crying after 20 minutes, continue going back every 20 minutes until she is asleep.

4. Stick to the plan. Do not waver. No matter how tired you are, DO NOT WAVER!!!

The first night she slept from 7:30 until 12:30. She made it 5 hours. That was huge! She went right back to sleep and woke up again at 3:30. I could not feed her until 4:30. I stuck to the plan. I did not waver, but as soon as my clock said 4:30, I scooped up my crying baby and fed her. She fell back asleep until 8:00. I survived my first night. Presley survived the first night.

All was good, until nap time. I refused to nurse her to sleep. I put her down awake and walked away. She screamed. She cried. I did whatever I could to stay busy. I stuck the the plan of going in every few minutes. After about 40 minutes, she slept. This occurred for every nap for a few days. Now she just cries for a minute or two if at all, then falls asleep. And she has been napping for 2-3 hours.

The second night of sleep training went better. She slept from 7:30 -1:30 then to 6:30. Yippee! The third night was not as good. The forth night was better. Then good. Then bad. Then bad. Then good. She has yet to go 8 hours without waking up, but she has been close.

I have a confession. I have wavered from the plan. I couldn't help it. Presley came down with a cold. I was worried that I needed to feed her more to flush the cold out. I was worried that her throat was sore and she needed a drink. I could not help but to take care of my sick baby. What's a mom to do?

Tonight I am going to jump back on the Ferber wagon. I am armed with a bottle of water to quench Presley's parched throat if she wakes up between feedings. My goal tonight is to make it 5 hours between each feeding. Tomorrow night we will try for 6.

It is getting better. She does fall asleep better on her own. Reading your book helped me to realize that we had more of a feeding problem than a sleeping problem.

We will get it, one day. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I am so sick of all my friends with babies tell me how their 3 month old sleeps 10 hours at night without waking up. I want to poke their eyeballs out.

In conclusion, Dr. Ferber, I just want to say that I am sorry that I ever doubted your methods. You were right, I was wrong.

Sincerely,

A tired mommy (but not as tired as I used to be)

Update: Presley slept from 7 to 3:30. That's 8.5 hours! Can I get an AMEN?

OMG!

What is this?

Sister, look at this.

I got it!

It's Me

I have noticed lately that I do not get into a lot of pictures. Don't get me wrong, I prefer it that way, but I think that it would be nice for the girls to have a picture or two of them with their Mommy. So I made sure that John took a few pictures of us at my birthday party.

Enjoy!

Dress Up

6 months old

A few facts about my favorite 6 month old:

*She is sitting all by herself.

*She is teething like it is no body's business, but still has no teeth.

*She is refusing to eat any food. She has been eating real food for over a month, but for the past few days she purses her lips and grunts when it is offered. (She is nursing.)

*She weighs 17.6 lbs. and is 26 1/2 inches, 75% for both.

*She has become a terrible, terrible sleeper.

*She loves her jumpy.

*She is starting to kind of reach up for me when I go to pick her up.

*She is very photogenic.

Ballerina

I am not sure who was more excited about Rebecca starting ballet class, her or I? (or is it her or me?) She was pretty darn excited, but I think I beat her on this one. She had only been waiting to go to ballet for a few weeks. I had been waiting for this day for almost 3 years (2 years, 11 months, and 1 day to be exact).

Rebecca was pumped about putting on her leotard and skirt. She was even more ecstatic about putting on her "princess shoes".

Before we left, she had to practice her ballerina poses.

Then she took a quick nap.
Rebecca and Ms. Bryn
There are 3 girls in the class, as of now. The curly haired girl did exactly what Ms. Bryn said. The dark haired girl did her own thing and ran around the room for most of the class. rebecca floated somewhere in the middle. She wanted to do what Ms. Bryn was doing, but that other girl was having a lot of fun running wild.


They did things like making pick rainbows (stretching), and hopping like frogs, and jumping like bunny rabbits, and walking like flamingos.

Rebecca really enjoyed herself. She did not want to leave and has asked several times if it is time to go back. She has been practicing her moves a lot; she even practices in the bathtub.
We have her second lesson tomorrow. I can't wait!

Slow Down

Earlier tonight I was nursing Presley before putting her down to sleep. When I finished I put her up on my sholder to burp her, which technically I don't have to do anymore, but I do. I love the feeling of her head resting on me and her arms around me as far as they will go. I could sit this way for hours. It is one of the best feelings EVER!

As I was patting her on her back, I thought, "I never want this to end. I never want Presley to grow up and not put her head on my shoulder and let me rock her to sleep." But she will. And it will happen sooner rather than later.

Moms often say that babies grow up to fast. Time flies from the time our babies are born. In a blink of an eye, our newborns are toddlers then preschoolers and so on. We want the process to slow down. But maybe it is us moms that need to slow down. I often find myself so bogged down in everyday life that I do not take the time to slow down and enjoy the little moments with my girls.

This afternoon as we traveled back home from the grocery store, Rebecca started drifting off to sleep. Being that it was almost 5:00, I did not want that to happen. I kept teasing her about closing her eyes and reaching back and tickling her leg. When we got back home and I went to get her out of her car seat, she was playing what we used to call opossum (pretending to be asleep). I played along and got her out of her seat. She let me carry her into the house all the while still "sleeping". Her head was on my shoulder. Her arms were around me. It was a wonderful feeling to hold my all too busy, almost 3 year old like I used to when she was a baby. Instead of slowing down to enjoy the moment, I plopped Rebecca down and said, "I got to get the groceries out of the car."

True it is hotter than hot here and I did need to get the groceries out of the car, but they could have waited a bit longer. I should have slowed down and soaked up that special moment that Rebecca was allowing me to relive.

My girls are not going to stop growing. Time is not going to stop passing us by. I am just going to have to slow down and enjoy every moment.

Just Like a Princess

John and I were really honored when John's cousin, John Clemmer and his fiancee', Anna, asked Rebecca to be a flower girl in their wedding. As time grew closer to the wedding, I began to feel nervous about Rebecca being a flower girl.

The first time she was a flower girl, in Heather's wedding in Jamaica, she did not even make it down the aisle. In fact, she would not even take pictures with the bride.

Her second go at it was just a few months ago in my sister's wedding. Rebecca made it down the aisle, then proceeded to sing at the top of her lungs. She had to be carted away by John.

Needless to say, we had a long talk about what a flower girl should and shouldn't do. Most importantly (and what stuck out to Rebecca the most), a flower girl must behave like a princess. She was excited to dress up and behave like a princess.

About 30 minutes before the wedding was to begin, Rebecca decided she did not want to be a princess. She wanted her Daddy. Her Daddy was sitting in the front of the church in case Rebecca had to be carted off again. I was in the back with Rebecca, the bride, and the bridesmaids.

I tried my best to distract her. So we did a photo shoot.

Here is her worried face.

her happy face

her mad face

Before it was time to walk down the aisle, she was told that she could go and sit with her Daddy if she saw him sitting up front. She was also told to throw the flower petals that were in her basket on the ground. That did the trick and she was ready to go. (I am so mad that my camera was on the wrong setting and the pictures of her walking down the aisle ended up like this.)

She did a great job walking down the aisle. She threw the flowers perfectly. When she got to the end of the aisle, she stopped. The maid of honor had to direct her where to stand. She stood up at the front of the church, like a princess, for about 3 minutes. Then she turned, saw her Daddy, and ran to him.

When the ceremony was over she got up and walked back down the aisle, throwing the flowers all the way down. She did a great job. We were all so proud and relived that she did it, and did it so well... just like a princess.

Rebecca and cousin Taylor

Rebecca and the bride, Anna

Rebecca, Mr. and Mrs. John Clemmer, and John Clay

Mississippi Girls

We just got back from a fantastic trip to Mississippi to visit my parents and attend a cousin's wedding (more on that later). We had such a great visit.

We don't get to see my parents that often, but I love how Rebecca picks up with them like she just saw them yesterday. I know that Presley will be like that when she is older.

Rebecca just loves her Nannie and Pop Pop.

I loved the fact that I was able to catch up on some sleep. Can I get an amen? Thank you Mom!!!

Rebecca was still determined to catch a whale with Pop Pop. We caught nothing, but Rebecca was distracted by the fact that she was able to drive the boat.

We had the whole lake to ourselves, so Rebecca had free range. So she went in circles. Over and over and round and round. Boy, was it fun, for her at least.

Here are a few other pictures from our trip.