Baby's New Sleeping Schedule

Well, I think it's time to start training my grandson to sleep in his own bed. I was watching a program called "A Place of Our Own" and they provided some cool tips on transitioning a baby to his own bed and to sleeping through the night. It really made sense. Apparently, as the baby's needs change from nutrition to dependence, we have to help him/her to be "ok" with sleeping through the night.

They mentioned putting the baby in the crib while he/she is awake, providing the baby with a transitional item i.e. blankie, pacifier, teady bear, kissing/cuddling just before putting them in the crib, then leaving them. The baby may fuss a bit for the first few nights, but it is suppose to be a relatively quick learning process. If the baby wakes up during the night, DO NOT pick him/her up. Rather, give them their transitional object, pat their back or rock their rear end gently til they are on their way back to sleep.

What I like about what this Ph.D. said, is that it teaches the baby to be have to take care of him/herself. It teaches them a routine so that they know what to do. It works better for everyone i.e. the parents/grandparents, any siblings that might be in the room, and, most of all, the baby.

I am huge on having a routine with kids. It really helps their behavior when they know what to expect or what to do. In fact, I think kids actually look for boundaries and limitations to be set for them. They are constantly learning. Of course, they will always need, want and deserve out love and affection, but it really helps them to know how to handle themselves. Providing them with coping mechanisms and tools can actually make their future developmental milestones a LOT easier!...preschool, elementary school, high school, etc.

Much Appreciation

Good Morning People,

I want to thank you for your encouraging posts yesterday. Both make very good points. My mother use to say, when you feel bad, get a good, good cry, then take a deep breath. Then put a cold towel on your face and keep moving. Crying can be a very good thing.

Awh, yes! The car has been an extremely exhausting task. Mechanics are constantly trying to rip people off, especially women. When I was married, we went through the whole rip off process with a transmission. It was replaced but fell apart again. When we went back to the same mechanic, he had closed up his shop and disappeared...that was after he had given us the run around & all kinds of excuses. Turns out, when we took him to court, there was a long, long line of people after him. We won by default, but we were told, more than likely, we'd never see our money. That was back in 1995. Apparently, he would close one shop and open another under a different name and had been doing it for many years. Definitely a good point about being exhausted from getting the car repaired.

The Past Few Days

The past few days have been quite emotional for myself. Feeling a bit heavy, a tad sad. Not sure why. All is going so very well in my life lately. Everything that I have been waiting for has finally began to show some progress, nice steady progress. Yesterday, and a little today, I was rather irritable and sensitive. Even little things made me want to cry...little silly things. I don't like pity parties and I felt like a whimp, like a huge baby. Most of the time I succeeded in concealing myself expression, other times, I ran to the bathroom to wheep a bit and exhale.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Good, Good News!

I finally got the tags for the car! :0 whaaaooooo! :) :) This car has been down since August of 2007, for those of you who are unfamiliar with my situation. I have been very blessed to recover from a long time of hardship during that phase of my life.

As you recall, I refused to give up and refused to be ripped off by theiving mechanics. This mechanic is such a sweetheart! When every other mechanic was telling me it was the "compression"...which they could not explain how it works or what causes it to break down, and that I needed a new engine, this mechanic took one exploration throughout the engine and was discusted with the lies that had been told to me.

I am fully up and running. My son, 3rd child, has his appointment to get his license this month. His being able to drive will help the household soooo much! He is really a good boy too! I totally trust him.

Excited Mom

It is monday and it feels like it. I do have a major treat this week and that is my oldest boy is home for Spring Break. I love it when I have all four of my children together. It is so nice to see them as young adults and really handling life pretty well.

When my oldest boy graduated from high school, he tried moving out "his" way a couple of ways. His dad and I discussed that he can explore and experiment a little before we decided to make some choices for him. Then it would be time for him to live with dad and develop his "manhood". Well, that plan happened rather quickly, about a year after graduation.

Since he has been living iwth thier dad, all has been going very well. He is a tall, good looking, smart young man. This is the first time I've been separated from him for a long period of time. As we mothers do, we are concerned and worried that they are ok until we see them again. I will have him for the whole week and I can finally exhale for a little while.

I always dread when it is time for him to go back to dad's. I always miss him so much and it just feels like he will be gone for so very long. It is a tough job for mom to let go and let her little children become young adults. Their dad reassures me frequently that he is doing well and tha the is keeping an eye on him.

A Better Baby's Bottom

Hooray!

The cloth diapers are making a difference already! His diaper rash is starting to clear up just that quick. He is not as fussy either :). Nana is so much happier for her grand baby. As I mentioned before, all four of my kids wore cloth diapers. Yes, it is a lot of work, but you do what's best for the baby, right? :). Personally, I think the cloth ones are much more comfortable for the baby.

We will probably use the disposable diapers at night and when we go out, just for convenience. Of course, if he still develops a rash, then that won't work either.

Maintaining the Flow

Good morning people. Yesterday went very, very well. Wednesdays are my first really busy day of the week. I have a school age boy that comes in from half day at school. He is usually quite restless. There is not much for him to do because the little ones are in the middle of napping.

Well, I found a puzzle that was perfect for him. It kept his attention the whole time. I plan to go to a thrift store and pick up some more puzzles. He really seemed to enjoy them. I try to keep the older kids away from video games. I know the games are quite popular for this generation. I have no problem with the games in moderation like on a friday evening.

After the littles ones got up from their nap, I took everyone outside in the backyard. The weather was perfect, sunshine with barely a breeze. Not too warm, not too cool. They played really hard. Just before coming back into the house in prep for snack (and dinner for the 3 that stayed til 10:30pm), I had them do relays! It was soooo cute!

When they came back into the house, of course, they washed up for eating. Afterwards, they barely even played. They were well behaved and fairly quiet! I have used this strategy over the years. It is obviously very effective....Lol!

When they finally settled in for the evening, they watched movies ever so quietly. Just wonderful!