Babies

First of all, a shout-out to the new mommies in my world. I don't know if any of them even read this blog. My husband's sister had their first baby, a boy named Henry, back on the 10th of July. They are currently in another state with his internship, but reportedly everything is going well over there. And an old friend I grew up with had her first baby, a girl named Peyton Malia, on the 14th. She posted pictures on her blog. And, leaving the person I am closest to for last, my friend Jen from college just started their family with a girl named Mercedes on the 20th. Congrats to all!

As for my baby girl, we have hit a new transition point. It always amazes me that as soon as you know what you are doing, they decide they are done with that phase. This is especially true in the first year, where they are growing and changing rapidly. Anyway, I was discussing with a friend on Thursday night the sleep habits of our respective babies. She was having real struggles getting her boy to sleep, especially at church, and I told her that Kaitlyn was just fabulous. All we did was wrap her up, stick the binky in, and rock with her and she was GONE. It was wonderful, because I could get her to sleep anywhere, as long as I had a blanket and a binky. The rocking chair just saved me from standing and rocking in place.

Famous last words.

Kaitlyn decided the next morning that she no longer cared for binkies. Or blankets swaddling her. Or rocking. Unfortunatly for her, that is the only way I have ever known to put her to sleep. After trying the usual method for a while and just listening to screams, I eventually gave up and put her in her crib to fend for herself while I took a break, and she dozed off after only 10 minutes of crying! To understand my amazement, you have to understand that Tyler didn't do binkies, and would scream literally for hours if left to his own devices to fall asleep. We tried every method that people told us about, and he just finally had to grow out of it on his own when he was two. Yeah, two years of sleep deprivation. Grrr. But Kaitlyn just . . . went to sleep! On her very own! Woah, the books all told me it could happen, I just never believed them!

Of course there are pros and cons. If you put the baby to sleep, and then set them down in their beds, they go to sleep anywhere, but not with just anyone. And if you left the binkie somewhere, you are screwed. But in the long run, they don't know how to go to sleep on their own, and are more likely to wake up at night and need you to get them to sleep, since they don't know how to do it by themselves.

But now, since she puts herself to sleep, she doesn't nessesarily need me to be there. That means a babysitter can do this! Hooray! On the other hand, when we go on trips, many people who have done this method told me that the baby didn't know where they were, and awful screaming insued. It makes sense, really. Babies don't understand our words, so they are more cued in by surroundings. "You put me in my crib: it must be time to sleep." But if there is no crib, how do they know what to do? Well, this is new territory for me, so I don't know about that yet. I will find out when we go to Ohio next month.

I am just glad for the wisdom that comes with multiple children. No matter how much people try to convince you of it, you don't truly KNOW that it is going to end until you have seen it end. That is why I can relax with Kaitlyn and her over-night feedings a lot more than I did with Tyler. I know they will end . . . someday. It will take work, and crying, but we will fix that problem. (How I am going to fix it now, without a binkie, is a quandry.) But I am still very concerned that Tyler doesn't talk, because I have never had a conversation with one of my children. He is making good progress (not great, just good), and so logically, there will come a day when he can come up to me and say "Mommy, I think I would like a drink now." But that is so far away right now I can't fathom it. Instead, he is currently behind my chair babbling incoherently. Someday!