Uh Uh Oh...

I love baths - especially getting water poured over my head! Splish Splash!

Me and Aunt JJ

Hi MeMa!

playing w/ Gaga
Me and Miles
Squirming w/ Grt gma and gpa Meyer
Me and gpa Hunt - so cozy

That's Brennan's new favorite phrase! His Aunt JJ taught it to him in Cali last week and we all say it ALL THE TIME now! It is seriously too cute!

Here are some recent pics of the B-Man - he sees MeMa in the window, loves cuddling with his Gpa Hunt, poses with Aunt JJ, hangs out with his Grt Grand Parents, smiles during bathtime, playing with my friend Miles, and a few others! Such a happy baby - how lucky am I? The luckiest mommy ever.

Sleep update - last night was AMAZING! I went to pilates, so PJ had to put him down and he was skepitcal, claiming, but I don't have boobs, so how will I get him to sleep? But guess what - he did - and easily. They went through our routine and by the end, Brennan just laid his head down on his daddy's chest and fell asleep. I imagine it was too cute. That was probably at about 7:30pm. Then he woke up at 9:30 to nurse, which made sense since he did not have his normal snack before bed. Then he woke up at 12:50 and 4:50. Are you kidding me - I feel so frickin refreshed today - wahoo! Of course at 5am he wanted to be awake so we laid on the couch together (see no bed still!) until 6:30 when I finally put him back in his crib and got ready while he was sleeping. Yes, yes, got ready WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING - did a miracle occur in my house last night? I think so. Daddy is putting Bman to bed more often!

Our sleep experience

Okay, so most of you know that I am TOTALLY AGAINST the CIO method, but I am also at my wits end. After 9 months of not getting a full night's sleep, I am feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, emotional, etc... I LOVE being a mom, but I am such a sleep hog and am totally suffering. Which puts me in a bind. What do I do? I am sure some of you are thinking - just let him cry it out - and wondering, is she really going to do it? No, of course not. I will not ever do that. Ever ever ever - yes, mark my words, but never. So I broke down and bought the book, "The No Cry Sleep Solution" and am anxiously awaiting its arrival in my mailbox. I am so excited to get it. I know it won't offer some quick fix or just one option - which is good b/c every baby is soooo different, but I think it will help me come up with a better plan. You know, getting Brennan to sleep at night is not the issue - it is keeping him asleep. And I don't and wouuldn't mind getting up once, maybe twice a night. But 3-4 times just isn't cutting it - for either of us. And yes, we are still semi-co-sleeping (he starts out in his crib and then comes to bed with me - yes, just me - PJ doesn't sleep well with Brennan in our bed, so he often chooses the fouton or couch, which is fine, though I would love for him to sleep in our bed). But I think I would sleep 100% better if Brennan slept more often in his crib or if we both just slept longer in my bed - whatever, the bottom line is - I NEED MORE SLEEP! And bless PJ's heart - he tries to help when he can when Brennan has a night-waking, b/c B does not always need to nurse, but lately Brennan prefers his mommy. He must have a keen sense of smell b/c often his eyes aren't even open but he just cries and cries in PJ's arms and then when he is with me, he snuggles down into my shoulder and easily falls back to sleep. Ahhhhh, it is special, but I can't do it forever and alone!

So, back to the book. I am going to do a daily documentation of how sleep goes in our house - starting with last night. Once I get the book, read it, process it, and start some new strategies, I'll document those as well. I imagine it will take a few weeks, but I am ready for the challenge - couldn't we all use more sleep?!

Last night I had pilates at 7:30 and wanted to run there, so I thought I would help PJ out by trying to get Brennan down by about 7:15 (PJ is SWAMPED with work since his BIG PROMOTION!). Anyway, B had a nice dinner of chicken, cheese shreds, broccoli, and berries (yum yum!). Then he had a bath and we read two books. I nursed him to almost sleep though Tucker was driving me nuts and kept distracting Brennan until PJ finally put him in the kitchen. Anyway, then I took Brennan to his room and he was fine.

He woke up at about 10:30pm - PJ walked him for a while, but Mr. B was upset, so finally I took him. I continued to walk him and put him down, but he kept sitting up and crying. So I gave in and nursed him. put him back in his crib and got ready for bed. Within 10 minutes he was up again, so I just brought him to bed with me. Then we were okay for a few hours - but he wokeup in a tizzy at some ungodly hour - I changed him, gave him some tylenol (he seemed to be in a lot of pain) and then nursed him. This happened a second time as well. We finally got up around 6am this morning and he was a happy camper. We'll see what tonight brings!