Where you been?

Clouds are beginning to lift...I can finally focus....ahhh, THAT'S what it feels like to be rested after having a baby! Ahhh, refreshing...I forgot what it feels like...

Oh, hello. Didn't see you there! Why the cheerful banter? Why the joyous tap tappity tap on my keyboard?

ISAAC SLEPT FOR 12 HOURS!!! PRAISE YOU JESUS!!!!

I almost didn't type this because whenever I put something out there regarding Isaac sleeping, it always seems to bite me in the ass. Well, I say, blow caution to the wind because I feel so flippity flip flip great!!! I am so proud of this little guy.

But let me back up for a minute and tell you about the past four nights.

I have a feeling it stems back to his teeth coming in. The poor little guy. When we knew that was the reason he wasn't sleeping we went to him every time he woke up. Because really, who wants to cry and be miserable all by themselves when they have two huge teeth trying to blast their way out of your gums??

So his teeth are coming through nicely and all should be well, right? Well, not so much. For the past four nights he was waking up every 1-2 hours...and it was killing us. Killing us to the fullest extent of the word. And Isaac was frustrated, tired and just not knowing which way was up or down. On Tuesday when I woke up feeling like I had 17 whiskey shots the night before I turned to Marcus and said, "OK...somethings gotta happen before I permanently turn into Ms. Hannigan and start swimming in a bathtub full of gin."

I know I've gone on my rants about not wanting to raise our child according to what a book says. I still hold true to that, but Mama needed some help STAT. I cracked open a book that I got when Isaac was born called "Healthy Sleep, Happy Baby" which sadly reads more like a textbook and leaves me going, "Ehh?" about every other paragraph.

So I turn to the section for 5-9 month olds and read about 40 pages while Isaac played in his crib trying to walk around the parameter of his bed. Simple suggestions to apply: put him to bed a half hour earlier and let him cry when he wakes up. Oh how I hate the second part. He took a two hour nap that morning and wanted nothing to do with his second nap that afternoon. So I decided to put him down earlier for bed. We are talking 6:30PM...yeah, you read that correctly. I thought it was crazy, but then I pictured Ms. Hannigan again and thought, "I'll try anything at this point."

So down he goes at 6:30...out like a light. I was bracing myself for him to wake up an hour later but he didn't! I nearly cried I was so happy! But 11:00PM came around and he woke up. So we let him cry...and cry...then mama cried. But I stuck to it, with the help of Marcus holding onto my arm saying, "He's OK. He's been fed, he's dry, he's safe. He needs to learn to put himself to sleep." And wouldn't you know it, 30 minutes later he was alseep! ASLEEP WITHOUT ME HAVING TO GO IN AND ROCK HIM FOR 45 MINUTES!!! AHHHH!!!!

The next time he woke up was at 5:30 and I knew he was hungry. So I went in, fed him really quick and put him back down. He slept until 7:30 and happily played in his crib for another 15 minutes. I went into his room and couldn't stop kissing his sweet little cheeks!!! I am so freaking proud of him!!!

I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but there is a big neon sign blazing at my face saying "YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! YOU WILL SLEEP AGAIN SOON!!!"

Quite the way to start a rainy Wednesday. Thank you sweet Isaac...