A Plan

Well, you all know that i do not do well without plans and organization, almost to the point of a disorder :)

Finn and I went to the bookstore and picked up the books I had ordered. We got Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with your Baby by Tracy Hogg. I have heard this is good for deciphering baby cues. I really hope so because even though he is almost 4 months old, I still haven't figured out what Finn needs at any given time. When I was pregnant, everyone told me I would learn my baby's unique needs, unfortunately I am just not that intuitive. I will let you know what I think of this book soon.

I also got The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley (foreword by Dr. Sears who I really like). I know there are so many different theories and methods out there for getting a baby to sleep well, but I think the attachment parenting concepts appeal to me a lot more and Sean and I both agree that we are not ready to consider any forms of "cry it out." I have just read through the first 2 chapters and my heart is already filled with joy and hope that this book will help us come up with strategies that will work well for us. The author does admit that her methods will not provide the quick solution that the Ferber method and other "cry it out" methods claim, but that they will work if we put in the time, which I am willing to do. The first step is to start keeping a sleep log. Awesome, I do enjoy data collection. I will post out progress on this method to let you all know how it works for us.

I also got an impulse buy while I was there: The No-Cry Nap Solution also by Elizabeth Pantley. I wasn't going to get it until I read the sleep solution, but then I read the back cover and it asked, "Does your child nap only in your arms, a sling, a swing, or the car? Require elaborate rituals before sleeping? Get fussy, act cranky, or throw tantrums due to lack of sleep? take very short naps or none at all?" Well, with a resounding YES to the first question, I was sold. We will see how that one goes too.

So, now that I have the prospect of a plan, I am feeling empowered to deal with some sleepless nights as we progess towards a good night's rest for all of us.

So, you can expect plenty of sleep posts in the future, but I promise to also make sure I post plenty of cute Finn photos.

Much to her chagrin, Lily has become the favored Tummy time entertainment:

You can see how much hair Finn has lost:

There is still plenty of hair to stick up crazily though. This is Lily getting a good ear licking in, I could quite get her mid lick:

When Mandy asked me about my favorite baby wearing device the other day I realized I hadn't been using the sling much since Finn had gotten bigger. I remembered there was a kangaroo hold in the instruction book on how I could wear Finn facing forward, so I thought I would give it a try. I don't know that I got it quite right, but Finn had fun looking in the mirror as I took photos: