Getting Better!

Well, we're having some progress with Gabriel. His scheduled naptimes are running a little more smoothly now. Here's a sample of a portion of his schedule:

*baby wakes at scheduled time and eats
*play with baby for "wake time" and change diaper
*after approximately 1 hr, lay baby down in crib, give a kiss for sweet dreams
*leave room promptly and hold breath

this whole process should take 45 minutes-1 hour

I find that when I lay Gabriel down, he may cry for a short period of time (5-10 minutes?). Sometimes though, he lays quietly in his crib for awhile and then goes to sleep on his own. Pretty impressive, considering I usually lay him down completely wide-eyed and awake. Now, we still have some nap times where he cries on and off between sleeping and crying, but for the most part, I am definitely seeing progress. Also, bedtime is a piece of cake, compared to the daytime, anyway. His bedtime routine has been:

*turn off bedroom light, and turn on lamp (this is his cue that bedtime is near, and to start winding down).
*bath
*eat
*turn off lamp and lay baby down

For the most part, he just goes straight to sleep. Again, if he cries, it is pretty short lived. On top of that, he's been only waking twice to eat, and this morning, woke at 7 a.m.! Perfect!!

So, let me say that this weekend has certainly been less stressful that the week prior to. And let me add, that Anna and her daughter Ava visited from Georgia this weekend. That gave me an opportunity to be preoccupied, instead of banging my head against the wall listening to my baby cry. I actually had adult conversation with someone other than my husband, with somebody who understood my woes of motherhood.

Nice to say, I am beginning to feel semi-normal and for the first time have enjoyed my weekend. I think I'm getting the hang of this!