Ferber, Plants, Cold Temperatures... And Sparky

A mish-mash entry.

We've started to sleep train Ethan again. Going back to the Ferber method. And it is working nicely, at least for his night time/bed time routine. Ethan had lost most (if not all) of his sleeping routine since we had been co-sleeping with him ever since we were getting ready to sell our house and even before. Only the parents fault to blame, though we did have a lot on our plate and maintaining a good pattern for Ethan was tough so we all just cozied up in bed for his sleep time.

Now he is doing quite well and hopefully is day naps will fall into a routine also.

Plants. Most of my patio plants had to be brought in tonight! It was getting so cold (below 50F) that I did not want to take any chances with them and have them die on me. Not that they would actually, but just to be safe. There are so many of them. And so my fig tree is now inside the house too and I may just as well keep them all in now, though we are expected to have warmer temperatures again before fall weather really sets in.

And so comes the last interesting part of this blog entry.. A stray cat has called our deck its home. I call him Sparky. It is a very scraggly-looking, malnourished, boney, black cat with white-ish paws. It is quite cute, and scary at the same time. He is not scared of anyone and is quite aggressive about winning your companionship! Poor kitty. Kelly won't let us adopt him into the house, and it is going to be so cold outside tonight!

Oh, Sparky.

"We'll See Tomorrow" ... Indeed

Yup, a couple of days ago was indeed a fluke with Ethan's sleeping... because yesterday was an absolute nightmare. It was so heart-wrenching to hear him cry for so long (30 minutes) and this was during the day. Papers were all over the floor since Kelly and I were also trying to organize our documents for tax filing, and so it was not a good day. Poor Ethan. Gosh I keep saying that. But guess what, today is again a magical day and he is doing super. Going to sleep on his own for his naps with little fuss. The noomie is such a goonie boonie. I love him so much. I guess I'll be expecting this up and down rollercoaster of emotion until he is truly fully sleep trained. The good news is our taxes are done and filed and we should be expecting a bigger tax return this year since we filed jointly for the first time and have a "dependent" to claim in Ethan. Tai, a Baha'i accountant who did our taxes was just Mr. Efficient. He knows all the ins and outs to get us the biggest return and he did it all in under an hour. Great business for him too, though, if all his clients came in and out as quickly as we did.

... Just ONE Night?

Ok, everyone, listen up, Ethan has fallen asleep on his own with only a tiny bit of crying. And in only his second night of "training"!!! All his naps today, too, were preceeded by only brief crying (1 or 2 minutes, certainly less than 5)... and some went down without a peep, so quiet in fact I had to check just to make sure he was ok. Sure enough, he was contentedly asleep in his crib. And to think just last night, his first night of sleep training, he cried for around 35 minutes. It was a very long and sad time listening to him cry, but all worth it now! I can't believe it, is he really transformed now and can put himself to sleep, or just a coincidence for tonight?? We'll see tomorrow!

But anyways, Kelly wants to thank everyone who confirmed to me the importance of sleep training your baby. Because (she feels) without all this (and only going on her recommendation) I would not have felt this to be a good approach for Ethan. ("too cruel") .. But I am quickly a believer!

With Ethan able to put himself to sleep, we can do more around the house and for work ... oh, and for once, Kelly has not fallen asleep, putting Ethan to sleep, that tonight we can actually watch a movie!!!

Remember, Ma, all those nights just the two of us watching GG till late? Well, Kelly is awake too now!! :-) Yay!

OK, must watch movie instead of blogging or else Kelly will truly be bored and put herself to sleep... bye bye

Sleep Training

The time I've been dreading a lot has come. This evening was the first night Ethan was put to bed on his own in his crib. It was pretty tough to take. I had already told Kelly I'd rather that she did this by herself. I can't take hearing Ethan cry, and to put him to sleep this way?

There are mixed views on this issue, but unless the mother is a stay-at-home mom, there really is little other option. And Kelly is the exact opposite - a very achieved, professional, career mom. And not just any career mind you; one that takes an absolute majority of your wakeful existence. And sometimes even more than this. So it's no wonder, though I am playing Mr. Mom, I don't pack the milk and Kelly must inevitably wake to feed him during nights.

And it is just too much to ask for Kelly to keep doing this before she (her body) starts breaking down. Her back is not feeling so great. And so Ethan must just get through this.

Oh, but how I hate to hear him cry so much!

Poor Ethan. My poor noomie. But my poor Honey too.

Time to pray and go to bed myself.

G'night!