Friday, May 9, 2008

Change is constant | BE FLEXIBLE and you can win the lottery

Today I feel like I won the lottery. First, Owen slept a 5.5 hour stretch last night and only woke up twice ( if you count 4:45AM, which I do) Yippie. He also put himself to sleep with wide awake eyes this afternoon.

I wanted to write a quick post that if something isn't working with your child, try, try again. Babies and kids change so fast, so you never know. I'm a huge believer in "if it didn't work this week, try it again next week." So today, we were out taking more photos with KDI studio (she had an intern in town and offered to have the intern shoot Owen for free) sooo we were NOT following his normal morning routine. I was thinking it was going to end in disaster, but I was willing to push it and be flexible.
Which brings me to my next point, BE FLEXIBLE. If something interrupts your schedule for the day, GO WITH IT... just get back on your schedule the next day (just don't do it every day, right?). So he had been up for 2 hours and I was just so SURE he was going to scream bloody murder any second and especially when I put him the car seat to go home. Instead I nursed him off his 3 hour schedule and he fell asleep during the photo shoot on my shoulder, something I haven't allowed to happen in a LONG TIME, that is, if you consider 3 weeks a long time. So, I put him in the car seat and, of course he woke up, but was just sitting there sweetly. So then I'm thinking "great, he'll scream when we get to the car." Nope! He was fine all the way home, mind you, he didn't sleep in the car seat, but I got him home, changed his diaper and then he seemed wide awake... so I put him down in his crib (of course on his belly) and he's looking at me with big eyes, so I'm thinking, "GREAT, now he's going to scream bloody murder and only get a 15 minute nap on my shoulder and my day will be a hellish cycle of an overtired baby trying to catch up. Nope. He put himself to sleep. Yes, you heard it here first, he talked himself back to sleep at 10 weeks old. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true. Now, yes, he's been working on this skill and admittedly, he has been drowsy but awake when I've put him down in the past, but he hasn't been WIDE EYED and bushy tailed. I stuck to my guns, though, and crossed my fingers and I shut the door. I knew he was tired and I guess he knew it too. He didn't even whimper, just goo goo ga ga, and then boom ASLEEP. I'll relish in this moment, thank you very much-- why? Because it could be different next week, so I'll remind myself to take my own advice, change is constant with babies and kids.

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