current challenges

Over the last 3 weeks Ben has been gone each weeknight after dinner for play rehearsal. He has a lead in this year's drama at our church. We know that this is something he is called to do and that God will use it for much good, but it has been one of our biggest challenges to date.

The 1st couple nights were a breeze. The boys went to sleep and I worked on Christmas projects. As the nights progressed it got harder to get Desmond to sleep. He went a week and a half refusing to go to bed for me. Eventually I'd give up and let him stay up til Ben got home. 10 minutes of time with daddy and he passed out. On Sunday night Des fell asleep on the changing table for Ben after fighting me for hours. Needless to say, I've felt pretty useless.

Over the weekend Kai showed the effects of missing daddy or the first time. He broke down crying when he has to say goodbye after church (2 rehearsals that day). Ben and I were both heartbroken.

Monday night I broke my toe (I'll save the details), which obviously added a new level of difficulty to my nighttime parenting struggles. I insisted Ben still go to practice and I'd call on my family if need be. I took it slow, skipped bath and let the boys watch TV before bed. Totally not our normal routine and they both went to sleep by 8pm. God surely answered my prayers (and some of yours) and it was one of the easiest nights I've had in weeks ...except for the broken toe thing.

Last night was extremely rough. Desmond refused to sleep. Long story short, he was up til Ben got home at 10:30pm. I was so discouraged and totally exhausted. We finally realized that we are under attack because of our choices to increase our ministry. It's obvious that the enemy does not approve of Ben's service to this play and it's potential to encourage Christ followers and reach lost souls.

I'm not sharing this to seem like some sort of martyr, but to keep it real. I share struggles here to chronicle the ups and downs of our lives and to avoid anyone thinking we have it all together, a misconception that seems to happen a lot on social media. I also share to encourage and recruit prayers for us as I believe that God will answer them and use this struggle for His glory and our good.

7 months

{I wrote the following update and then let it sit as I haven't had time to add the pictures...Des turned 7 months almost two weeks ago on the 10th...May is about to disappear just as quickly as April did! Needless to say he is already doing much more since I wrote this post, changing way too fast!}

On Thursday Desmond turned 7 months...already. April sort of disappeared for us, which has me a bit worried about how May will go!

This past month Desmond has started to say "dada" all.the.time. He did (for the record) say "ma" first...but he really only says it when he's mad. Nice huh? He also says "ba" and recently started mixing them together a bit. He will even start practicing his new words in the middle of the night, cute.

He's crawling, albeit clumsily. But there is forward motion now instead of just ending up wedged under something because he's scooted backwards. His increased mobility over the last 4 weeks leaves nothing at floor level safe anymore. I've been sweeping and mopping like a crazy woman...as well as cleaning up spit-up every two seconds (see: happy spitter). He is very good at grabbing anything and everything. He has long arms and incredible aim. Jewelry and cutlery beware.


Des' sitting skills have improved as well. He was toppling over quite often because he'd want to try to go get something or he'd get really excited and straighten out, only to fall backwards. Now he's mastered rolling to the side to get on his tummy from sitting, as well as getting into a sitting position from being on his belly. All these things we take for granted until we see a little person struggle to learn them. He gets frustrated, but does fairly well.

The DAY he turned 7 months his first tooth broke through. The night before was obviously a rough one. Little tooth is on the bottom in the middle. It is sharp and I'm praying hard that he doesn't become a biter like Kai was.

He is still waking in the night to nurse, but typically only once which is manageable for the time being. Although, I'm thinking we'll try to wean him of that feeding soon since he doesn't need it and we all could use the continuous sleep. Easier said than done of course. He naps regularly and goes down easily for the most part, he is leaps and bounds easier than his brother was in the sleep department. Actually, he's still easier than Malakai is right now when it comes to going to sleep and staying asleep.

As you can see Desmond has a head full of hair and I'm not sure we'll make it to his first birthday before he needs his first haircut. Malakai had very short hair at the same age, but developed sweet curls that I became quite attached to. His first haircut was at almost 15 months old. Looking back at pictures of his little psuedo-mullet, I think it'll be easier to cut Desmond's when the time comes...as long as he doesn't go and sprout little curls anytime soon.

the latest

We just finished the process of refinancing our home. We'll save a nice amount of money every month, but it was a NIGHTMARE of a process. I'm so glad we won't be doing that again anytime soon! Thankfully my wonderful husband took care of every little detail and all I had to do was gather a few documents here and there. Thank God everything turned out well after missing the window once and having to apply for an extension (at the fault of our broker). So beyond glad to be done with that!

As the weather warms up and spring fades into summer we are in full swing planning to re-landscape the backyard with my father-in-law. It was actually our Christmas gift from Ben's parents to re do the yard and we are so excited to have nice grass! When we bought the place the yard was pretty nice, but unfortunately as it sat on the market, empty, nobody took care of the grass. So the leaves from the two towering maples fell and created a ton of muddy holes that were then filled by weeks and subsequently moss.

Unfortunately our raised beds that were here from the beginning weren't very well built. There was no foundation to secure them to the ground and they were all warped. We decided it would be best to take them apart and rebuild after the ground gets torn up with the rest of the yard. I won't be planting anything until we can rebuild, which is a bummer because who knows if I'll even make it in time to have anything edible, we shall see!

Desmond and Malakai are growing bigger and smarter every day. Des is really talkative and very close to crawling forward (instead of scooting backward). He can move himself from sitting to crawling and back. He's all over the place these days! Malakai loves to "see Desmond" and is doing much better at interacting with him gently...most of the time.

Ben + I finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy last week and are possibly going to see the movie with his parents this Friday. We have really enjoyed reading them simultaneously and talking about all the drama. We've been able to go out quite often with thanks to numerous family member willing to babysit.

Work has been busy as ever and I'm doing my best to keep up, which is one of the main reasons I haven't been updating here lately. I save blogging for times when the kids are napping simultaneously, IF I'm caught up on work that I can do from home. Since the boys haven't been cooperating by napping at the same time I've been behind on work and thus not blogging. I'm finally caught up for the moment since they finally slept for a few consecutive hours during the day!

Speaking of sleep, Des has been transitioning to only sleeping in his crib and it's been so great! He only comes into bed with us when he wakes to nurse after 5am and we both go back to sleep for a couple of hours (if Kai lets us). There have been a couple of rough nights between both kiddos the last couple weeks, but not unbearable! This morning though for some reason they both woke up at 5:45am ...OUCH!

There's surely a lot more going on that I'm missing, but that's just a quick recap of what is at the forefront of my mind at the moment...

Desmond: 6 months.

Yep, it's been another month and suddenly Desmond is 1/2 a year old (as of April 10th) and yes...I'm thinking about his 1st birthday celebration already. It'll be here so fast I have to at least have it on my mind and on my pin boards now!

At 6 months Desmond is super active. He is sleeping much less during the day which is a lot of fun for both myself and Malakai. He absolutely loves his big brother. My favorite part of the day is after Kai has been up a while and Des wakes, I'll bring him in and it's like they are reuniting after being apart for days. Kai says "Desmond! He's awake, I wanna see 'im!" Then comes right up to his face and says hi. Des lights up, giggles and wiggles his whole body with excitement. Every.single.morning.

{these look posed, but Kai totally just came up and did this on his own}

Des has been a drooling machine for the past couple of months, teething like crazy but nothing has popped through yet. He loves to blow raspberries and is babbling more and more every day. Lately he has been kind of growling/shouting and it sounds like he's angry but he'll be grinning and laughing all the while. We call it "testing his voice". Kai used to do something similar but he did high pitched squeals.

We just had Desmond's 6 month well-check this morning. According to Dr. B he's perfect...confirming what we already thought. He's 27 inches long (tall) which puts him in the 75th %, 22lbs 1oz. which is off the charts as he has been since about 2 days old. His head is 18 1/4 inches, big ol' noggin just like his brother.

At just 6 months he's growing out of 9 month clothes and fitting Kai's hand-me-down 12 month clothing which just boggles my mind. For those of you who don't know, Ben's younger brother is actually quite a bit bigger than him (Ben is 6 ft. tall and David is 6' 5") so we often wonder if Des and Kai will be the same in that regard.

At the end of March he started pushing up on to his hands and knees and sometimes onto his toes, lifting his whole body off the ground! He is one strong little man! Then he started trying to crawl towards toys but ends up scooting backward which really frustrates him. Late last week he actually crawled a tiny bit forward on his knees for Grandma Debbie + I! It was so exciting, but whoah it seems too early to already have a mobile baby.

He is also sitting upright really well, but I always put a boppy or other pillows around him because he'll randomly get excited and fling himself backward. He almost instantly figured out how to move from sitting to a crawling position on his tummy without any issues.

Unfortunately he has started crying more. He never really cried when he was upset, just got a bit fussy. He's been a good sleeper since he got over his first bout of colick around 1 month old. BUT once he started learning so many new things he started to wake more and get more crabby. The other night he woke up at 4am and wouldn't go back to sleep, which was a first. Big bro has always been our difficult one when it comes to sleeping, I'm hoping Desmond doesn't follow in those footsteps! Last night he did sleep unswaddled all night, but he was nursing pretty frequently and ended up staying in bed with us from 4am-7am. After chatting with Dr. B we'll be trying some no-cry solutions to get him sleeping longer and more independently.

We started him on "solids" over Easter weekend, just doing some baby oatmeal cereal and breastmilk once a day. We'll ease him into my homemade veggie and fruit purees soon and more frequent solid feedings by 9 months per his Dr's recommendation.

About once every week or two he had a couple of days of almost constant spitting up, but it never bothers him. When I mentioned this to Dr. B she laughed and said that "happy spitter" is a actual medical term, we all laughed. It was good to know that it's common enough to have a term and that it's not something to worry about.

Des is still quick to smile and easy to get laughing. He is so friendly and snuggly. He was smiling and babbling to the Dr and nurses during the whole visit. After his vaccines he quit crying as soon as I picked him up and nursed to sleep. He only recently is able to stay asleep during transitions from car seat or mama's arms to his crib, which has been really nice.

Overall he is a happy healthy big baby boy and we are enjoying the journey of watching him grow, both in body and in skills and personality.

Thankful on a Thursday- gratefulness.

So I haven't posted a Thankful list in almost 2 months. Apparently when I hit 1000 I subconsciously thought it was time for a break. I didn't realize just how long it had been (felt like maybe a week or two) until I looked back to find the last post. Yikes!

I was reminded this past Sunday during a really great sermon how important gratitude is. I need to remember all the blessings on a daily hourly basis. It helps to keep the grumpies in check.

Here's a small list of some recent things that I have to be thankful for...

1001. my health. I've been whining about this lingering cold (or whatever it is) but looking at the big picture I'm relatively healthy.

1002. fun grandparents for my kids. Both my parents + Ben's parents are so playful with our boys, they are so blessed to have grandparents who are happy to get on the floor or go outside and play with them.

1003. food. If you've been to our home you know our kitchen is TINY. It's the source of much frustration on my part when I'm trying to prepare meals, especially big ones. I get really irritated when it comes to storing large items. I digress. I am just thankful to have a home, a kitchen, and food to fill our bellies.

1004. jobs. So many people are jobless right now and are forced to relocate for work, or worse. Ben + I are well aware of how precious our jobs are. Not just for the income they provide our family, but because we both enjoy what we do and who we work with.

1005. saving money. We are in the middle of a refinance on our home. We already had a super low interest rate, but we have an opportunity to save even more per month once we're on the other side of this tedious process.

1006. My children love each other. Desmond grins and gets so happy he can't help but squirm when he sees Malakai, especially first thing in the morning. Likewise, Kai lights up and giggles just being in his brother's presence. I really hope this lasts for years to come!

1007. a happy marriage. "They" all tell you that marriage is a lot of work, and it's true. It's also beyond worth it. I couldn't imagine going through life without Ben, he's my soft place to land after a hard day.

1008. knowledge. I'm learning so many things with the new part of my job and I'm even able to apply them to the job I've been doing for over a year now. It's so nice to work with people who are willing to teach me what they know and show me patience as I learn.

1009. friends. One of my very best friends just recently got engaged and I'm over-the-moon excited for her! I can't wait to celebrate her big day. I also just appreciate the rare opportunities to sit and visit with my girl friends. Let's try to meet up more often ladies!

1010. sleep. I don't nearly get enough these days, and we've just started sleep training with Desmond (resource: The No-Cry Sleep Solution.) but when I get a few consecutive hours it feels so nice!

Want to join me? Tell me what you're thankful for this week, or do a blog post of your own and link back, I'd love to read your list!

In Hindsight

For the past couple of months, and even more so in the last couple weeks, Malakai has been quite unruly. Many have been the victims of his screeching, crying, kicking, and hitting. I've often felt powerless and unsure of what to do; not only to squash the unsavory behavior but to meet his needs as well.

For the past few days he's been tugging at his ear and Sunday night at 2am he woke screaming. Yesterday he sounded congested and started to cough so we went to see Dr. B. Sure enough he has an ear infection...still, meaning that when he had double infections last month, one didn't fully heal.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

It's obvious that his behavior has been due to pain and frustration. Even when I clued into his ear bothering him, he couldn't really communicate what he felt. In fact, he'd been tugging at his right but it's his left that has the infection. I'm irritable when I'm sick, and I have the ability to communicate my needs. I'm sure I'd be just as difficult to be around if nobody understood me.

Dr. B gave us a prescription for a stronger antibiotic in hopes of finally getting rid of this nasty infection plaguing my little boy. Much to our surprise it cost $71...for the generic! The meds he was on last time were only $4. It also has some strange restrictions, like he can't take it within two hours of having milk. Kid LOVES milk, so that'll be interesting trying to time that out. I mean I only give him milk at meals, but he usually sips on it for a while. I see many "no milk" tantrums in my future.

Oh...and Desmond has thrush again. I'll take that over another ear infection, but still. Challenges, challenges, challenges.

Ear infections are the worst. I distinctly remember being little, maybe 4 or 5, and having a terrible ear infection. I was in so much pain that all I could do was cry because I just wanted my parents to take the discomfort away. My dad had even gone out and bought me a happy meal with one of those chicken nugget character toys in it (we NEVER could afford stuff like that) and I threw it at him. I don't know why I remember this so well,  but I think of it every time my kids are sick.

{keeping ourselves entertained}

I'm really hoping that my sweet Malakai will be feeling better and 100% healthy within the next week or two. I'm also fervently praying that his mood swings will tone down significantly once he gets to feeling better. 

8 weeks: sleep

Last night was a rough one, but not with Desmond. Kai woke up at 2am and was screaming at the top of his lungs. All he wanted was for Ben to hold him and walk around the room. He didn't want to lay down, he didn't want me to hold him, he wanted one thing and he was going to scream until it happened. Unfortunately, we could tell he wasn't feeling well so we wanted to soothe him. The hard part was that Ben's back was hurting, but he powered through and eventually got Kai to calm down enough to lay down with him in his new twin bed. About 2 hours later Ben came back to bed.

It's a bit strange that Desmond is already the better sleeper. He'll pretty much sleep in with me as long as I'm laying in bed and sometimes longer. He naps pretty well and occasionally puts himself to sleep, but gone are the days (it only lasted a week or so) when they'd magically nap at the same time and I could sleep too or get things done around the house. Currently Kai is fighting nap time and Desmond is passed out. Once Malakai falls asleep it'll be about time for Desmond to eat and he'll be wide awake til right about the time Malakai wakes up. Isn't that fun?

Despite the sleep issues around here and our very full schedule we had a pretty great weekend. Today Desmond is 8 weeks old. We won't have his 2 month appointment until next week, I'm guessing he's at our above 14lbs. We're all thinking he's grown a lot in length/height as well.

{he is such a happy boy}

I'll update later in the week about the details of our weekend. For now, I have to go in and try for the 10th time to get Kai to lay down.

ups and downs

As parents we all have ups and downs. Lately I've had countless of them within the same day, sometimes within the same hour. I made my first trip out of the house with both boys on my own. Malakai miraculously let me put pants on him (no really, it was actually a miracle), but I let him wear his pj shirt and didn't even attempt the jacket because I wanted to keep the morning scream-free. I waited to put his socks and shoes on til we arrived and he'd want to get out of the car. He was sweet and cooperative all the way out the door.

I fed Desmond just before we left and wore him in an Ergobaby carrier with Kai in the cart. The belts at our grocery store are not only questionable, but too small to fit around Malakai. Needless to say, I can't step away from the cart at all. He only attempted an escape a couple of times, and there was still no screaming! The trip was going so well that I stocked up on more than I was planning on getting so that I wouldn't have to go back anytime soon!

{sent this to daddy from the store for proof}

Our day started off well and I felt like a superhero for accomplishing a daunting task for the first time with such ease. Everything fell together so nicely. Of course, that meant that the rest of the day didn't go as planned. Kai took over an hour to go down for his nap. He kept taking his diaper off and a teeny part of me really wanted to just solve the problem with some packing tape! He didn't wake up til 4pm which meant he was difficult to get to sleep, even with pushing back his bedtime. 

Ben + I were chatting last night just before bed about how much we miss each other. It's odd to be in the same 900 square foot house with someone and yet miss them. Since our boys weren't cooperating for bedtime, Ben sat with Malakai while I tried to soothe Desmond. By the time they were both asleep we were exhausted in every sense of the word.

This is the season we are in and there are many joys along with the trials. I know that I'll miss this stage once our boys no longer need us at night and are gone to school all day, but sometimes it's just plain hard. In the middle of the difficult days I still find joy in my family. I'm so thankful for them and blessed that this is my life.







P.S. Don't forget to enter the Nourish Organics giveaway, it ends tomorrow night!

the sleepless nights begin

Last night was a rough one, the most difficult we've had with Desmond yet. He didn't start really crying until last week, right after we discovered his ear infection. The past few days he's been passed out and then as soon as Ben + I get ready to climb into bed (9-10pmish) he acts hungry but when I go to nurse him he just scream and grunts, but won't eat. We've tried burping and then attempting to feed him over and over again. We've changed his diaper over and over (he has a bad rash right now, stinkin' antibiotics). We swaddle, and shush, and sway. He'll calm for a minute or two and then start all over again.

Last night it lasted for just over 3 hours and I couldn't help but sob some too. We snuggled him and prayed for relief. It was emotionally draining for both Ben and I, not being able to comfort your baby is the worst feeling in the world. He finally passed out at midnight snuggled up next to me. He slept for almost 5 hours straight, at which point I woke up really uncomfortable. I changed his diaper to wake him so he'd eat, and he ate just fine. No crying, or fussing- actually he fell back to sleep as soon as he started to nurse.

During all the crying, after about 90 minutes of Ben and I trading off trying to calm Desmond, he turned to me and asked "is this colic?". I wasn't sure until I looked up info on our pediatrician's website which said colic is 3+ hours of unexplained crying followed by normal behavior the rest of the time. Since it lasted that long before he fell asleep we're wondering if we are in for a colicy baby for a while, or if it's related to one or multiple other things: ear infection (which should feel better by now), diaper rash, thrush in his mouth, over tiredness, or fast letdown (he sometimes fusses and coughs when feeding during the day as well). It's so hard not knowing, I can't believe I forgot how terrible this felt. Kai had a couple hard nights as an infant too.

I have a newfound thankfulness for Malakai's ability to tell us what is bothering him for the most part. Also, despite our tiny house and sharing a bedroom wall, Malakai has never been disturbed by Desmond's night time crying. He may toss and turn a bit, but always stays asleep. Ben wondered aloud "how is he still asleep?!" I answered, "Jesus". God's power is honestly the only explanation for how that kid can sleep through the screaming that can be heard clearly in every corner of our 1000 square foot home.

Needless to say we are total zombies today. I feel bad that Ben works too far away to come home for a lunchtime snooze. If Kai would cooperate we'd go to bed earlier to get some rest before the crying sets in, but the timing just doesn't work out.

Once again, I'm requesting prayer. We are definitely experiencing a challenging season in our family right now. Thankfully, more often than not, we're able to focus on the blessings and find joy.

mornings

Mornings in the Pottorf household have been pretty rough this week. More than once Kai has decided to wake up far too early, leaving mama to crawl out of bed blurry eyed and groggy. Last night was particularly rough. Kai's 2-year molars are coming in and we suspect that was culprit. He struggled to go to sleep and woke up crying several times, which is very unlike him. At 5am he woke up and wasn't showing any signs of going back to sleep. Ben, being the wonderful husband and caring father that he is, skipped going to the gym to get Kai back to sleep. Miraculously he was successful and we all got to go back to sleep for a bit.

I'm still a bit groggy and have a lingering headache, but I'm not falling asleep on the couch like a few other mornings this week. Needless to say, we are really ready for the long weekend!

Happy Friday,

photo friday: ip cam

We recently got a new gadget that has pretty much revolutionized naps + bedtime. We were struggling with constantly checking on Kai because he started to literally rearrange furniture and strip from the waist down when he was supposed to be sleeping.

We thought we'd register for a video monitor for little brother since it would come in handy with both children, but even the lowest priced monitor seemed out of range for anyone to buy for us. We did some more research on video monitors and decided that they weren't secure enough for us. The negative reviews I ran into on Amazon alerted me to the fact that any neighbors in the area that also had video monitor equipment could tap into our video feed and see us and our kiddos. I know the odds of someone actually doing so are fairly low, but having accidentally heard someone nearby through our audio monitor on a couple of occasions had me creeped out enough to know I didn't want to spend $150 to possibly let strangers into my home.

Ben began to research IP cameras that work exclusively on your home network. These cameras are often used for home security purposes and from the reviews it seems that people are using them for baby monitors more and more. The biggest benefit being security, the 2nd benefit being a much lower price. We decided to go with the Foscam for best reviews + price ($89.99).

When we got it set up it was like a whole new world opened up. We no longer had to open the door and risk disturbing our sleeping toddler, or not open the door and wake up at 12am to find him soaked after taking his diaper off. We also no longer had to wonder about every bump + thump that came from his room. Sometimes he would just bump the side of his bed, other times he was literally moving furniture.

One feature I love is "snapshot" where it takes a still photo. I've taken several as I watch Kai doing something sweet or funny. I've captured bedtime stories with daddy...

and funny moments where he really should be sleeping...

{bonus points if you can spot him in all 4 photos}

and precious and hilarious sleeping positions....

{under the pillow with his feet sticking out is one of my faves}

This camera has been a lifesaver and I'm so glad we finally made a choice and got something that works for our family!  I love watching Kai fall asleep and on the occasions where he's being mischievous I've often been able to holler "no!" from the other room and stop him in his tracks without even going in! Complete game changer! I think it'll come in handy when (if) we decide to have the boys share a room some day as well.

Now, if we could get him to keep his pants/diaper on at bedtime he might go to sleep on time. Any pointers toddler parents? (we've tried onesies + pullups already)

big boy bed: night time.

On Tuesday I converted Malakai's crib to a toddler bed. Nap time was interesting but I count it a success as I was anticipating much worse (like no nap at all and a lot of screaming). I figured that bed time would be a whole different story. It's dark, it's a longer stretch of sleep, and it usually takes him an hour to fall asleep anyway.

Following some advice I read in all my "toddler bed transition" research, we started bedtime early. (also because he only slept for a little over an hour at nap). It was going to be an hour earlier, but we got distracted by watching Malakai run back and forth across the house and purposefully fall down and then belly laugh. So, it was only half an hour earlier than usual.

At 7:30 Ben + Malakai went to settle down and have some quiet play time while I ran the bath. As per our usual routine, Ben gave him his bath. We let him linger in the tub a little longer to get all sleepified. Then I met them in his room and after getting his jammies on Malakai climbed into his bed on his own. He put his head on his pillow (which is a new addition) and kicked at the quilt (also new because of this). I snuck out, which is a newer part of the routine within the last few weeks because he's been acting severely attached to me.

Ben left his room and we sat in our bed next to the monitor to listen while surfing the internet. Malakai fussed for a bit on and off and then got super mad. What was strange is that we didn't hear him get out of bed as expected. When he sustained his crying for longer than we were comfortable with Ben went in, and Malakai was still in bed! Ben tried to soothe him but he wanted to be held. So he held him and walked him around the room for a little while and after a few refused attempts to put him down he left with the door open a crack so we could peek in.

Malakai fussed about being put down but calmed down rather quickly. He tossed + turned and fussed for a little while and then was quiet. By 8:30pm he was passed out, laying on his pillow, with his quilt pulled up to his ears.

We were SO PROUD! We couldn't stop gushing to each other about how amazed we were that he fell asleep so quickly and never even tried to get out of his bed. Although I did say that I wasn't going to celebrate yet, he could still easily wake up prematurely.

At 2:30 am Ben and I were startled awake by a crashing sound. Ben jumped out of bed but I stopped him and told him that the sound didn't come over the monitor so it wasn't from Malakai's room (which is what we both though at first, of course). Ben searched the house and found that our wireless switch for a hard-to-reach lamp had fallen off the wall, right outside Malakai's room. Kai made a slight stirring sound and never woke up.

He slept in his bed, all. night. long! How does that even happen? On the first night?! It was a miracle, I'm telling you. This morning we were beaming with pride at how quickly our sweet boy had adapted. Even more so when he woke up at 7am and chirped happily to himself, still in his bed, until I came in at 7:20 to get him up for the day.

{Miracles do happen people}

Again, I'm not going to celebrate too early and think that the rest of the transition will be as easy as this, but I'm still so proud of how well he did. All of this pride and celebration stems from our son's terrible sleep history. He did not sleep through the night until he was 15 months old and every time we'd travel or he'd get sick we'd have to sleep train all over again (No Cry Sleep Solution, Pantley). Hence our shock over such a painless transition.

Here's to hoping he continues to do so well, especially during the recovery from his upcoming surgery.








Don't forget to come back later today for Thankful on a Thursday!

getting there

Malakai hasn't been much of an independent sleeper. From day one he would sleep best snuggled up with Ben + I. At the time we weren't planning on co-sleeping and knew very little about it, but we learned and we loved it.

Around 5 months of age he started sleeping in his crib more regularly. By 8 months he refused to sleep in our bed at all (which made me a little sad). Yet he rarely slept through the night. He needed soothing to sleep at the beginning of bed time and 2-3 times in the middle of the night. It hasn't been a burden to us, we've gotten used to this routine.

A few months ago we knew that we needed some help assisting Malakai in his transition to independent sleep. Cry it out was never an option. It just doesn't work for any one of us in this household. I had heard great things about the book The No Cry Sleep Solution and ordered a copy from Amazon.

When it arrived, Ben and I read through it and then discussed the sleep solutions and habits we needed to create. We took notes and followed the plans, but quite fluidly. We never forced anything, but what worked best for us was to get a more solid routine going and to stick to that as closely as possible for as long as possible.

When Ben gets home in the early evening he has playtime with Malakai. They go get the mail together and run around the house until dinner time. After dinner we all hang out together and try to quiet things down a bit. Then it's bath, jammies, story time with daddy and bedtime. At bedtime Malakai transitioned from needing to be rocked until he was passed out asleep, to just recently refusing to be held and falling asleep on his own after a few minutes of snuggling his blankie {his lovey of choice}.

It sounds simple but we have waited a very long time for this. He'd fake us out here and there over the months by falling asleep on his own and/or sleeping through the night soundly, but it was never a consecutive event. All this time he has been getting enough sleep, and so have we, but he just needed help getting calm and comfortable to drift off. Often he would be fighting a cold or teething pain. The child has 12 teeth at 15 months old. All four of his molars hit him at once and one of them is all the way through.

There's no remedy or solution that fits every family. We have always done what works for us and will continue to do so. Now that I'm writing about this, Malakai could revert back to waking 2-3 times a night and needing to be rocked to sleep and that's okay. We'll do what he needs, when he needs it...I think that's called parenting.

Needless to say, I really recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution if you're looking for some good information on the science of sleep, ideas about gently setting routines, and great worksheets to help you get there.

The past week we've had time to unwind or get things done while Malakai sleeps and then get our own 8 hours of uninterrupted rest on top of that. We hardly know how to handle this new normal.

Now if only I could figure out how to get him to nap away from home...