Well, nap today like clockwork at Noon. No wakeups and he slept for 2 hours and 20 minutes. We went to a festival in Downtown Austin and stayed for part of the parade. Tyler was rubbing his eyes and getting tired so we went home. Had him on the boob at 7:05 (35 minutes later than yesterday), but he wasn’t having it just yet. He was finally asleep in his crib at 8:20pm.

Did we miss his sleep window because we were at the parade? Does our child really need to go to sleep by 7pm every night?

The experiment continues.

Well, optimistic today. Tyler took a 2 hour nap at Noon. I learned from this book that when he wakes after an hour, try to get him back to sleep. Sure enought, Chris picked him up and rocked him and he went back down for another hour.

This evening he went to sleep at 6:50pm!! This is our child who is up until 8 or 9pm!! He did wake up at 7:40pm. I think he is used to being brought to our bed because he was upset when Chris tried to rock him or I tried to nurse him in the rocking chair. I finally took him upstairs and nursed him to sleep in our bed - finallly asleep at 8:40pm. Anyway, there were additional nightwakings, but he did log 10 hours that night which is really good for him.

Okay, so the last couple of weeks have been pretty hellacious with Tyler sleepwise. Yes, Tyler has always been a nightwaker, but it has not always affected my sleep. When he wakes for 5 minutes to nurse, I barely wake up, so no big deal. Lately though, those wakings can stem from 5 minutes to 2 hours. Knowing that I will want to nightwean Tyler before Deuce arrives, I wanted to make some changes.

I picked up the book “No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers”. The first thing I learned in that Tyler wasn’t getting enough sleep. He had gotten so fussy lately and I thought we were entering that phase.

It think we are going to start out by getting a good daily routine together and seeing what impact that has. Then we will move onto nightweaning - that is going to be a tough one.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. Once I recovered from my nasty sinus infection, we had to get caught up on the holidays: cards, shopping, and cookie making, and decorating!

As usual December has sped by. I had to post a quick note as Tyler did some very exciting things over the last few days.

1. Stacking Blocks
Three days ago Tyler stacked blocks! He did two high. Chris and I clapped and said “yea!” and he seem very pleased with himself. He stacked again and again and looked up and smiled when he did it. It was so cute! Every since then, he has continued to stack different things.

2. Standing Unassisted
We went to Garner State Park and stayed in a cabin two nights ago with our friends Sammy and Susan and their daughter Piper. We has two coolers stacked on top of each other. The top cooler was smaller and had a radio with knobs on the front. Of course, Tyler had to play with these. That night he let go of the coolers and was just standing there arms out for like 10 seconds. He returned his hands to the cooler and then let go again. Chris said this time he had a big smile on his face! We were so surprised. We were at his parents last night and he let go and stood for a few seconds again!

It is too cool! We are really excited about the stacking as Chris got him Duplo Legos for Christmas and we think he will be interested in them if he is getting into stacking.

I hope everyone has a great holiday. I am looking forward to it and looking forward to the new year. Somehow surviving this one makes me feel like I can conquer the next one as well….I hope. It will be a new experience to be sleep deprived with a baby and a toddler. At any rate, I am sure I will have some good stories to tell!

Went to the doctor and did receive an antibiotic. Today, I feel MUCH better. I still have some congestion, but my face doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did. I can function like a human being. You never appreciate feeling “normal” until you hurt all the time.

This weekend we managed to get holiday decorations up and a lot of other little things done. Tyler is LOVING the holiday decorations!! I am even in the Christmas spirit now working on Christmas cards and planning to make holiday cookies! Whee! I am really getting excited.

When I get home, I am going to start posting TONS of Tyler pics. Chris has taken so many cute photos lately - there must be at least 20 and you have to see them!! Get ready and I will get them posted ASAP!!

Oh, and we went to our first birthday party for Tyler’s friend Piper. It was really great. I felt a little sad for not throwing more of a soiree for Tyler. But then again, I remember how I was feeling back them with the pregnancy and think it would have been more stressful than anything. I am feeling in the mood for a holiday party though - so maybe we will do that. Yipee!!! I just am so happy to feel good again!