Day By Day

James has always been a champion sleeper.  Once the hospital people stopped prodding him awake, he was set to cuddle and never looked back.

Last month, he started fighting our normal snuggle time before sleep, and so we made a switch.  He now gets placed in his crib, a blanket tucked around him, and we say night night and walk out.  There have been 2 times where we timed it too early, and 5 minutes later were taking him back to the living room to read a book or play with trucks.  After another 20 minutes, he'd be ready to really sleep, and there would be no fighting.

Before you comment:  We tend to believe in letting him stay in his crib if he is in there babbling or making general noises.  But considering he never cries for anything, when we lay him down and he sounds like someone is hurting him and saying "mama" over and over again, there is no way he is staying in his crib.  I'd prefer to play a few more minutes and wear him out a little more and then trying again.  He still is in bed by 8:15 most nights because his internal clock is done by then, and he is up anywhere from 11-12 hours later.

Naps have always been harder to pin down, but they are still taken each day, and it helps us all get through the day.

But it's been a matter of getting to a schedule.

Daddy is more of a schedule person, preferring that there is a sense of order to every day.  I've tried to stay out of the way with the daily parenting as it's really his job, but two weeks ago we had a talk and made a change.

James is on a more regulated meal plan, having some sort of "solid" with a bottle three times a day and one lone bottle in the afternoon as part of a snack.  Now that he is on that, scheduling his naps has become easier each day, and he's actually placed himself on a decent schedule.

Now, that isn't to say we don't have days where things interfere.  Like teeth that won't cut through.  Or days where someone seems to poop with every diaper change, or not at all.

We still schedule around him for errands and trips out.  And the family is great about calling before coming to visit, and we can then let them know when he'll be up and for how long based on the day so far.

We're getting there.  There's a lot still to do before April, primarily involving using a sippy cup, but we are working on it.

Baby steps....