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Smelling the Roses

It’s summer. And school starts in 37 days. Not that I’m counting or anything. *Ahem*.  Since I’m not a fun mom, I really do a little better with parenting when my big kids are in school.  When I have time to breathe without the 24-hour-a-day “MOMmomMOMmomMOMmomMOMmomMOOOOMMMMMM”! chorus that, punctuated with interspersed baby fusses and screams, gives me adult ADD and makes me want to pierce my eardrums so I can get a hearing aid that I can just turn off whenever I feel like it.

But wait, this is not where this post is supposed to be heading!  Because despite my frustration at all the togetherness this summer (which, really, is my problem, a problem I am having adjusting to being a mom of three, and not their problem at all), I love the crap out of my kids.  And I think they are the flipping BEE’S KNEES! I am so proud of them and am so thankful to be their mommy. So, to remind myself of what the heck I am supposed to be focused on, I thought I’d tell you a couple of my favorite things about each of my kiddos.

willow tunnel

Joshua. My firstborn.

He is exuberant, optimistic, enthusiastic.  He is loving. He loves his friends so much. He often writes sweet notes and letters to his friends, and is very generous with them.  He’s trustworthy.  He wants to do what’s right.  He’s a snuggler, still at seven. How long will I get to enjoy snuggles from my big boy?   I cherish every one.

my beauty

Sophia Diane. My girl.

She is funny.  Comic relief for this mama, she makes me laugh about a million times a day!  She is sweet as can be, and everything she does (good or bad) she does 110%.  She is nurturing.  I love the way she cares for Jonah and any other smaller child.  She is fierce.  Determined and stubborn in a good way.  I hope I can help her learn to always use that for good.

oh my!

Jonah. My baby.

He is happy. Wherever we go he blesses others with his beautiful smile and happy spirit.  He is a joy to be around.  He is silly, blowing raspberries and squealing loudly at all the right times.  He is loving, caressing my arm or face as he nurses.  He is my surprise baby and his sweet personality surprises me every day as it develops more and more.

I love these  babies. They make me crazy, but in between the crazy they bring me joy upon joy upon joy.

And in 10 years, when the older two are writing blog posts about me, I hope they’ll say I bring them joy more than I drive them crazy as well. But we’ll see…

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Super Snoozer

My sweet little Jonah boy L-O-V-E-S his Miracle Blanket swaddler, and so do I.  I truly would not have survived his or Sophie’s babydom without it.  BUT – small problem – he’s getting too big for it and was starting to be able to kick out of it at 5 months of age.   (I know most people don’t swaddle their babies this long but hey, it was really working for us!) This was causing me to panic a bit because I also swaddled him for naps, and really I NEED him to nap and I NEED him to sleep at night.  But alas, the Miracle Blanket has served us well, but it’s time for it to be retired.  Jonah’s just too daggone BIG!  Silly boy. Growing up and all.

This past week I started having a really hard time getting Jonah to nap because he was getting out of his swaddle so quickly. SO Bobby and I made the decision that it was time to take off the swaddle and take on the Ferber.   The Ferber Method, that is.

Now, if you find the Ferber Method barbaric or cruel or whatever, please do not judge.  I promise you I love the crap out of my kids and letting them cry for a wee bit for a couple nights while I check on them every few minutes is not going to send them to therapy.  I’ve got lots of other parenting tricks up my sleeve for that one.

It totally worked with Joshua and it sort of worked with Sophie -we had to re-Ferber her a couple times, but she always came back to the way of the Ferber -and I was kind of in love with Dr. Ferber after we first Ferbered Joshua.  Ahem. I mean, really!  What a genius! So, I was ready to give it a go again.

So we put him down un-swaddled in his bed and let him cry, checking in on him and reassuring him at 3, 5, and 7 minute intervals.

He cried for 2.5 hours.  We gave up.

The next night, we started over, checking on him at 5, 7, and 10 minute intervals.  He fell asleep after an hour, but not for very long.  Then, he cried for flipping ever again until we gave up about 1 am.

But Friday night we tried again, AND – he fell asleep in less than 5 minutes, slept til 3 am (went down at 10!) at which time I fed him, and he went right back down and slept til 6:30!  On Saturday night – he gave almost an EXACT repeat performance!

Seriously I bet Dr. Ferber gets ALL the chicks!

I’m so proud of my big boy!  And so happy to have him settling down to sleep in his own bed at night, even if it means he is growing up too fast.

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