Great Movie

Jim and I watched Atonement last night. I was really good! I definately recommend it.

Spider Solitaire

Does anyone know how to beat the difficult level on spider solitaire? Ever since Beck said she had played it, I have been trying to master the most difficult level and can't.

Blowing Nose

I taught Sophia how to blow her nose. She has had a runny nose lately - her first year molars are coming in. It is so cute to see her blow. She will actually blow out when I tell her to!

Paul and Amy's Visit at the Beginning of March

Paul and Sophia looking at pictures of Baby James.



Boys will be Boys.

WE DID IT!!!

It's been 9 days and 10 nights and I can now say we have conquered the pacifier!!! Yeah! Sophia will now go down without a problem. Well, okay not without a problem because now we are starting to transition from two naps to one. But, she won't cry forever now like she did when we took away the paci. Instead she will cry for maybe 5-10 minutes and either fall asleep or start playing in her crib. The one nice thing about when she skips the morning nap is that 1) she goes down REALLY easy for the afternoon nap and 2) the afternoon nap is 2 1/2 to 3 hours long. Bedtime has no problems either. The wonderful thing too is that she doesn't wake up at all in the middle of the night. When we did have the paci, she would wake me up 1-3 times to help her find the paci again. I would even set 3 paci's in her bed at night and she would knock them all out in her sleep and then wake me up to come get them for her. Those nights are over! Yeah! Now if I could only find a way to keep Jim from snoring and my hips from hurting and I might actually get a really good nights sleep.

Monday Sleep

Okay, so it's after 11 at night and I am getting ready for bed. I have just finished making egg salad, chicken salad, rinsed grapes and strawberries, and made brownies. Tomorrow I am having friends over for lunch - YEAH! I think it is the first time I have thought to do this since Sophia was born. I don't know why I haven't thought about it before. Usually I suggest we go out to eat and then shop. I guess I just crave getting out of the house. Anyway, today you would never have guessed that Sophia was attached to a paci. YIPPEE! But I guess I should also say that we were to busy to work in a morning nap so by the time we were home for an afternoon nap, Sophia was practically begging for one. She fell asleep quickly and napped for 3 hours. I was pleased. Now this evening did take a little more time but I had her all wound up playing with her so she really wasn't ready to go to sleep but I am firm about being in bed at 8. I just checked on her. She is sleeping beautifully. One thing she did do tonight that I was so proud of her for was that she did the hand movements for 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider". I sung it and she moved her hands for it. I loved it when she did the "washed to spider out" part. SO CUTE!

Rough Night - But Not Paci's Fault

Sophia just is not having a good time getting a sleep-time break! Thank goodness she wakes up in a good mood. Last night she woke up at 11:30 with a bad stomach ache and cried until 1:40. She cried and cried. I felt so bad. I woke Jim up becuase I new something was wrong. At 12:30 he finally came in to see what he could do. When she did fall asleep though, she slept so peacefully. She didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning - Yeah! I am not even going to attempt a morning nap. We'll just wait for a good afternoon nap. Today is Gymboree day so that should get her nice and tired.

No Nap

The afternoon nap I had just previously talked about ended with me getting Sophia up after an hour of crying. 'Sigh'. Maybe she is ready for just one nap a day but, just like the paci, I am not ready to give up the morning nap.

Today's Paci - It's Soooo Good

Aside from me getting little sleep (Baby James is currently breeched and kicking my intestines), Sophia has finally agreed to accept night time sleeping without her paci. It has been a blessing. It still is not as pleasant as with the paci though. Life with a paci was beautiful - you read her a story, give her Lambie, and paci, lay her down and within 2 minutes, silence. Now we get tears or talking for 5-10 minutes and then silence. But, she does sleep through the night. Napping is a whole other story, and of course staying at Mom and Dad's over the weekend did not help. We were in a nice, dark, quiet bedroom (if you don't count the boys yelling and playing right out side the door) but the room was only about 60 degrees during the day and about 55 at night. Poor little Sophia was a frozen popsicle. We had to bring her to bed with us to warm her up and nap time was in bed with us as well. I will say that it was precious when I went in to check on her and Jim and she is alseep on his chest. I decided to take a nap with them it looked so inviting. She slept three hours like that - it was ADORABLE to watch her sleep. But, now we are at home and do not have the cold to deal with. As I am typing this, I am watching the video monitor and she is crying into her Lambie, periodically standing up to look around the room. She is clearly tired. The Lambie is so wet from her tears I think it is going to mildew. I feel bad for her. Where's that Paci - Let's give it to her!! Oaky, I won't but I really wish that I could - for my headache and the one she surely has. She has been crying for about 25 minutes. I am going in every 10-15 minutes to pat her back, SHH her, and tell her it's Nap Time (Golden Time for parents). This advise comes via our pediatrician and the "Good Night Sleep Tight" lady. I just went in again and she is NOT, NOT happy. Poor baby. I want her to believe me when I say "Naps are good. When you are older, you will be asking for naps." I ask for one everyday. Tonight it will be a full week without the paci. We have had half the days with only one nap and half the days with two naps. I am praying for continued two naps but I think I would trade it in for one long nap that did not involve any crying. Especially when Baby James comes. I will have to get ear plugs if two kids are crying non-stop at nap/bedtime. Either that or some really good medication. :)

Oh Me Oh My Oh Nappo

I miss the Paci. I always knew I was more attached to the Paci than Sophia was and right about now I really miss it. Sophia did sleep great last night. She went down very easily, fell asleep almost immediately and slept all through the night. She woke up at 6:50 this morning. Not too bad! I thought we had just reached the point where Sophia was going to go to sleep like normal. Then we hit nap time. The morning nap took an hour for her to go to sleep. She ended up crying for a little bit and then playing in bed. I went in once after I saw her leaning too far over the bed. After I went in, she went to sleep. The afternoon nap was non-existant. Sophia cried/played for 1:20 minutes. After that amount of time, I said, "That's it. No afternoon nap today." I hate her sitting in her crib for that length of time but I want her to know that she can't just get out of taking naps. I am not for sure what exactly to do when she won't nap. I need to read in my "Goodnight, Sleeptight" book for new ideas. Maybe tomorrow will be a back to normal day.