Sleep relief

It's funny how you can go your whole like without something, and then you have it, even for a little bit, and you don't know how you lived without it. Cubby is growing bigger every day and continues to amaze me. He is much more alert now, and stays awake for longer between feedings. He loves to sit on Robs lap and look at the bookcase behind the couch. He's eating up a storm and has a really chubby little face now. His personality is starting to come out and its just the cutest thing.

He's doing much better with his sleep schedule. As i mentioned before, he was having a tough time sleeping more than 45 mins or so at a time. We put him in his bassinet in our room, but he just wasn't into it. We moved his swing into the room, and the worked for a little while but soon he was back to waking up after just a little bit. After doing some research online and getting some tips on helping him sleep for longer, we decided to move him into his own room so that he could sleep in his crib. It was a tough pill to swallow for me because I was nervous about him being so far away. Yea, ok, so his room is down the hall from ours, but if I can't just open my eyes and look at him, it's far away. But I really felt that this might help him sleep better, and also it would be better for us. I would jump up every time he fussed because I didn't want him to wake Rob up. He has to get up in the morning and go to work, and I wanted him to be able to get the shut eye he needed. My theory was that if he was in his own bed, in his room, then he could fuss a little bit before I picked him up. Cub is a noisy sleeper. He grunts and groans and kicks and makes little noises. Sometimes he'll do this but then get himself back to sleep. If I didn't rush to pick him up, then maybe he would sleep better. Well, so far so good. When he goes to bed, I keep him in his room. When he wakes up to eat or get a diaper change, I stay in his room and do it, the lights off with just the hallway light shining in a little bit. I don't talk to him or coo (which is super hard because he's so cute!) I feed him, rock him for a little bit and then lay him back in his crib, even if he's still awake. I want him to learn to get himself to sleep. As I said, this is all so hard because I want so badly to hold him in my arms until he falls asleep and just hold him like that all night, but I know I wouldn't be doing myself any favors in the long run. So we are trying to stick to this routine, and so far so good. I have the intercom on so I hear when he needs me. But I have stuck to my guns and kept him in his room. He's been a good little cub and is working with me on this. He usually will sleep for about three hours, then wake up, then a couple runs of two hours each. This is much better then up every 45 mins. Sometimes it does take him a while to settle down and not fuss, and sometimes I have to go back in there and soothe him but there is definite progress.

I'm doing better about not feeling so overwhelmed. My Mom and Dad babysat Dominic on Saturday night and it gave Rob and I a chance to get out and spend some much needed time together. I had missed it so much and felt great to reconnect and let loose a little bit. I had been a little nervous to have a drink because I wasn't sure how my body react and how it would go down, but it seems my party muscles won't take too long to bounce back:) I really think having that kind of time together once a month will really help me with this new transition and we're so lucky to have family that is willing to do that for us.

Things are going well, and Rob and I have sort of found our footing. I get up with Dom at night and then Rob usually takes him around 4 or 5am, until he has to go to work. This gives me some much needed sleep and I feel so much better when I wake up. I feel very fortunate to have someone that is willing to help out and not only that but also enjoys it. We're both really enjoying the Cubster and watching him change and grow right before my eyes. I can't believe how much he has changed in just a month, but can't wait to see what's next!