GONE!

My computer crashed on Monday night and everything is gone. For now, anyways. I took it to the computer store and explained the importance of the hundreds of pictures I have of Grady. I never thought to back them up on CDs and now everything is lost. The computer man said he would do everything he could to save them. I should know something by tomorrow... so I have no pictures to post. :(

Grady is doing well... I finally had enough of not sleeping and getting up 5 times a night, so I decided it was time for Grady to "cry it out". I had tried this once before during nap time and it ended up being too detrimental for me! But this time, I was ready. Ever since Grady got sick, his sleeping habits went down the drain. They were never good to begin with, but they got even worse the past few weeks. He was waking up super early in the evening (like 10 o'clock) and not going back down. So I would end up putting him in bed with me in which case he would nurse practically all night, which is uncomfortable for me and neither of us get sleep. So last Friday, I said enough is enough and it's time to "Ferberize"!

He is doing SO WELL at night time. It took three nights of crying (about an hour each time) and after that, he's been sleeping pretty much all night. We are still working out the kinks, but I am so happy to be getting some rest. Many people don't understand that babies aren't just born knowing how to sleep... we have to teach them. I didn't really understand this at first either, and that is how I ended up with a 6 month old with terrible sleep habits. It takes a LOT of discipline and commitment to get a baby to sleep well. Believe me, at 3 am, it seems much easier to get that baby out of bed and soothe him than listen to him cry. But I knew it was best for Grady, first and foremost, to start getting a full night's sleep. He is just too cranky during the day and I was cheating him out of a restful night. And I also knew that I needed to get more than 4-5 hours of sleep at night... it's been 6 months since I've slept well and that starts to wear on a person. Plus, it's summer time, and now is the perfect opportunity to teach Grady to sleep and for me to catch up on lack of sleep!

Now, nap time is a different story. He used to take naps on my shoulder in the rocking chair, or we would nap together in my bed. NOTHING gets done around the house and I was not getting any time to myself. So, we are trying to get him on a nap schedule to, again, make him a happier baby and also give me some sanity! This has been a much more difficult task because Grady does not like to sleep. Yesterday, after all the crying and fighting me was said and done, he ended up napping for a total of 40 minutes ALL day. It is physically and mentally exhausting to get Grady to take a nap. He claws and pinches and pushes against you and fights you tooth and nail! But, he will learn... just right now, he is down in his crib for what is hopefully a long morning nap. We are only 25 minutes in, but that's better than nothing!

Anyway, I am proud of myself for sticking with it because it was long overdue. I wasn't ready to do it a month ago, or even a couple of weeks ago, but now that I am doing it, I am much happier! It also helps to have Katie here to get up with me in the middle of the night and also for advice... since Mikey has to work, I have tried to keep him out of it so he can get some sleep! Let's hope we keep moving in a positive direction...

He had his 6 month pictures made last week. They are not posted yet, but should be any time now. You can check out his pictures here. Go to online viewing, then type in White.

Hopefully my computer will be up and running again soon!