on to the next challenge

Things have continued to get better with Belle. We're getting more used to being parents and just a few days ago Belle started to smile in response to things other than gas. It's pretty awesome to see your daughter's face light up in a smile when she sees you. So yes, she's a little angel and just keeps getting bigger and cuter. She's also been sleeping fairly well so Janelle and I decided to mess that up.

When we were first trying to breastfeed we were told to do skin-on-skin 24/7 with the baby, which meant we took her to bed with us. We just sort of kept doing that after we stopped the breastfeeding because Belle wouldn't go down to sleep very well (read: at all) in her bassinet. So we kept on with her sleeping on Janelle. The last few days we've realized we don't want to carry on this habit with Belle and have a child that is incapable of putting herself to sleep or sleeping by herself. There are, as with everything involving kids, a million different people saying a million different things about how to do this, each convinced that the other is telling parents to abuse their children.

We're not willing to let our six-week-old baby "cry it out" for forty-five minutes as some have suggested. Instead we're slowly trying to wean her off the bed. Last night and tonight we're trying it out where she's sleeping on the bassinet mattress, on our bed. We'll be right next to her, there to comfort her or whatever. Even that's a step, considering she's used to being held while she sleeps. Once this is established we'll periodically move the bassinet mattress to her crib while she sleeps, so she'll wake up in the crib. We'll let her cry a little bit when she wakes from that, then comfort her, and eventually hope she realizes the crib is a pretty cool place to be.

Today Belle was great, we didn't let her nap once while being held. We let her get groggy while being held but she slept by herself, either in her bouncer or the bassinet mattress. I think part of the reason she slept so well and did so well today was because she was exhausted from last night, which was full of crying and wailing and all other such bad stuff. Janelle had a terrible day, waking up with a headache and some sort of intestinal issue. She had a fever of 100.5 and the chills. I piled blankets on top of her in the living room for her to warm up and took care of Belle for most of the day so Janelle wouldn't spread whatever it is she has to the baby.

Now Janelle is feeling better and I stayed up to get some studying done for school. Janelle's not all the way better but she's on the mend (hopefully). I've been sitting in the dining room studying, with a baby monitor next to me so I can hear what's going on in the other room. Things get quiet for a few minutes and then I hear Belle start to fuss. She calms down fairly quickly. I think what's happening is she's dropping her pacifier out of her mouth and Janelle's putting it back in. I think this is going to be a long night.

People, for the love of all that is holy, when you have a kid, just let them sleep in the crib from day one. Unless you're cool with your baby sleeping with you...I just wish we would've done the crib thing from the start because now we have to break this little baby of a habit. It just goes to show that every action you take with your kids has consequences.

All the annoyance and frustration and sleep-deprivation considered I am so glad we've been blessed with Belle. She's totally wonderful and she warms my heart and I can't wait (or maybe I can) for her to get older so I can take her places and verbally communicate to her just how great she is. For now she has to cobble together the idea that I love her. I think she gets the clue, but I wish she understood just how much a demonstration of love it is to change her diaper sometimes. That girl knows how to poo.