Sleep, How I Miss Thee...

Believe it or not, this sweet girl does not sleep through the night.   I know many moms that struggle with this and I'm trying to figure out a way to get Sloane to sleep through the night or close to it.  I feel like I've done everything wrong in this parenting thing.  I didn't swaddle because she squirmed too much, I didn't let her 'self-soothe' because rocking her to sleep was "our" special time at night - but they are the things that worked for us and got us through those first few months.....  

She normally goes to bed around 7pm and will wake at least once, sometimes twice.  She has done this most of her life, all almost 7 months of it, and I'm ready for it to stop.  Mama needs sleep, especially when I go back to work soon.  When she was a newborn we were to feed her at night because she needed it, but at this point she doesn't need to eat at night.  But, we have fallen into a bad habit of giving her a bottle when she does wake up so she'll go back to sleep easily.  I have skimmed a few books with help on this topic - from "tanking her up" before bed, trying to feed her more during the day, crying it out, the Ferber method, and the Baby Whisperer lady - but it is definitely proving to be the most difficult part of this whole baby thing.  We tried to let her cry it out last night, after an hour I couldn't take it anymore - she was a sweaty mess of tears and I just don't know if that is healthy!  So what did I do?  I gave her a bottle, rocked her, and put her down and she slept 3 more hours - 3 hours I REALLY wanted to sleep.  Are there any other moms who have dealt with this and or dealing with this now with advice.  Do I just accept that she isn't a sleeper and hope for the best in the future?   I've heard some moms who say their babies wake much more than Sloane, so it isn't that bad - but boy, do I miss my sleep!  She is such a sweet baby and smiles so big when you do go in to see her at night, I guess it makes it that much harder!

On a good note - her first tooth made an appearance yesterday!  She has been teething since 2 months and it is about time!  We are very excited about this.... it's the little things :)

Mama Perk!

It is definitely a perk that my uncle works for Evenflo.  He signed me up to be a part of the "Moms Research Group."  Basically, the company sends me products (I have no idea what) and I use the product, complete surveys, then keep the product!  It was a no brainer to agree to do this because I love free baby stuff (although my house looks like Babies'R'Us is moving in)!  Last night we received our first package - a high chair!  It is very modern looking and Sloane looks great in it, see below!  I've been using different things to feed her in, but mostly in a small booster seat type feeding chair that is portable.  Having an actual high chair to feed her in is a treat!

Such a big girl in her big chair!

Sitting up high!

Little Miss Sits

Sloane is trying her hardest to sit up on her own. Today she went as long as 5 seconds (come on, in baby time that's like 5 minutes)! Of course, you can see my leg behind her in case she leans back as I'm trying to capture it on camera. It truly amazes me, how in a matter of a day, a baby can learn something new. She amazes me.

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Random

Sloane had her 6 month checkup yesterday (a few weeks late), but she checked up good and healthy!
She weighs 18.4 lbs and is 28 inches long!  Her height is in the 97th percentile, so I hope she is tall like her Aunt Emily!  The shots were no fun, it is always hard to see your baby cry so hard she can barely catch her breath - she hates the needle.  The shots made for a rough night and morning, but she seems to be feeling a bit better, here she is snoozing while I blog:

Sleeping

So, yesterday I tried to put the Moby Wrap on me and carry Sloane around the house and in the yard.  I tried several months back but it was so awkward trying to get her in it after I had it tied around me.  It worked better yesterday.  But my question is, how do mom's put these on in public so fast and walk around with their child?  I see moms all the time in public places - I literally have to stand in front of a mirror and it takes several minutes to figure it out and half of the time I am laid up on the bed.  I can see myself on the hood of my car trying to strap Sloane in.... I think I'll just leave it at home and use it around the house.  However, it does help out on the back strain, carrying a nearly 19 lb child on my hip is getting to my old (almost 31 year old) bones.

Colorado Family Vacay 2012

This summer vacation was spent with my family in Colorado.  For the past several summers our family gathers somewhere in Colorado to visit, relax, and play.  This summer we played in Frisco, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Lake Dillon.  Beautiful scenery and quite a different vacation, now that we have Sloane.  She loved each minute, seeing family and observing new sites and smells!  

On the shuttle at the Nashville airport, the beginning of a long day.  Yes, we drove 3 hours to Nashville because the tickets were THAT much cheaper than flying out of Memphis.  At this point I had no idea the fun that was ahead on the plane with a 6 month old....

View from our condo

Another view of the tennis courts from our condo

Aidan, my nephew

Aunt Emily rocking the Baby Bjorn to walk with Sloane

Mimi could not get enough kisses from Sloane

Grandaddy telling Sloane all about the USDA and reconstruction of agriculture

Walking around the lake

Beautiful view from the lake

Family photo

Me and Dad taking a break

Aidan and Mimi sharing a moment of laughter

Greg visited the Continental Divide, me and Sloane stayed inside where it was warm

Greg got his geocaching itch scratched

Throwing a little snow ball or two

Greg

Sloane sleeping in the burley, what a bike ride!

Me hauling Sloane

We stopped for a picture, think we were in Breckenridge

In Dillon at the outlet mall, beautiful bridge, fly fishers behind us

Greg and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at the Dam Brewery, it was dam good.

Halfway through the bike ride, Em took over the burley to give me a break

Tootsies

Sloane may walk before she crawls. She loves to stand with me, this is what we do many minutes of the day. Sweet girl...

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