Two. Years. Old.

I can't even believe I'm saying this, but Vesper is going to be two years old tomorrow. TWO. Two years. 24 months. I can't even... I mean... how? I have no idea. But there are a lot of things I want to remember about Vesper at 2 years old. Here are a few of my favorite things about 2-year-old Birdy:
(p.s. read my letter to Vesper at ONE year old here!)

My sweet Vesper Sparrow,
This past year has been a whirlwind. With the arrival of your brother, I worried that you would have trouble adjusting, but you are just as sweet and loving and lively as ever! You know all of your letters on sight, you can count to twenty and recognize numbers to twenty as well. You can recite the alphabet, know lots of colors, and tons of words and songs. You also know many animals and their sounds and you love to play the "What animal is that?" game. You are speaking extremely clearly and can carry on a conversation fairly well. Your favorite song right now is "What Does The Fox Say?" by Ylvis. You also like to sing along with your Sesame Street DVD. Your favorite TV show is Team Umizoomi, but you also love Yo Gabba Gabba and Super Why. Daddy recently introduced you to football and you've enjoyed a few games with him too! Your favorite food is Panera's broccoli cheese soup with potato chips and you're beginning to wield that spoon quite well! Other favorite foods include macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and pink sprinkle donuts. You know, just the healthy stuff.
Every  morning when I come into your room, you give me the biggest smile and tell me all about the stuffed animals in your crib, and every night when we go up to bed, you climb the stairs on your hands and knees. You recently moved from your highchair to a booster seat, and every meal you just have to touch mom and dad with your dirty, sticky hands and give sticky-mouthed kisses!
Your favorite place in the whole world is "Mommabed!" and I really cherish all the cuddles we have there. A close second would be the park or church. You've become such an excellent helper with your baby brother and I love seeing the way you are becoming more and more affectionate with him. I think you'll be great friends soon! Right now, your best friend is Mykah Marlin.
Little girl, you're a force of nature. You are full of everything that is right with the world and it is an absolute joy to be your momma! Thank you for being my sweet Birdy girl!
xo,
Mom

Coming Home.

In all the moving and unpacking craziness, I forgot to mention that it was my anniversary. My one-year anniversary of being a stay-at-home mom.
A year ago I was working in a corporate office managing a small staff of administrative personnel. I had an office and a name plate with a title and I wore heels and pencil skirts every day. I went to meetings and made decisions, I had a fantastic boss and worked with people that I truly liked. But I woke every morning and dropped off my child at daycare and fought the pit in my stomach. When I would pick her up in the evenings, I would fight the knot in my throat as she came crawling towards me with that big goofy grin. I savored every single drop of our weekends together and those days always felt too short. I liked working outside our home. I liked having a place to go and work to do and adults to talk to and decisions to make and emails to send, but my heart was at home.

I knew where I needed to be. I knew that I was being called to work at home as a mother, as a wife. And to be honest, a part of me wasn't necessarily thrilled about it. Because in the same way that I knew that God was calling me to be a stay at home mom, I also knew that it was going to be the hardest job I've ever had. I mean let's be honest, I've quit every job I've ever had as soon as I got tired of it and this would be one job that I couldn't quit. I wouldn't even get to take a personal day when I just wasn't feeling it. And on top of that, it wouldn't exactly be an 8-5 position. 

But another part of me was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of seeing my children learn and grow each and every day and being the one in charge of that growth. My heart ached at the thought of someone else kissing booboos and wiping away hot tears and playing peek-a-boo and even doling out punishment- and it leapt at the thought of extra kisses and cuddles on the couch on lazy, sun-drenched afternoons after a long day of play dates and baking flawless batches of chocolate chip cookies... Maybe the latter wasn't necessarily an accurate depiction of what was to come, but it sure beat the hell out of spread sheets and purchase orders.

So I turned in my notice to my boss (who by the way, was absolutely the best boss I've ever had, and if I ever decide to go back to work, I hope to work for her again) and on my last day, Halloween, I breathed a heavy sigh as I rode the elevator and walked to my car for the very last time. I remember going to bed that night and thinking, "I have no idea what we're going to do tomorrow..." it was all at once anxiety-inducing and exciting. The next morning we had French toast. And we began the long, arduous process of starting a routine- learning each other again. The Dance as I call it.

Since that morning, I wouldn't quite say I've mastered the art of being a domestic goddess. We added one more baby to the mix so ya know... the dance continues. But despite all of my shortcomings, I've seen grace and felt God in more ways than I ever thought possible. I've become acutely aware of my personal struggles and aware of those of my babies as well. Ironically, they seem to be the same struggles most of the time: patience, anger, laziness, and refusal to rest when given the opportunity. I am reminded each and every day of the grace that God heaps on me even as I struggle against it.

There are good days and bad. Most days end up somewhere in the middle, a mix of complete and utter failure, and wildly beautiful, messy moments. After we moved, I packed up my pencil skirts and slacks and felt a small pang, but it wasn't a feeling of longing. It was an affirmation of change. It was validation that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"like an angel in disguise..."

{Hi, friends! I've noticed that a few posts haven't published correctly, so this is actually about a month old. Better late than never, right?}

I am absolutely itching to do some projects- decorate for fall, paint something, create *something*- but the biggest project on my list right now is packing up this house. We're set to close in less than a week and there are just so many little things that need to be stuffed into a box for temporary keeping. But since I can't keep those creative juices at bay for too long, I decided to make Vesper's Halloween costume this year!

Last year, she was the sweetest little lamb I've ever seen

And this year, because she's completely obsessed with the Ylvis song, "What Does The Fox Say?" (seriously, she asks to watch it a thousand times a day and sings I tall day long) the obvious choice was for her to go trick-or-treating as a fox! After seeing a few costumes online, I knew that I wanted a more "homemade" look. Don't get me wrong, the pre-made costumes are cute, but there's just something special (and totally adorable) about sending your kiddo out in a costume that you made at home. So I bought some felt and some fun fur and set to work! The only problem was that I had already boxed and sealed my sewing machine, so I had to stitch all the pieces by hand!

The result was pretty darn cute!

I took her and Grey up to Tulsa to surprise my mother at her office. We went trick-or-treating in my Nana's cul-de-sac later that night and it was just so much fun!

Then there was this handsome little cowboy. He learned to sit up that night!

 

 

It was a good one.

xo,

Chelsea

The End of the Beginning.

If you've followed RDR for a while, you may remember that our current house was in quite a poor state when we purchased it. Everything needed some love! We painted every single wall, replaced every light fixture, refinished the original wood floors, installed new windows, converted the "family room" back into a two car garage, and fully renovated the bathrooms and kitchen. When you write it all in one sentence, it feels so simple, but we have really put a lot of time and love into this little house! It was our first home as a married couple. We got our first dog here and brought home both of our babies from the hospital. We've hosted friends and family and made tons of memories. It will be bittersweet to leave our little ranch house, but she won't be far away as we're keeping her as a rental property. We're so excited to get into our new space and start making it our own, but I thought it would be fun to take a little look back at some photos of our current place before we pass her on to another loving family.

Let's start with the biggest room- the Living and Dining area.
The biggest change in this space was the fireplace which was a huge hulking blob of brown when we moved in. It took FOREVER to paint because the rocks just slurped up the primer and paint, but once it was finished, the room vastly improved and brightened up. The space hasn't been arranged as below for quite some time, but I suppose I haven't photographed the entire room since we've rearranged!

 

The dining area had dark wood shelving overhead and the beam was wooden as well. We removed the shelving, painted the beam, and updated the light fixture to open up the space and give it a modern feel.

 

 

 

The kitchen was awful when we moved in. Cabinets: brown. Countertops: brown. Walls: brown wood paneling. Carpet (yes. carpet.) brown. And the washing machine was in there too. I sanded, primed and painted the cabinets and added hardware. We purchased new countertops (laminate), tiled the backsplash, purchased new matching appliances, and tiled the floor. Then we painted that disgusting wood paneling with a bright, cheery blue to bring the whole look together.

The bedrooms in this house are all about the same size. They all had cornflower blue carpet originally, and after tearing up the carpet, we discovered that the beautiful wood floors from the main living space continued throughout the house, but they were COVERED with splatters of paint. A hefty chunk of change later, the floors had been restored to their original glory. After that, we just added the same cheery white and grey to the walls, replaced light fixtures, added window treatments, and tossed a few babies into the mix!

 

Master:

 



 

 

Guest Room (before. Later turned into Vesper's nursery)

 

 

 

Vesper's Nursery:

 

 

 

 



Grey's Nursery:

 

 

 

 

The master bathroom was unusable when we purchased the house due to a leaking shower pan. We demo'd it pretty soon after moving in, but it sat bare-boned for a long time until we could get it renovated. We stuck with our white and grey color scheme (we know what we like!) and threw in some light blue accents. We loved the results!

 

The hall bathroom was quite a project. It was pretty gross. I tried to give it a mini-make-over soon after moving in, but not even a coat of beige and white paint could really make the disgusting "rock-shaped" tile with brown grout and wood paneling look any better. It was bad, folks. Real bad. And to make matters more disgusting, I removed the sliding shower doors to find years (decades, ya'll) of dirt, grim, and hair that had collected under the fixture. Did you just puke? I did. LUCKILY, my handy husband eventually tore out everything and started from scratch. I didn't get to help with this renovation because I was big and pregnant, but when it was done, I was so so happy with my new luxurious hall bathroom in which I could bathe our newborn baby girl!

 

And that, my friends, is the story of our little ranch house. It's been a really great starter home. I'm sitting here in the quiet living room replaying happy memories in my head like scenes from a movie... bringing home a wiggly little black and white pup that was so happy to have a home that she pooped right in the middle of the brand new rug. Trembling with fear as we oh-so-carefully removed our newborn baby girl from her carseat after bringing her home from the hospital... then later giving her her first sponge bath in a bowl on our dining room table, watching her take her first steps, and later shoving cake into her mouth at her first birthday party. Long nights on the couch with a chubby baby boy who only wanted to sleep on momma and daddy and playtime on the floor as he learned to roll over. Everything is etched into my heart here... I even did some of my very first photo shoots in our back yard! But our new house has the potential to hold all of these memories and more! It will be the first house that our kids actually remember! We'll start school there and make friends with the neighbor kids and host more parties than we can imagine...

So here's to beginnings... and new beginnings.
xo,
Chels

I don't claim to have all the answers- or even most of them. I've only been at this parenting thing for two years, so I only have a small scope to draw from. However, I have received some really great advice along the way from those who have been doing this a lot longer and quite successfully. Here are some of my favorite pieces of advice I've received regarding parenting in the early years:

 "In those first few months, you're really just buying for time."
This has been true with both of mine. There will be a period of time after you bring home your precious, wiggly, sleepy little newborn angel where you will think "Why can't I do this right?!" Maybe your baby is having eating problems, or digestion problems, or can't sleep and needs to be held ALL the time, or maybe he/she started teething at three months (ahem. My babes) and you just want to make it all better for them. But sometimes you just can't. There are things that happen in those first months of development that every baby goes through that are necessary for healthy growth, and sometimes those things are uncomfortable for your child. You sit and watch him day after day and you feel so helpless and alone as if this is a unique problem to your baby, but trust me when I tell you that every single baby has these sorts of problems in the first few months. It's called growing. Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't be vigilant over your child's issues and be in close communication with his/ her pediatrician regarding them, but sometimes, you just have to wait it out.  He'll figure out the latch. Her little tummy will learn what it feels like to digest real food. He WILL sleep. It's biologically impossible for that baby not to sleep. It will happen. And those teeth will pop through. You're mostly just buying for time.

Around six months, both of mine started to level out. They learned to become more independent and their little tummies started to figure out this digestion thing. We got to a point where we were finally in a routine instead of just surviving day to day. It will happen. Hang in there.

"The secret to enjoying your children is to surrender yourself to the chaos."
Man, this one is hard for me. I don't like chaos. I don't like feeling out of control. I like order and routine. I thrive on it. But having two babies under the age of two doesn't allow for much predictability. None of our days are the same. I keep us to a schedule as best I can, but most days, that schedule gets thrown out the window by mid-morning. My notebook is full of To Do lists that aren't done. My living room has been taken over by toys and baby items, and I've just accepted that our couch will never smell the same way ever again. Having a baby changes everything. I'm sure you've heard that before, but think about it. Every single thing... the way you eat. The way you drive. The way you think. The way you walk across the floor and close doors and listen to the tv (just quietly enough to allow the baby to continue sleeping during nap time). And sometimes taking even the quietest of steps isn't enough to make that baby take her full nap. She'll wake up crying for you after only half an hour and you know what? You'll adjust. Because the truth is that you don't really have an option. It's pure chaos most of the time. Beautiful, messy, infuriating, wonderful chaos and you're helpless to stop it. So just surrender yourself to it.

"Do what works."
This was a big one for us when Vesper came along. She was our first baby and I had lots of preconceived notions about what I was and was not going to allow/ do. For instance- of COURSE I was going to breastfeed for a full year. (Nope. Made it about six weeks.) And no way in hell was I going to let my child create a soothe-crutch for herself out of a pacifier. (At nearly two years old, she sleeps with one at bedtime.) I obviously I would never plop my kid down in front of the television just so I could get something done/ have a minute to myself (A woman has to cook/ pee/ keep her sanity, okay?). And never will I ever allow her to contribute to childhood obesity by chowing down on McDonald's chicken mcnuggets (I think we all know where this is headed...)

So here's the thing, if you have a plan in place for your baby that doesn't go the way you want, and you end up completely chucking it and giving in and just GIVING HER THE FREAKING PACIFIER OMG GO TO SLEEP you're not a quitter or a failure. You're adapting. You're doing what works for you and your family.

Also, and this is very important, if you see another mom doing it differently, keep your thoughts to yourself unless that mom asks for your advice.
  
"Take lots of pictures. Look at them after they've gone to sleep."
Everybody takes way too many pictures of their kids. But the key part of this phrase is the latter: look at them after they've gone to sleep. In reality, it's probably the only time you'll have to look at them, but there's something about seeing those photos of their sweet faces and knowing that they're sleeping like little cherubs in the next room that just melts your heart. Even if all your photos are of the epic tantrum that your daughter threw in the middle of the store earlier today, you'll look at the picture and giggle and be able to think clearly. You'll let out a deep sigh of relief that you survived the day, give yourself a pat on the back and make yourself a promise to do better tomorrow.

"You are doing holy work."
It doesn't feel that way does it? Because it's only 9 a.m. and I've already cleaned up spit up three times, wiped poopy bottoms, disciplined a child for hitting her brother, picked up the crayons (again), fed breakfast to both babies, refilled sippee cups, done two loads of laundry, and consoled Vesper every single time a commercial came on during her show (kids these days...) I don't feel holy or appreciated or useful or anything at all right now except tired and frustrated. But I remember that this thing I'm doing every single day- this repetition of motions that we fall into and call "motherhood"- this is a calling. It's not a job or a "position" or a career. We wake up every day and as soon as our feet hit the floor we're on the clock. And we stay that way until after every child has gone to bed, and usually long after. Sometimes it's tedious and exhausting but it's splashed with these beautiful moments that only mothers get to experience. In between reminding your toddler to be quiet because the baby is sleeping and applying teething gel to your son's swollen gums and saying "No!" over and over, there are these insanely cathartic instances that you will remember forever. We're all short on sleep and patience and time and we rarely feel ahead of the curve. Sometimes we feel undervalued and completely alone, but hope can be found in remembering that our work is from God.

We've got a full weekend of packing ahead of us, so I'll say good bye for now! Have a lovely weekend!
xo,
Chelsea

Stairs.

Oh hey. We bought a new house. NBD.

We haven't actually closed yet, so this is the only photo of the exterior that I have currently. I'll share the interior photos in an upcoming post so that you can see the "befores" in all their late-60s glory!

She's close to twice the size of our current place, but needs a whole lotta love! Mostly just paint and a few fixtures here and there, so we're super- SUPER- pumped to get in there and get started! PLUS: stairs. STAIRS. Guys. What is it about stairs that make you feel like you live in a real-live grown-up house? I don't know. But soon, I will be a real-live grown-up (snicker).

Basic stats:
4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
2 living areas
1 dining area
TONS of closet and built-in storage
what am I forgetting?.... OH yeah and a dressing room/ walk-in closet for me. (I can't even...)

The updates will probably go quite a bit slower this time around, as our two babies aren't much with a hammer and nails yet, but I plan to keep up with all the changes here on the blog! I hope you'll follow along!

xo,
Chels

Psalm 106 and Allergy-ridden Babies

It's definitely allergy season in the Ahlgrim Haus. We're a snotty, sneezy, wheezy bunch these days. It's an indicator of the changing of the seasons and it happens every year. Vesper has a constant stream of light green goo running over her lips, and I feel like my head has been stuffed full of grass and pollen and crud. Grey seems to have inherited the awesome allergy gene as well. It has made for sleepy, often fussy babies. I felt exhausted all day every day this week until I laid down in bed at night, and then I couldn't turn my brain off and go to sleep! In fact, it has really made the past week incredibly difficult. We're all feeling off our game, and so we're all getting a bit short with each other (Okay, full disclosure, I'm the adult in the situation and it's very possible that *I* am the one getting short with them... ). I have been so frustrated from dealing with sick babies and lack of sleep that I haven't been able to see past my own exhaustion.

They haven't been sleeping past 6:30 a.m. and they've both been shortening their naps, so today, when Grey started fussing himself awake at 6:30 a.m. - hacking and snotting in his crib in the next room- I was less than thrilled. But then 7 a.m. rolled around and Vesper was still asleep, so I took advantage of the alone time with my little guy. I fed him his jar of food slowly and talked to him during his breakfast rather than rushing through it, shoving spoonfuls in his mouth while shouting "Vesper, no. Take that out of your mouth. That can electrocute you!"

He seemed to be enjoying the extra Mommy-time, so I pulled out my phone, opened up my Bible app, and read to him. I've been reading the Psalms and today was Psalm 106. At verse 19 I stopped, puzzled. It talks about God's people forgetting His goodness and choosing to build a idol image of a calf to worship instead. I said to Grey, "Isn't that silly?" I mean, who would do that? God had delivered them from Egypt. They had seen his wrath and his goodness in very extreme ways. There was absolutely no denying that God was... well... God. The Almighty. And yet, "they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass," (v. 20). How could they be so stupid?

And then it struck me: I choose other things over God every single day.

I choose worry. I choose pride. I choose frustration and sarcasm. I choose to withdraw rather than deal with a problem. And I choose anger because you know what? Sometimes it just feels easier to be angry about a situation rather than change my perspective. My idols aren't made of metal, they're made of emotions and thoughts.

But here's the great part: God has grace on me even when I choose anger, worry, guilt, sadness, frustration, and sarcasm. He shows me unconditional love at all times. He waits for me. He gently pulls me out the pit that I've dug myself into.

So today, I'm trying my hardest to just let go and trust God in dealing with my kids and my house and my husband. Even though I'm tired and frustrated and short on sleep and patience- I'm choosing to just trust Him.

An Afternoon with Vesper

This weekend I got to spend some time alone with my Birdy girl. Ever since her little brother came along, she's been a champ at taking everything in stride and being patient with the fact that my time is now divided- and somewhat unevenly since Grey requires quite a bit more attention and assistance than she does. I'm not saying she doesn't have fits occasionally, but she never had an jealousy issues, and has really taken to Grey. In fact, she has grown into quite the little helper.

This week, Grey hit a strange growth spurt and has been teething so he needed me a lot. I felt like I was constantly telling Vesper "no." "NO we can't go to the park. It's almost time for your brother to eat... again..." and "No, don't play the drums! Your brother is finally napping!" and of course "No. I absolutely cannot play Ring-Around-The-Rosey while I'm holding your fussy brother." Vesper is so smart, and pretty advanced for her age, so sometimes I forget that she's not even 2 years old yet. She has limits and needs that are much more strict that I tend to remember sometimes. She's in between that baby and toddler stage, and sometimes she just needs her mommy. She's a good kid, and I want her to be able to hear "yes" from me as much as possible, so we took the afternoon for some girl time.

We went shopping, got a fancy, nutritious dinner (Happy Meals with chocolate milk are always a hit), and played at the park. She got to ask me alllll the questions she wanted and I answered every. single. one. of them. ("who is that? who is that??" "I don't know honey. We don't know him." "Hiiiieeee!!!" *waves her little hand profusely to the aforementioned stranger* and "Did you hear it??" every time we hear a car, motorcycle, airplane, bird, squeaking wheel, cicada, etc etc) I got extra hugs and lots of hand holding and made sure to make lots of contact with those big, beautiful, blue eyes.

It was so awesome to be able to focus on just one little person at a time. My little girl is flying toward her second birthday- and then flying towards being a teenager, then moving out of my house forever. Okay, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but still- the point is that in reality, we have such a short time with our kids. I want to take hold of every opportunity that I can to spend time with them one-on-one, face to face, and really pour into them.

Today it was fast food and swings at the park. Maybe tomorrow it'll be pedicures and sodas to celebrate making the cheerleading squad. And then late night hot chocolate after her recent break up. And someday we'll be sharing a glass of wine, as her babies sleep in the next room. Again, getting ahead of myself, I know. I'm just so thankful for her. I'm thankful that she exists to make the world brighter. And I'm thankful that God thinks me worthy to be her mother. I mean, our little afternoon was for her, but really, I think it was for me too...

xo,
Chels

Six. Months. Old.

Happy Half Birthday, Baby Bear! Here are the things I want to remember about your sixth month:

-You're most comfortable in 9-12 month clothing
-You're officially eating solids regularly (at breakfast and dinner time). It makes for colorful spit-up...
-Still sleeping through the night like a champ!
-Teething like crazy, but nothing new has popped through!
-You want to crawl SO badly, so we're working on sitting up
-Your favorite toys are your bouncer and the chew beads necklaces from Gramma
-You are simply the HAPPIEST baby I've ever met in my entire life. Your gummy smile just melts my heart!
-You've become much more independent this month and your favorite way to pass the time is just to roll across the living room floor and back, bumping into furniture, toys, and dogs.
-Still suffering from reflux pretty badly
-Your hair is getting more and more blonde!
-You're making the transition to 3 naps a day and napping longer than 45 minutes at a time!
-Those eyes are looking more blue this month
-You had your first overnight without Mommy and you and Daddy both survived!
-Everything goes in your mouth. Everything.
-You love to watch Lucy and get kisses from her!
-You went to your first OU Sooners game and sometimes the crowd was so loud that it made you cry! Poor little guy...

We love you more and more every day! Keep growing, little guy!
xo, Mom

Sleep Training the Ahlgrim Clan

We've been blessed with two really good sleepers! Our kiddos are both under the age of two and both have done exceptionally well with sleeping through the night- but that didn't necessarily come without a bit of encouragement. I get lots of questions from other moms about when our kids started sleeping through the night, and how we got them to do that. So in an effort to have a single location to direct these friends to, I've decided to just write it out here.

PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT a how to guide. I am not a doctor nor an infant sleep expert of any kind. This is just our story, and what worked for us. We used a modified cry-it-out method at the recommendation of our pediatrician. Different things work for different families and while I respect the opinions and methods of others, I do not wish to start a conversation or debate here. I do welcome any questions you might have and would be happy to answer them!

Let's start with our oldest, Vesper. We can't take a whole lot of credit for this one. She started showing signs of wanting to sleep through the night and eliminate her late night feeding at six weeks, so we just followed her lead. She slept swaddled and used a pacifier. However, at around 4 months old, she began waking multiple times during the night when her pacifier would fall out of her mouth. Because she was swaddled, she had no way to retrieve the pacifier, and therefore, Mom and Dad were up and down all night long to shove it back in her mouth. 

At Vesper's 5 month appointment, her pediatrician recommended that we stop swaddling her as she was getting close to rolling over and getting a bit too big for the swaddle. He recommended a modified cry it out method. We were to establish a strict bed time and routine and stick to it at all costs for the first several weeks. It's worth mentioning that I truly believe this is the most important part of getting your child to recognize that it's time to go to sleep.

Our routine (for both children) went as follows: bath time, jammies and a fresh diaper, snuggles and some reading, then a bottle and some singing and rocking.

Because we expected she would cry, the plan after laying her down was this: let her cry for a pre-determined interval (this can be as short as 5 minutes, and as long as 15 at this age) and then go in and reassure her that we're still there i.e. pat her back, hold her hand, whisper softly, smooth her hair, etc but DO NOT pick her up. We would stay in the room for less than 2 minutes before leaving again, even if she was still crying. Again, this was a process about which we talked with her pediatrician before doing. We chose a 15 minute interval right away because we knew that seeing us every 5 minutes and then leaving again would only heighten her emotions.

It took her ONE night (30 minutes at initial bedtime, and 30 minutes at a 3 a.m. waking). The second night, she only fussed for about 15 minutes before falling asleep and sleeping all night. I was so shocked! Somehow, between being sick with ear infections all the time and night terrors, she worked the paci back into her bedtime routine, but she's only ever been allowed to have it at bedtime, so we're not too worried about it for now.

For Grey, however, it took a bit more convincing. Grey also slept swaddled with a pacifier from birth. At about 2 months, he was unable to sleep without that darn pacifier in his mouth. Every. Single. Time it fell out, he immediately started to fuss. Needless to say, he slept in his bassinet, right next to our bed for  quite a while. Around 4 months, we decided it was time to break him of the swaddle and the pacifier since it seemed to only be hindering his sleep rather than aiding. We did it cold turkey and used a similar CIO method with intervals. At this point he was still waking for one (or two) night feedings and taking a full bottle, so we didn't think he was quite capable of sleeping through the night. After we weaned him from the swaddle and pacifier, we kept his night feeding(s).

At his 5 month appointment, again, I asked the pediatrician about his sleep patterns and he recommended the same method. I explained that I was concerned that he wasn't ready because he was eating 3-4 ounces at each feeding during the day, as well as a full feeding or two in the middle of the night. The pediatrician explained that he would even out his feedings and that he was fully capable of sleeping through the night at that point, so we used the same method: establish a routine, put him down sleepy (but awake) and go in every 15 minutes if he was crying.

It took him a few hours the first night (I think off and on for about 3 hours at initial bed time, then about 45 minutes at his 3a.m. waking). But each night after that, he got a little bit better. It took him a full 6 nights before he would fall asleep in less than 10 minutes and sleep a full 12 hours, but he did it! And he seemed SO much happier and more rested during the day! Also, just as the pediatrician said, he evened out his feedings. He went from eating 3-4 oz at each feeding to eating 5-6 oz at each and sleeping through the night!

A couple of things worth noting: (1) our babies definitely didn't need a bath every single day at this age, but we gave them one every single night while we were sleep training in an effort to establish the routine. About a month after starting the training, we felt comfortable enough to stray from the routine and skip the bath or move bedtime up or down by a few minutes here and there. (2) Doing everything at the exact same time every night didn't seem to make as much difference as making sure that we did things in the same order (as long as bed time was within 15-30 minutes of the same time each night of course) (3) With both, in the beginning, we would rock and sing to them until they were very sleepy but still awake, then lay them down in the crib. Within a couple of months, Vesper decided she didn't want to be rocked anymore :( and within a couple of weeks, Grey didn't want to be rocked either! It was almost as if, because we had established such a solid routine, they knew what was coming, and they just wanted to get on with it! Time for sleep!

For nap times: Vesper was in daycare most of her first year, so they kind of did the work for us on this one. But for Grey, he took a 45 minute nap 1.5 hours after each feeding until he was about 6 months old. At this point, he's making the transition to 2 solid 1.5 hour naps and one short nap in between.  I had planned to used the same Modified CIO method, but didn't really need to. He seems to be making the transition naturally. For his longer naps, he usually wakes after 45 minutes, fusses for a couple of minutes, then drifts back to sleep.

I'll be sure to do an update to this post a few months from now as their sleep patterns develop and change, but for now, good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!

xo, Chels