More Overalls and the End of the Day (which equals the End of Vake's Patience)

Vake was so cute today, wearing his sweet little overalls with the sailboats on them. He's very into sucking on his fingers/hand right now so I snapped a picture of him right before he took his bath tonight in that pose.


The other new development in Vakeland is that he will now end his nap/nighttime sleep prematurely by rolling himself over to look at the precious mobile. Unfortunately, he cannot figure how to roll BACK over so he winds up screaming and his naps get cut totally short.

By 5:30 or so tonight, my little friend was exhausted. And not his usual charming self at all.

Vake's Room, a Visitor and Thoughts on "Sleep Training"

I wanted all the West Coasters to be able to see Vake's room. When I was picking out the paint colors, I picked out a light shade of green with a blue ceiling. When we found out we were having a little boy, I wanted to see if I could plan his room so that he could "grow" into it. I started out with a fabric that I really loved- it has a map of the world on it. Unfortunately, our Richmond store was discontinuing it so they only had about 12 yards left. So, I got roman shades made for the two windows. I took a yard and figured out how to use fabric stretchers (actually a lot easier than it looks) and made a frame and put a "map" on the wall. Mom found some inexpensive striped fabric for the bedspread and for the crib skirt. The first picture is the view as you are looking in to his room.

This second view is looking toward the back of the house. On the floating bookshelves, I've got some of Eric's toys and books from when he was little and the ox that Cousin Leslie sent to Vake is hanging right over where Vake's little head goes when I change him. I bought the bureau drawers for $20.00 at a thrift store in Philadelphia and painted them white, and then one of Vake's godmothers, Andrea, gave us the changing pad so we didn't buy a changing table.

This next pic shows what is probably far and away the coolest thing in the room- it is a huge light fixture from Pottery Barn Kids- if I had known how gi-normous it was going to be, I might have held off. Vake really likes to pull up when he is sitting with me in the chair and look at the shiny lights. I am thinking that once the crib gets moved out, I can move in an activity table.

This is the other really great thing in this room- Eric and I found this sweet mobile at the Portland, Oregon Saturday Market. There was a lady there who makes each figure and then she balances the whole thing perfectly. Vake LOVES the zebra. I think my favorite part of it is that there are not a milllion like it.

My aunt Tomoko is visiting for the next two weeks. She's taking a painting class here in Richmond. She's come over to visit her grand-nephew every night at bathtime.

So our sleep schedule is progressing and I think the picture below summarized perfectly the way both of us feel about the "crying it out" process. Eric and I have talked about it and intellectually I definitely understand the benefits of having a child who sleeps through the night. In actual practice, it feels really awful to have your child sobbing at 2 am. I'm actually pretty surprised with myself because I really hate not getting up with him at night when he sounds like he needs me. (Ok, that last sentence sounded completely wrong...what I guess I am trying to say is that I really enjoy being able to soothe and comfort him and since I've gone back to work, one of the prime times I got to do that was in the middle of the night.)

But maybe I am overreacting and the reason that Vake's crying in this picture is that he's wearing a suit with a little Rocky emblazoned on it...

Sleep Training = No Fun

So we've embarked on a sleep training program. I am really hoping that what we achieve is having little Vake sleep through the night. The terrific woman that we are doing our nanny share with, J., has started her little boy H. on it with amazing results- little H. is now sleeping through the night 11 hours at a stretch.

Let me preface this by saying that Vake is about the most cheerful little cherub you could hope to know. Unless he's hungry or tired, he's seldom fussy and LOVES to smile (grin, really). However, he's also been on a schedule where he's gotten up twice a night for a little nightcap. Which was fine when I wasn't working but is a little more of a challenge now. So the big goal is to get him to sleep through the night.

Last night, armed with J.'s sleep program, we started. Before I had children, I didn't think that letting a baby cry would be a very big deal. Suffice it to say I no longer hold that belief. BUT in happier news, he only woke up once last night so I guess that is progress.