A Big Week for Tommy

Let's start with the fact that until 2 weeks ago, Tommy had never slept in his crib.  That's not because he was sleeping in a cradle or pack-and-play or some other type of baby device.  It is because he was sleeping with me.

Tommy, just like his big brothers, always preferred sleeping with someone warm and cuddly who dispensed milk on demand.  At first, I didn't mind.  I was trying to enjoy those baby snuggles, as I know how fleeting they are, and Tommy is the last of the Weatherwax babies.  It was a good solution to baby who would wake up as soon as his head hit the crib mattress.  When I went back to work and there was more to do and less time to do it in, it certainly became more cumbersome, but I could usually get him to sleep, and then Dave could slip in and fill the warm body requirement while I took care of a few things.  Shortly before Christmas, Tommy became more difficult to get to sleep.  Not only did he want to nurse to sleep, but he wanted to be rocked at the same time. Then he started wanting to be nursing, rocking, and having his face stroked to fall asleep.  When he decided that he needed Mommy as a human pacifier at all times, something had to give.

So I broke out our copy of Ferber's sleep training book and sent Tommy to sleep in his crib.  Needless to say, he wasn't a big fan of this development.  The first night he spent 45 minutes screaming in his crib before he finally fell asleep.  But he did eventually fall asleep!  Of course he woke up a mere 30 minutes later, so I brought him into bed with me, but I still called it a win.  The next night he spent another 45 minutes crying before falling asleep, and then again woke up 30 minutes later, but this time I let his cry before going to get him, and after 10 minutes he fell back to sleep for another 30 minutes! On the third night he cried for 20-30 minutes, but fell asleep and slept for over an hour, and then by the 4th night he went down with no more than a peep and he slept for 2+ hours!  Since then, he's been spending the first 2-4 hours of the night in his own room, which has been the most liberating experience ever for me.  I even went grocery shopping alone this week.  It was amazing!  Getting him to nap in the crib is still hit or miss...if I don't time it just right (not too tired, and not too awake), then he just cries for 20+ minutes.  At that point I just admit defeat and try again later.

So in addition to the sleep, Tommy had other big milestones in the new year.  He started rolling not just from tummy to back, which he'd been doing for almost a month, but also from his back to his tummy.  This new trick means we can't leave him alone on the bed anymore, but so far he hasn't tried to escape when he sleeps with me.  He is also now able to sit unassisted.  This makes playing with toys on the floor a lot more fun for both of us.  Finally, he's been talking up a storm lately, babbling in his baby way.  He certainly has a lot to say, and someday, we'll all understand what it is.

Tommy wasn't the only one doing new things, though.  Last weekend we went away to New Hampshire to go skiing with the Reimer family (friends from daycare).  Mudgie was so excited to spend the whole weekend with Talia, who he doesn't see much anymore now that they are both in school.  The "big" kids all shared a bedroom, which worked much better than we had feared, as they were all exhausted by the end of the day so they really did sleep.

It rained all day on Saturday, but we had already signed Talia and Mudgie up for lessons, and since we couldn't get our money back if we canceled, off they went.  They were in the same class, which was good, and they skied the whole mountain together!  Mudgie had a lot more confidence with the chair lift after that, and while they both came home soaked, it wasn't anything the dryer couldn't fix.  The next day, it was Aaron's turn for a lesson, and Tommy and Noa went to the daycare for a few hours so the rest of us could all ski together.  The 6 of us had so much fun skiing all the green trails on the mountain, and we took a break at a lodge at the top to drink some hot chocolate.  The moms picked up the little ones after lunch, but the dads stayed out on the slopes with Eli and Talia and had a blast.  They even tried out a blue trail!  Aaron loved skiing too, and kept telling us how much fun the magic carpet was.

Even though the weather was less than ideal, it was a pretty magical weekend, and it just made us all even more excited about the rest of our ski trips this winter!