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Busy Ball Popper



Grammy and Papa (my parents) bought Claire this fantastic toy, the Ball Popper, as part of her Christmas present. It is entertaining for all. The thing blows balls into the air and they eventually fly all over the place. Who doesn't enjoy flying balls?? Ok, don't read into that. I look forward to the day when Claire can retrieve the balls herself because, quite frankly, it is exhausting. However, her participation at this point is pure enjoyment and fascination at how the balls can do that.

In other news, I had read an article on the importance of teaching your child to self-soothe. We co-sleep. Not because of preference, necessarily, but moreso convenience. It is tough waking up several times a night and still managing to have enough energy to do your professional job well. BUT.....Claire is finally on the mend and sleeping for longer periods of time, so decided to give this self-soothing thing a try by letting her cry it out in her own bed to begin each night. AND...We have lived to tell about it. Yippee! Thankfully the first two nights, Claire was extremely tired, so her cries were limited to a couple of minutes each. Last night was a different story. She cried and cried and cried. We waited a few minutes, went in and soothed her, gave her her paci and as soon as we headed toward the door, "WAHHHHHHH!" It was misery--pure hell, to be exact. Luckily, Chris and I were intensely focused on putting away three weeks worth of laundry, which helped occupy our minds. She did eventually fall asleep. Now don't be fooled. We are still co-sleepers. When she wakes up, she's back in our bed. Neither Chris nor I have discovered the extra reserve of energy to help push through the sleep deprivation, so until that is discovered or until Claire makes it through the entire night, we will continue to be one big, happy family in our big, happy family bed. She is sleeping 6-7 hours at a crack, so it may not be too far off. Oh happy day!!
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Comments

Erin&Joshua said…
Ha ha ha, your blog made me laugh. Josh has been allowing Hunter to sleep in the be and we haven't had a good night sleep in a while. So, the last two nights I have been trying to get him to sleep in his crate (which he did for the first 3 weeks we had him with little to no trouble). Last night it was so bad we finally had to give up for fear he would cause himself to have a heart attack. Thank god we don't have a baby to contend with as well . . . he's all we can handle right now :)
Anonymous said…
Poor Claire--neglectful parents

Love ya,
Jessica
christopher said…
Contray to what Kara says, I would prefer Claire to sleep in the bed with us.... YES!!! She has me wrapped around her little finger...I knew this would happen with a girl. I know we need to allow her to go to sleep on her own, but I lie awake at night just waiting to hear her cry so that we can bring her into our bed. She tends to roll across the bed to me and snuggles herself right up against me... If you haven't had your daughter snuggle up to you, you just haven't lived... GREAT!!! have a girl turn into a wuss!!! What's next...PLAYING DRESS-UP??? NO WAY!!!
Kara said…
Not sure what to say about the jammies. She has three pairs, but it does seem everytime we take pictures, she is in the same polka dot ones. Odd coincidence, I guess. However, she is quickly out-growing these pairs, so new ones will be entering the rotation shortly. I guess that is something for you all to look forward to, not to mention me...more shopping!!! Yay!!
Erin&Joshua said…
I personally like the polka-dots! I dont have a daughter so I don't know what that feels like but I will never be a daddy so the bond will be different. I think you are both great parents and Claire is a beautiful little girl and a joy to be around. We can't wait to see the 4 of you again.
heather said…
You have a family bed we seem to have a family couch. It never fails that in trying to get Ethan to sleep once a week someone passes out on the couch with him until the next feeding. Saturday I woke up and the poor guy had drool on his head!

Good luck with the crib, take notes I may need them!

Heather

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