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!!