It’s been a very long week, and this will
probably be a long post, so make sure you have your cup of
coffee and a comfy chair.

Lex got a
stomach bug Friday that lasted for several days in full force,
then several more in after effects. I, of course, caught the
same bug Monday. I was home from work on Tuesday and I’ve just
felt slow and yucky all week. On the upside, Lex is feeling
much better now and I’m well on my way as well. My stomach
still hurts sometimes, but not always and it’s now slowing me
down like it was earlier.

To get the
negatives out of the way early, Lex still isn’t sleeping
through the night – he’s up 5 or 6 times a night, wide awake,
hollering, and its getting harder and harder to put him back to
sleep. On top of that, things with the old company are heating
up, which is stressful and we’re wracking up the legal bills
faster than I thought possible. We’ve always had bankruptcy as
sort of a “worst-case option”, but I found out this week that
Alan would loose his patent if we declared, so that whole idea
is right out. Which basically leaves getting things worked out
with the company, at any cost, as our only option. And… on
top of all of that, my current place of employment had a
company offsite Thursday and Friday of this week. It was
interesting, but exhausting. There’s nothing like sitting in a
meeting room for 2 full days, with only a few hours sleep, and
listening to very passionate visionaries discuss the future.
It’s exhausting!

Now for the postives,
because overall, life is good. Lex is learning so much and it’s
amazing watching him every day. He’s not quite (hands and
knees) crawling, but he’s very mobile. He scoots around on his
belly, back, and butt (that’s my boy!). He can also pull
himself up pretty good and take a few steps. The other day I
saw him transfer from one support item to another by taking,
with a few steps to get him there. Sitting on the floor with
him is fun because when he’s done playing, or just wants a
break, he’ll crawl into my lap for cuddles. And he loves
stories. He snuggles into my lap and looks at the pictures when
I read to him. (B – he loves Jesse Bear. Thanks!)

Lex has also discovered gravity and
cause-and-effect. He loves playing with long “toys”, such as
belts and the cross bars from his butterfly mat. Things that he
can move one end and they make noise or do something somewhere
else. His new favorite toy is a plastic slinky that I brought
home from work (one good thing about company offsites). The
rainbow colors, noise, and motion all facinate him. Also, now
that he’s pulling himself up (and falling down) he’s discovered
the idea of gravity. He loves to laugh at people lower than him
(someone coming up the stairs, for example, or sitting on the
floor when he’s being held by someone standing) and he very
scientifically throws his toys off of the changing table then
looks over to see where they went (accident waiting to happen!)
I think he enjoys the different sounds they make when they hit
the floor, garbage can, diaper pail, dresser, etc. He is
definitely a smart baby.

So I decided a
few days ago that the reason life is getting harder and harder,
and seemingly crappier, is because we are getting less and less
sleep. I’ve been putting off any sort of “sleep training” in
the hopes that he would just figure it out – but that’s not
looking to promising. I borrowed a book on sleep from my friend
and read through it (short book :) ). There was nothing novel
in it, but it did give me the courage to try a variation on the
CIO (cry it out) method of sleep training. Last night was our
first attempt. The plan is to put baby to bed when he’s sleepy
and relaxed, but not asleep. We used to do this, but as I was
putting him to bed last night I realized that lately we’ve been
rocking him all the way to sleep to avoid crying. So I put him
down and he cried for 10 minutes before falling asleep. I cried
for 5 minutes. You’re supposed to let baby cry for 5 minutes,
then go in and check on him (don’t pick up or cuddle, just
reassure him that everything is ok and make sure he’s not
straggling or anything) then, check on him every 10 minutes
until he falls asleep. So he cried for just 10 minutes, which
seemed awful at the time, but overall not bad. Then we went to
bed. Our plan was to get up and watch some TV or something to
distract us from a screaming baby. The book says that it often
takes up to an hour of crying before baby finally falls back
asleep. I was very nervous, but I think (hope) in the long run
it will be best for all of us. So he woke up 3 or 4 times last
night and each time Alan reassured him that everything is ok
and then we went into the living room. And every time he was
back asleep in about 3 minutes!! Often before we could put on
our sweaters and slippers and get comfy on the couch. I was
shocked! The last time he woke up we just stayed in bed and he
was out again in just a few minutes. The longest he cried was
for about 20 minutes at 5am. I think he was hungry (he’s been
eating twice a night lately) and I was definitely ready to
nurse (this is training for both of us!) so we decided he’d
done good for his first night and I got up with him. We will
try our new sleep plan again tonight and I’ll let you know how
it goes. Hopefully I will be well rested by next week :)

Speaking of tonight, we’re having a dinner
party for Alan’s birthday tonight. He’s turning the big 3-0
this year so we decided to celebrate :) We don’t normally do
much for birthdays. So now I have to go clean and get ready for
a party. It should be fun.

On that happy
note, I think I’m going to end this book. Lex is ready for a
nap and I’ve got to get busy. Hope you all have a lovely
Saturday.