What a Day...

Today was a pretty eventful day.

First, Alexander slept pretty well in his crib last night. He slept from 8p to 1:30am and then after nursing on one side, Mommy & Alexander fell back asleep. Once I woke up, I nursed him on the other side which I'm surprised he stayed awake for because he was in that sleepy zone. Then, I put him back into his crib to see what he would do and he stayed there without much fuss. So he slept in there from 3a-6:30am! And he may have slept longer but I heard him make noises so I went to get him because I was still half-asleep.

Then we got out of bed after a small catnap & nursing @ 8:30am. We finished 'breakfast' downstairs with Dragon Tales and Clifford. A bit later on, I noticed that Alexander was rubbing his eyes, and really didn't seem into nursing or much of anything else. So I decided to go for it.

What you ask is "it"? Well, putting him down for a nap and letting him cry to sleep. I rocked him a bit in the rocking chair and he was in fact tired, as he closed his eyes. So I moved him to his crib, crossed my fingers, and stepped back.

At first, he didn't make that much of a peep and I thought it was too easy. I went downstairs and turned on the monitor. Then all Hell broke loose. He started to cry. I stood at the bottom of the stairs. He started to cry harder. I shifted at the bottom of the stairs. He started to wail and produce his ear-piercing cries. I went upstairs and stood outside his door. He would cry very hard and then whimper. This continued for 8-10 minutes. And for the last 4 minutes, my eyes were welling up. I felt so bad as a Mommy - what was I doing to this poor child? However, I knew nothing was wrong. So I didn't go get him. I let him cry it out and he did.

Finally, he stopped crying so I went into his room and, low & behold, he was asleep. I felt such a sense of accomplishment seeing as how we knew we had to bite the bullet and do it sooner or later. It was exactly what the little guy needed - some sleep and he needs to learn to put himself to sleep, so it's one step in that direction.

I figured while he was asleep I'd make a few phone calls. First I called town hall where he was born to see if his birth certificate was there. Then I called his doctor (story in next post), and lastly daycare to get ready for next week.

He slept for almost three hours which is fantastic. He woke up, nursed, and then it was time to go to see Dr. M. He was in such a good mood ever since he woke up from his nap, but once we started to head home - the cries started. He couldn't be hungry already - he just ate 2 1/2 hours ago. But alas, he was. He sucked down a bottle. When we got home, he pretty much stayed fussy but I didn't want to put him down for a nap at 4:30pm because then it would mess up bedtime. It was getting closer to bedtime and seeing as how he was extra fussy, we started bedtime earlier than usual tonight. I knew he was tired because he would stop eating and close his eyes. But he was extra fussy during this feeding which is unlike him. He usually eats no problem until he's full. So once I knew I wasn't getting more milk in him, I decided to put him down in his crib and see what happens. Same as earlier. He was fine for a moment or two and then *bam* CRIES!

Although the crying was louder and more painful for me to listen to, thankfully it was shorter. Only 4 minutes. Hopefully, he learns sleeping sooner rather than later, because I hate to listen to my little guy miserable. Another step in the sleep direction - fingers crossed that it continues.