Rules

Austin's sleeping habits haven't been great since he was born. (He has slept for 8 hours straight for the past 3 nights -what are the odds he will keep it up?!) I have read 2 books and several articles on the internet about baby sleeping habits and how to get them to sleep longer. Here are some of the "rules" I came across:

1. NEVER rock your baby to sleep

2. NEVER nurse your baby to sleep

3. Your baby should ALWAYS sleep in his crib. (Not in your arms or in your bed with you)

4. Don't go to your baby when you're letting him "cry it out."

All of these rules have been beneficial for me in helping Austin to sleep better. However I have learned, more than anything, that every baby is different. That NEVER and ALWAYS are words that don't apply to babies. Sometimes I do rock Austin to sleep. Sometimes I nurse him to sleep. Sometimes I can't stand to listen to him cry anymore so I go in there and give him a hug. Sometimes when Austin wakes up too early, we put him in the bed with us and he sleeps with us for an hour or two. And tonight he took a nap in my arms for an hour and it was Heaven. It seems like his sleeping habits have gotten better since Jeff and I made up our own rules and realized it's ok to break them every once in a while.

Guess How Much I Love You

For Austin's bedtime story tonight, we read Guess How Much I Love You. I love that story. We read it at least once a week. Usually when I read to him, he looks at the book or just looks around the room. As we were reading tonight, he looked at me and smiled the entire time. It was so sweet. That little boy melts my heart sometimes. I remember thinking when he was a newborn that I didn't want him to get any bigger. But as he gets older, I am loving every minute of it. Every new thing he does is so fun and exciting. He is the sweetest little boy.