So much to say

Alright, I can't hold back any longer... there always seems to be something to do now that we've moved into our home. I look out the window and there are so many flowers that need to be dead-headed (especially when it's next to the neighbour's immaculate garden). There are those boxes of books that I've been putting off for tomorrow. And her first birthday party needs to happen in the coming week. How can I blog when there is all that?!

Then I thought about everything that has happened with Brea in the last two weeks and I feel like a cad for not taking a few minutes a day to document all the achievements she's been making.

1) She's nearly walking! Just last night was her best yet, she took about five steps across the room to me.

This started at the end of July but she is blossoming forth and though she still isn't doing it on a constant basis she is getting more and more confident when she does. She loves to perform mostly at night before bed... I think it's her way of wheedling more time with Mommy and Daddy before having to go to sleep :o)

2) She has TWO more teeth for a total of six now!

Teething has always been hard for her, Brea's always gotten a fever and is super grumpy when they come in. I think the next bottom two are making there way up too so she's been drooly and her eating has been erractic but as she discovered tonight when she devoured a cheese stick, they certainly help to bite!

3) She's spent the last two nights all by herself in her room and her crib!

This has been a week in the making and I have a sore throat and slight fever from a lack of sleep to make it happen.

I really hate the "crying it out" method but having Brea flail in bed with us was not helping ANYONE sleep. We let her have some time to adjust to the new house but after we put her room together I thought it might be time to try to get her into her crib again. My concern with the "crying it out" method was that it was a new room to her and I didn't want her to be traumatized with me leaving her AND being in a room that's completely alien. So I decided to adjust things a bit to make myself more comfortable with it.

Basically, it took five days to complete what I had in mind. Up until now, Brea's pretty much slept with me. So on night one, I nursed her to sleep, placed her into her crib whereupon she woke up and started wailing. I sat in the rocker next to the crib and rocked and shushed for 40 minutes until she fell asleep. I didn't pick her up and mostly spent the time trying to look like I was sleeping. Then on her first wake up, I went to her, nursed her and took her to bed. Second night, repeat the beginning but this time she only wailed for 20 minutes; first wake up - nurse and back into the crib, more wailing, sitting and rocking; second wake up - nursed and took her to bed. You can see the pattern, gradually from full time in our bed to 3/4 of the night, 1/2 the night, 1/4 of the night, 1 hour in the morning and she's been great the last two nights. She wakes and has a little cry for a minute or two (not shrieking wails) and falls asleep again. I hope this will stick because that first night was horrid!

Well, I need to get some tea and head to bed and hopefully this sore throat will go away.