Better Days

On the post I did over a week ago I said we had big stuff going on around the Ball household. I think I made it sound bigger than I thought, because no LaJuan no kid number 2 yet! I kind of made you wait that one out though huh! Ha! So nothing that big going on but just good ole' family stuff happening.

Since about mid-July Cap stopped taking longer than 30 minute naps. He went from 2 hour naps twice a day plus some small "Cap Naps" to a few short ones pretty much overnight. He was still sleeping pretty good at night so I just told myself I didn't care as long as there was good night rest.

Over time, our good nights started digressing. He was needing us sometimes 2-4 times a night. Then Cap started getting so cranky during the day. He needed to constantly be entertained or held and even then nothing would satisfy him. I just didn't understand why he would fall asleep if he was so tired. I started to get so tired of the constant entertainment that I would just drive to town everyday and let Target, Wal-Mart, or the mall entertain him. It seemed to be the only thing that worked for a while.

It is funny how America tells you that you can have a baby and your life doesn't have to change much. They make these great baby carriers (which I love ours!!!) and everyone makes you believe that you can just strap your kid on you and keep doing everything you previously did before "the Kid". I did that too, well, to a point. I will say your productivity level goes from +100% to about 15-20% in my opinion. But here we were if Cap was sleeping we would just grab him strap him to us and off we went to do our thing. If Cap was about to fall asleep and we were at home, we would quickly put him in the car so we could go somewhere, and then wake him up once we arrived to our destination. It was pretty selfish really. I was made to believe that this was okay and this is just what you do once you have a kid.

After another rough day alone with Cap while Bryce was at school I texted my mother-in-law Joyce if I could give Cap some Ambien (sleeping pills). I was joking of course, but I was not in a good place. I was exhausted and couldn't imagine doing this for the next X amount of years. Through some God appointed events Joyce led me to another mom in South Carolina who went through some of the same stuff we were going through. I talked to her on the phone on a Wednesday night and by Thursday I was implementing some of her help to get Cap to take better naps during the day. She was given the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Babies". I ordered it from Amazon immediately but couldn't wait for it to get in and read before working on changing our lives around.

Day 1: 4 short naps in his crib. Lots of crying it out. I don't have a tough time with this. It may sound cold hearted, but I know it is for the good of everyone involved. I was helping Cap learn how to sleep, learn how to self soothe and those are too huge things!! This will be the first of may hard things we teach Cap. (Studies show that freshman in college who had trouble sleeping or trouble staying asleep had trouble sleeping as infants and toddlers also. Wow!)

Day 2: A little bit of crying. 4 naps, but getting a little longer.

Day 3: No crying. 3 great naps. 2 of them long. Entertained himself for a long time. Calmer. Noticed the small and big things like he used to. Played with 1 thing for half an hour by himself.

Day 6: We moved him out of our bedroom into his own room. Slept through the night.

Day 19: We have only gotten up twice in the middle of the night since moving him out of our room. When he does wake up in the night, he soothes himself back to sleep. He is asleep no later than 7pm and sleeps typically 12 hours. There have been several mornings I had to finally wake him up at 7:30ish to protect his morning nap.

I probably can't explain how this whole sleep thing has changed our life, but it has. I had no idea you had to teach your kids how to sleep. I just thought if he was tired he would sleep. I also thought I had to keep him up late in order for him to sleep through the night, and I was wrong about that one too! I wish we would have read this sooner, but I am so thankful we have it now. We will be able to use it for years to come as Cap gets older and eventually there is another Ball in the house. For the first time in almost 7 months, the thought of another kid doesn't make me sick to my stomach!! Ha! If anyone needs help in this area or know someone who does please send them my way!!!! There is so much more that could be said no just about sleep, but what that eventually does physically and emotionally to you as a mom or dad. We are enjoying each other much more these days and dancing a bunch!

Now here is an evening at our house. Enjoy!

Cap seeing bubbles for the first time.

Then here are a few in a row of him trying to

touch the bubbles, which he found fascinating.

Then a walk around the property.

We visited the horses and fed them some

wild onion.

Now time to play in some water.

This might be his favorite thing most days!

He just saw his reflection.

Now he is trying to suck it of course.

This has been the pose of the month for us.

"Hello ladies, care for a cup of water? Omelet perhaps?"

Cute happy boy!!!