Taking other people's parenting advise among other things.....

I am the type of parent that is strict in some aspects, and not so strict on others. With Alex, I have found the best of both parenting worlds--parenting on a schedule, and parenting on demand. During the day I parent on demand, letting Alex call the shots. By 6:45pm, however, it is now time for parenting on a schedule, which lasts until 7am the next morning. So far it has been working quite well, until last week. Thursday and Friday, Alex cried all day. I couldn't console him, soothe him, or get him to sleep. It was so bad, that when Dan finally got him to bed on Friday, he was so tired that he slept through the night for the first time.

This last weekend I spent listening to a few people tell me that I am doing my son an injustice by picking him up right away when he cries, and coddling him to sleep for all naps and bedtime, as evidenced by the above two days. While I personally feel that you can NEVER spoil a child by holding it too much, I was starting to get sick of all the "advice", especially when it was coming from less than perfect parents (I won't get into it here, because I'm not perfect either). Even more so, until now, my way has been working just fine.

So, starting on Monday I bit the bullet and started putting Alex down for naps no later than 2 hours after he last woke up. I let him cry for 5 minutes. Then I went into his room, gave him his soother, and calmed him down (without picking him up). I then waited 10 minutes before going into his room again (better known as the Ferber Method), picked him up, calmed him down, and put him back to bed.

What I have found over the last 4 days is that he just cries hard enough to make it so that by the time I calm him down, he's asleep in my arms. At bedtime, different story. He will fall asleep by himself at bedtime now. But, I am still having trouble with naps, and I don't know what to do. I hate hearing him cry, watching him shake because he's so upset, but apparently this is the way to do it.

I think all of you are nuts! The whole cry it out thing--- I don't know if it works. People keep telling me to give it time, but I'm more exhausted letting him cry, than I was rocking him to sleep for every nap!

One thing I have found is that I get more unwanted parenting advice than I thought I would. I have also found that a lot of the advice is bad! I see how other people's children are turning out and I'd just rather try my own thing. No offense, but what is good for the goose isn't necessarily what's good for the gander, thank you very much!

Now that I've had my rant, we are going on our first big away trip this weekend--to Osoyoos to see my Dad's new house. I will be back next week with pics and to let you know how it goes!

Okay, So I'm new at adding video to my blog posts, so I'll give it a try. This first video is just a small snippet of what I listen to pretty much every moment that Alex is awake. He is a very talkative guy ;)



This next video is me finally catching Alex rolling over. In truth, it was the next time he rolled over after Wednesday..I think he was scared to do it again because I got so excited after he rolled over that Ruby got over excited and kicked him the head, and he cried :(



This video is taken literally 30 seconds later, when Alex rolled over to the left this time. (I'm so proud of him, my little overachiever!!!).




Ok, so that was my attempt at adding video. I have to say that it is much easier than formatting the bloody pictures!Oh, and on Wednesday, Alex will officially be 3 months old! My how time flies...He is so wonderful I can't wait for another!

A big milestone for Alex

Today, Alex rolled over for the first time. This is pretty good, considering I only give him tummy time about every other day when I'm being diligent.

'Nuff said. I don't think I need to brag more ;)

The most amazing thing.....

The most amazing thing happened on the weekend. Only a parent could be truly proud at what my son did, and while it may seem like a normal feat for someone his age, I have never seen another baby do this before 4 or 5 months of age. I am truly and completely convinced that my child is a genius, and will grow up to disprove some theory that Einstein came up with. So here goes........

We were out for dinner at the Keg, and had Alex in his car seat so nicely balanced in a chair at the end of the table. He was doing his normal awake behavior, witty banter directed at anything that would move. We were (slightly) ignoring him, eating our wonderful dinner of steak and salad, when I realized that he was quiet for much too long. I looked over, expecting him to be sleeping, when what I saw was him staring very intently at his left hand, which was raised in front of his face and had his thumb and forefinger move very slowly together in a pinching motion.

Now, I did mention that I few weeks ago he had discovered his hands, and spends much time chewing them. However, this was completely new, and, to my embarrassment, quite funny at the time, since he was concentrating so hard on those two fingers moving together as they were.

So, to continue, the next day we were at home, and Alex was in his rumble seat pinching the air away. Dan put his finger in front of Alex, and after some very horrible attempts at grabbing it, Alex managed to develop the dexterity to "pinch" Dan's finger. He did this a couple more times before we upped the anti.

We put his soother in front of him, and he managed to grab the handle right away. He was trying to put it in his mouth, but it seemed to find its way into his eye, up his nose, in his ear, and on his forehead. Dan helped him once by showing him how to get it into his mouth, and Alex proceeded to pull out the soother, and try to get it back in again.

This time, it only took 2 tries, and it was in his mouth. Of course, Mom and Dad went nuts with excitement over the challenge or 2 1/2 month old son accomplished. Alex found this amusing, so he pulled the soother out again.

This time, however, Alex looked at me, then at Dan, then at me again. He took the soother, shoved it in his mouth, and threw his hand up in the air as if to say "I am awesome!!". Of course we lost it, and that is the reason why I think my son is a genius.

You may argue that this is normal behavior, that it was a fluke. But I know deep in my heart that if he reeeeaaaalllllyyy wanted to, he could do it again, and get it right the first time. I just hope he is this determined when we start toilet training!!