La Familia Onken: January 2009

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Saturday, January 24, 2009

some pictures....sorry nothing more

Our little birdie perched on Daddy..I especially like the lady in the back round!

He found his toes and feet this week and won't let them go

Andrew and Porter

Andrews first trip to the beach...don't worry we had his head covered

Well, we've been doing the sleep training now for 5 days (4 nights). The first night sucked! He was up every hour or so ( I think I mentioned that in my last post). The second night he slept through the night 8:30pm - 7 am. Not bad, I was very happy. The third night he slept until 3 and didn't go back to sleep until 4:15(crying the whole hour, so sad) he then slept till about 5 then went back to sleep until 6 when he was up fpr the day. I put him down that night at 7:30 and I think it was to early for him and he hadn't had great naps that day either. Last night we put him down at 8:30 and he slept again until 7! So, hopefully this is working and he'll do the same tonight!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sleepess nights

So for some reason we didn't end up with the kind of baby that sleeps through the night all by himself. (I know, right? not fair) So my sister Alyssa sent me a book called Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems which she said has really helped her with her kids. Andrew is not a bad sleeper, he is actually quite good I think, but he is waking up in the middle of the night still (usually once but sometimes twice) and the only thing that puts him back to sleep is me feeding him. I know that he is old enough now that he doesn't need to eat at night and I don't want to start a bad habit that will be hard to stop later.
So, what the book recommends is that instead of just letting him cry all night you go in after 5 min. and sooth him but don't pick him up, then leave. And repeat as necessary with the waiting time increasing 5 min every time you go in. For example (assuming your baby continues to cry):

Day 1: Wait 5 mins, soothe for 2. Wait 10 mins, soothe for 2. Wait 15 mins, soothe 2. Continue every 15 mins.
Day 2: Wait 10 mins, soothe for 2. Wait 15 mins, soothe for 2. Wait 20 mins, soothe 2. Continue every 20 mins.

And you do this until your baby realizes that it is not worth crying for 20 min if he isn't going to be held or nursed. And eventually (usually within a week) he will be sleeping through the night every night.

Last night was the first night we tried this and it went pretty well except for the fact that Andrew woke up about every 1 1/2 hours, which is totally unlike him. I think he did this because he was confused about what was going on and it was out of the norm. Nick or I went in but just told him to go back to sleep and rubbed his belly a little and left. He is used to me going in and feeding him and then immediately falls back asleep. So, hopefully tonight will be better. I've already noticed an improvement in his naps today. I'll keep you posted on how he progresses.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

5 Years

Today is our 5th anniversary. We have grown so much from then I can't hardly believe it, but he is still my best friend and I love him even more than I did then. So far marrying Nick has been the best decision I have ever made. Thanks for being the funniest, kindest, most loving, and compassionate person I know. I love you baby! Oh, and your not bad looking either.

like father like son

Nick took Andrew on his first Geocaching experience on Saturday. I'm a little surprised that it took this long. They had a lot of fun and I have a feeling that this won't be the last time they do this together.

Monday, January 5, 2009

It's been awhile...

I'm not in the mood to write a long post so here are a couple of pictures from the last few weeks. We've been busy but have been having so much fun. Unfortunately I was sick on Nick's birthday so we have no pictures of birthday fun because we didn't have any. (poor nick) But I'm feeling better and am so excited to start the new year. I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays and we love you all!