Let the training begin!

Sleep training, that is. Last night, Ella went to bed at 8:30pm. At 10:00pm, she was up crying. So I went in and laid her back down. She wailed and sat back up. Now, imagine doing this about 30 times. Finally, I left her room. She cried and cried some more. An hour passes and she is settled down, back to sleep. So I go to bed. At 2:08am, she wakes up again. I go in and the process begins again, but I figure out (after 20 minutes or so) that I upset her more by doing this than I would if I just left her alone. So I leave and go to the bathroom, where I can turn on the fan and play some Kakuro in peace and quiet. I come out, and she's quiet. It's 2:42am. At 3:00am, she starts back up again, and who comes wandering into our room? Ben. So I take him back to his room and lay down with him, while Ella cries. She finally stopped around 3:20am. And she didn't wake up until 8:30am.

I wasn't quite prepared emotionally for this. Gord was reassuring me last night that it worked for Ben, and it's time for Ella to sleep through the night, and that I was doing the right thing. It's just that I started last night 'cause it had only been an hour and a half since she was last fed, and I didn't want to just stick the boob in her mouth to put her back to sleep. And then it just snowballed into letting her cry it out. Oh well, it's not like I'm weaning her. She still gets lots of boob time during the day.

I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quickly the first night she, and I, get a full night's sleep.

And now, for some random cuteness from the Sheppard kids!

She loves mealtimes!


And Cheerios...


Taking his turtle for a walk (he made the turtle at our playgroup):


Mmmmmm...chocolate...(she got a hold of Ben's ice cream sundae spoon when we weren't looking!)


Sleepy baby.


A nap is a nap.


When asked what the label said, Ben's response was, "B-E-N 5".


We are really working on the letters with Ben right now. He and I were doing a Dora puzzle yesterday and I asked him what the letters were. "D-O-R-A" he said. "And what does that spell?" I asked. He said, "D-O-R-A spells Dora and Boots!"