Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Pardon me from my departure from the promised update yesterday. We had...extenuating circumstances...that kept me from writing. What are the circumstances, you ask? A water leak in baby girl's closet and the arrival of tooth number two. Poor thing. She's been ousted from her room and forced to sleep in the Pack 'n Play in the office, which is where the computer lives, which means that I've been ousted from the office and forced to fill my time doing other things. Not that that's a bad thing. I'll have to tell you the story of how the water leak came about some other time. The short version is that in Micah's short life (only six and a half months), Dennis has pulled up the carpet in her room no less than four times. We've got to get out of this house. That's become our mantra.

But since my baby girl is fussy and cranky and slightly feverish and gnawing on her hands constantly, I thought I'd share my favorite songs to sing Micah while we're rocking. You won't find Brahm's on this list.  Ready? Here we go:

1. Be Still My Soul
2. Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone
3. I Need Thee Every Hour
4. How Deep the Father's Love for Us
5. Great Is Thy Faithfulness

It's funny how the most comforting things I have to offer my child are the songs of my faith.  They are ingrained in my soul. Singing them is second nature. They soothe me and help me relax, which in turn helps her relax.

What do you sing to your baby when's she's fussy?  

Until next time, grace and peace.

What a Long Day

Sigh. It's been a long day, y'all. The good news is that Micah slept for 11 and a half hours last night. The bad news is that I did not. I didn't go back to sleep during Micah's morning nap, either. I've been productive today, adding new invitations and cards to Senojal Designs and filling orders. All of that's good, but it sure does wear me out. And I don't feel like cooking supper. But I didn't feel like cooking supper last night either, so tonight, I really ought to cook something, even if it's just hot dogs. But wait, we're out of hot dogs. Cheese & crackers, anyone?

Do you ever have days like these? Days where you get all sorts of things accomplished, but you're so worn out by the end of them that you can't enjoy your work.

That's today for me.

Which is why this post is so short and pointless. I am fulfilling my duty to post, per the challenge, but this time, I just lack meaningful content.

Sorry about that.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Everyone Needs Their Beauty Sleep

Parenting is such a difficult job. We always try to do what's best for Micah, but sometimes what's best is no fun at all. Micah slept through the night at two months old. By the time she was three months old, she slept between 11 and 12 hours every night. Without fail. It was glorious. Then she turned four months old and started getting restless. Then she hit a growth spurt and I nursed her twice during the night. Then she started sleeping again. That lasted for about two weeks. Then she got her first tooth. And the night waking began again. It's not good for those of us who like to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Over the weekend, we began Operation Cry It Out {OCIO}, and it was purely awful. The first night, Micah woke up at 11:32 p.m. and cried until 12:23 a.m. She woke up twice more before 6 a.m. and cried for about 30 minutes each time. The next night, Micah woke up at 1:31 a.m. and cried until just after 2 a.m. Last night, we also began weaning Micah from the swaddle that she loves so dearly. When I wrapped her up for the night, I left one arm out. It's a dangerous move, because she's fully capable of removing the pacifier from her mouth, but she's not yet mastered the art of reinserting it. She fell asleep without any problems, and we rejoiced {silently, of course} in the den. She slept well - only waking up once around 4:30 a.m. But apparently her free hand did some damage during the night; her little eye has a scratch underneath it. Poor thing.

My point in all of this is that I know we're not alone. Parents everywhere finally resort to letting their child cry it out. It's a painful step to take. Heartwrenching, even, when your child cries and you don't answer.

But let me just say this.

My body appreciates the sleep. I think Micah's does too. Everyone needs their beauty sleep, right? And let's face it: everyone has to learn how to put themselves back to sleep sometime. Now is Micah's time. Next step? Releasing her other arm from the swaddle. We'll see how it goes.