The Light

Sometimes I could just kick myself. I doubt myself too much and then when I realize that I should have listened to my gut I get annoyed. I have mentioned on the blog that my baby was having a hard time going to sleep every night. Since he was about 6 months old we have done the same routine with him - bath, books, songs, jammies and night night time. We swaddled him when he was a baby and as he got bigger and rolled over he was able to make himself comfortable so we were able to just put him down in the crib on his belly and rub his back to get him to sleep. He also found his thumb at this point so that helped. He stopped sucking his thumb overnight but still had no big problems falling asleep. At some point when it started taking him longer to go to sleep I started leaving the room. He was fine - would whine at times but for the most part comforted himself to sleep. Then all of a sudden recently when we left he would start screaming. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. He had two night lights in his room, and I was still doing the same routines with him so he was still on the same sleep schedule. I searched online for days for advice. Starting seeing all the same things about routine at bedtime, quiet time, etc.. but we were already doing this. Then I read where some people mentioned it just being a phase and it would pass in time. No such luck for me. Suddenly last night a light bulb went off in my head. When I was a little girl I was terrified of falling asleep with just the nightlight. There was a hall light outside of my bedroom door and I needed to have that on every night. It was my comfort light so I would know that my parents were still out there. So I tried that last night and miracle of all miracles - he didn't cry! He fell asleep within 10 minutes and I was relieved. I did the same thing tonight and again he was fine!! I am so happy about this! Although like I said I could just kick myself because I kept thinking before that he was scared but I doubted myself. I really have to learn to trust my instincts a little more. For now though I will just be happy that I finally figured it out and he is falling asleep peacefully again!

Changes

Everyone tells you before you have children to be prepared but are you ever really prepared for the changes that come with having them? I thought I was but in reality I wasn't. I understood the concept of being 24/7 but dealing with it is a whole different story. I am sitting here right now while my son takes a nap and I have 20 million things that I need to do. One of which is to find a way to increase my income to pay for the rennovations on our house. I have started selling again on Ebay and I am venturing into the world of affliate marketing. I am also looking for a part time virtual assistant type position. I think to myself though how much free time do I really have to do all these things? My son will take a hour or a hour and a half nap right now and then he goes to bed around 8:30. I have to try and get to bed by 10:00 pm myself because if I don't get enough sleep I don't function well. So I have about 3 hours a day to accomplish everything I need to do. Not alot of time when you think about it. Not to mention that I really spend my son's awake time with him. He goes to daycare during the week so I cherish the time we have together. I don't ignore him to get things done. Even if he's sitting down and watching a movie I sit and watch it with him. So that means I have to find a better way to manage my 3 hours of time that I do have. Maybe I should stop blogging and start accomplishing something then?