Check out my published diaper steal tip from Babycheapskate.com! By the way, this is a GREAT website to check out daily. Angie does a FANTASTIC job helping all of us moms save money. When you’re spending over $400 a month on formula, you find yourself looking at the sales flyers, cutting out coupons and searching for good deals. I’m starting to get really good at it, thanks to my frugal friends and websites like this that are teaching me so well!

http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2009/01/reader-tips-luvs-deal-cheap-car-seats.html

Wow, it’s hard to believe that Jack will be 10 months old next week. He has really taken off with his development this month. He also is starting to be much more affectionate and show his emotions more. He will give Mommy kisses, but only Mommy or Pooh Bear. He also will see himself in the mirror and kiss his reflection, which is really funny.

Jack is starting to eat more solids now. He likes pears, bananas and apples, but he is not a fan of peaches. He eats frozen peaches in his mesh feeder, but I guess he doesn’t care for the texture of normal peaches. He loves bread and will turn down any finger food if he knows bread is close by. He also got a sample of pancakes last week! I’m hoping to start soft veggies with him this week. He hates Stage 3 baby foods, so I’m having to go straight from Stage 2 foods to real table food. He seems to be in between with everything lately. He will eat half of his baby food and start spitting it out. Then, we’ll move to solids, and he will only eat a handful of bites before he gets tired of that too. HA! The other day he ate his weight in my sub sandwich from Kroger. He had bread and turkey and seemed to really like it! So, we are well on our way to table foods now.

As Jack increases eating solids, he is slowly decreasing the amount of formula he is drinking. We are down to three or four bottles a day – usually 24 ounces is normal for one day. Jack has dropped his middle-of-the-night feeding, which has been a nice change of pace for Mommy and Daddy. We are working with him on juice in a sippy cup. He drinks it like a champ, but he still won’t hold it on his own yet. We’ve tried giving him formula in a sippy cup, but he will not have that! We’ll keep trying. I’m not going to be too concerned about weaning from a bottle until he is 12 months old.

The most challenging part of this month has been getting Jack to fall asleep on his own. It always seemed like a fairy-tale to us to be able to lay him in his bed awake and let him put himself to sleep. He has always needed a lot of cuddle time and extra security. He just wasn’t ready to do that until this past month. We noticed him squirming and tossing and turning when we would try to rock him to sleep. It started being more of a hindrance than a help. So, we began the process of teaching him to fall asleep in his crib on his own. It’s been 1.5 weeks, and Jack has made great progress! He still wakes once or twice a night, but he is doing well falling asleep on his own for naps and bedtime. So, we are VERY proud of him! Sleep has never come easy with Jack, but we are starting to see a lot of improvement as he gets older.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for a 10-month update! We’re hoping he will be walking soon! He keeps standing on his own and taking up to three steps unassisted, so we aren’t far away!

My birthday was a really great one! It was the first birthday I’ve celebrated being a mom. It does change a lot about how you celebrate. I was sitting at dinner with a bite of food for me in one hand and a Puff for Jack in the other. I laughed to myself and thought that I wouldn’t change it for the world! His sweet little smile was the best present I got this year.

Sean made sure to make it special. He took Friday off to spend the day with me, which was really a huge sacrifice for him right now. He is managing a large Microsoft project at work and has a lot of work he needs to do, but he set it all aside to spend a day with me and Jack. On Thursday night, my parents babysat Jack for us while Sean took me to The Melting Pot. How wonderful that was!!!!! We took the sports car, too! WOOHOO! I haven’t ridden in that car since Jack was born, and it was fun to get out and just be together for a little while. The dessert was obviously the best part of the night – our new favorite treat is a rice crispy dipped in chocolate fondue. YUM!

On Friday, I got a really nice surprise! The doorbell rang, and Sean jumped up and told me that my present was here. I ran up after him to see what it was. Sean and Jack had bought me HUGE chocolate-covered strawberries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were enormous! The best gift EVER! I just loved it! That night, we went out to Longhorns with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. We came back home to scrumptious Coldstone Red Velvet Cake Batter ice cream cake. I think I gained 5 pounds this week!

The finale to a fun-filled birthday was on Saturday when Sean’s mom came down to babysit Jack for us while Sean took me shoe shopping. I got a new pair of tennis shoes and some casual slip-ons that I always wear in the winter with my Smartwools. Then, I got a new workout outfit, since I’m joining Jazzercise on Monday.

So, there you have it. Fondue, chocolate-covered strawberries, new shoes, and a variety of family meals out and desserts. I REALLY need Jazzercise now! But it couldn’t have been a better birthday!

After a week of sleep training, Sean and I made it! We have successfully helped our son learn to sleep and sleep WELL! Jack has had a few ups and downs during the week, but he is mostly sleeping through the night and taking good naps. We didn’t realize how much time it took to rock him to sleep. I wouldn’t trade those moments for the world, but it sure is nice to put him in his bed, tell him we love him, and walk out of his room. He has really attached to his Pooh Bear, which is so sweet. His paci can come or go. It helps him calm down, but he doesn’t NEED it to go to sleep. I may consider ditching the paci soon. We just don’t really use it anymore, and I think he would be able to forget about it pretty easily now.

Tomorrow is my birthday. It’s my first birthday with Jack in my life, and it’s the last birthday of my 20s. Jack is going to help me live it to my fullest this year though – haha. I look back on my 20s and sort of cringe at the beginning and have a great sense of accomplishment at the end. It’s amazing how life changes… priorities change… goals change… everything! But I’m glad it has all been for the best. I have an amazing husband and a beautiful baby boy that I love more than anything in this world. It’s going to be a great birthday!

The title says it all. I can’t even remember what day we started this sleep training thing. Today has not been fabulous with Mr. Jack’s sleeping attempts. Last night, he woke up THREE times, after sleeping through the night the day before. Sean and I have been picking him up and rocking him back to sleep in the middle of the night, but I think we are going to have to stop doing that now. When he woke up at 4 a.m., he would NOT go back to sleep. He was up for an hour before he went back to bed. We even tried bribing him with a bottle, thinking he was hungry, but nope! He just didn’t care to sleep last night.

Today’s naps have been awful. He has fallen asleep fairly quickly but with lots of crying today. He only took a 30-minute nap this morning, which lead to crankiness and more crankiness. We were calling him Mr. Grumpalicious this morning! HA! We decided to go out for lunch and get Sean some new jeans, and that seemed to occupy his grumpiness for a little while. By the time we got home, it was time for his afternoon nap. He slept for MAYBE 30 minutes and is back up again. This time, we are leaving him in his crib to see if he’ll go back to sleep. Who knows?! What we do know is that if he doesn’t get his 1.5-hour nap in this afternoon, he will be IMPOSSIBLE this evening.

Is it common for them to backtrack during sleep training after being so successful? I’m just a little frustrated today. Things were going so well, and today has been a sleeping nightmare. Any advice?

Well, it’s day four, and we had a record night! It only took Jack 15 minutes to fall asleep, even though there was a lot of crying, but he slept the entire night!!!!!!! No waking up, no crying, no middle-of-the-night bottle! We are so excited that our sleep training is starting to pay off. Jack is sleeping so much better now, which means mommy and daddy are too! YAY! Good job, Jack!

We are making progress!!!!!!! Yesterday, Jack did pretty well with his sleeping. In the morning, he got off schedule due to a bad cold and a doctor’s appointment. It took him about 30 minutes to fall asleep, but there was little crying. Then, his afternoon nap was a little harder for him. He was so tired from not feeling well, and we went out to lunch with one of my friends, so he had a full afternoon. Not to mention, I had to wake him up after an hour and fifteen minutes to get to lunch on time, so he needed a long afternoon nap. He cried a lot this time, but I only had to go up one time. He fell asleep after about 40 minutes and slept for two hours.

Last night, Sean and I went out with some friends for dinner. Uncle John and Aunt Megan babysat him while we were gone. Sean and I were a little nervous just because of his new sleeping arrangements. But Megan was comfortable letting him cry if he needed to. We told her how we handle it, and she was a pro! Jack fell asleep in TEN MINUTES with little crying!!!!!!!!!! WOW! I told them they could come back tonight at his bedtime if they wanted to. HAHA!

Jack slept all night. He woke up one time around midnight, I think, but Sean was up and took care of him. From then on, Jack slept through the night. He woke a few times and cried a little, but he still had his eyes closed, so we just let him work it out. He didn’t want a middle-of-the-night bottle at all, and he slept until 7 a.m. YAY Jack!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so proud of him! Everyone says the third night gets much better, and it seemed to. I hope we are onto something here!

Tonight, Sean and I were in the floor playing with Jack. He likes to hold onto the couch and walk back and forth. Well, I had him close to my end of the couch, and Sean was sitting on the other with one of his toys. Jack took off, let go and took THREE steps in a row all on his own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO! It was so excited to see that!!!!!!!!!! Go Jack Go!!!!!!!!!!

It’s officially day two with getting Jack to fall asleep on his own. I miss my rocking chair, but I have been pleasantly surprised how well this has worked with him. The last time we tried it, he just wasn’t ready. But this time, he is ready and successfully doing it all by himself. YAY!

For his morning nap, Jack did not cry at all and fell asleep in 15 minutes. It was as if he knew exactly what to do. He walked around his crib for a few minutes, sat down to play with Pooh and his blanket, and then layed down and fell fast asleep for an hour and a half.

This afternoon was a little harder. Jack always has trouble with his afternoon naps. He gets so wound up from playing during the day that it is hard for him to unwind. So, he did cry a little this afternoon. After ten minutes, I went to check on him. He had a dirty diaper, so I changed him, calmed him back down and left him with the trusty Pooh bear, paci and blanket. Within five minutes, he was asleep.

He only woke up twice last night, each time after sleeping four hours straight. This is a nice improvement from the past several nights of waking every two hours. He even slept until 7 am! FINALLY! I think we are getting back into our old routine. We’re hoping tonight that he will do even better! And the big news is that he didn’t want a bottle until 5 a.m. YAY! We are slowly fading the middle-of-the-night bottle out with this. I’m really impressed with how well he is doing. He has been in a great mood today after getting some good sleep, and mommy also is much happier with a little rest too!

Today, Jack’s afternoon nap was the first time we tried to get him to sleep on his own. It took an hour, but he did it!

Tonight, we stayed consistent. This time it only took him 40 minutes!

Let’s pray we are making progress.