The No-Cry Sleep Solution

As of last Thursday, we have given up on letting our little boy "cry it out". It was really just terrible. Honestly, I think it is a solution that can work for some babies - I'm not necessarily totally against it just because it didn't work for us. But it really really didn't work for us. Once you've listened to your baby scream his head off for more than two hours every night for five nights straight, you might come to the same conclusion. So now we're trying the appropriately named "no-cry" sleep solution, from the book of the same name, by Elizabeth Pantley.
Pantley's method is a collection of tactics to help your baby sleep better. She presents them all, and then you put together your own "sleep solution" from her ideas. Most of them were ones I'd at least heard of, some I've tried. The great thing about the book is that it is so encouraging. Like I said, I'd tried some of these methods, but when you don't see immediate results, you move on to the next thing. Pantley reminds you that expecting immediate results from anything is inappropriate. She has you log your progress only once every ten days - otherwise you won't see the progress you're looking for. So yes, it takes time. But she promises results, you must simply have patience. There's a lot more I could say about the book, because I really do like it, but there is also a lot more to say about Gabriel, and I like him better.
One of the suggested solutions that you can add to your plan is to introduce a "lovey" (or a snuggli, as I like to call it). Here is Gabriel with his snuggli - it's a little blankey thing that my Aunt Robyn made for him. In this picture he has pulled it over his face. He does this all the time now, with whatever blanket-type thing is handy, usually when he's sleepy. In this case, he pulled it over his face and then just lay there while I finished changing his diaper, and even while I ran and grabbed the camera. One of the times he did this I thought he was actually trying to play peek-a-boo with me, but I think now it might have been a coincidence. He was on the changing table, with his blanket over his face, and I said "Where's Gabriel?" He immediately yanked the blanket off his face and was smiling at me! But I've tried it since then and he hasn't really done it again, so it may have been just a super adorable coincidence.
In food-related news, we have reintroduced rice cereal. I've started using a super cool bib that I dug out - not sure who gave it to us, but both Gabriel and I really like it. It kind of distracts him while he's eating, but pretty much everything distracts him, so that's no big deal. So far we seem to be doing good with solid food - I've stopped giving Gabriel his multivitamin though, because I started it around the same time as the food, but if he has any problems, I won't know which it's from. So now hopefully I can narrow it down a little bit better.
And here is a picture of Gabriel doing his baby yoga. He's very limber, as babies are. This is the sort of thing he does when he's sleepy - he looks for something to snuggle against, and if nothing's close, he just flops over and rubs his face on his toes. Another cute thing he does now is play with his pacifier. I wasn't sure how I felt about pacifiers, although Gabriel really seemed to enjoy his, and he definitely needs them for sleep. But now I've decided that they're okay. With the one he uses during the day he is developing his fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. You can actually see the little wheels turning in his brain as he picks it up and figures out how its supposed to go in his mouth. He's really good at picking most of his toys up and manipulating them. It's a lot of fun to watch.
In mom-related news, I am excited to say that I am down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have felt like I've weighed less since I was sick, but yesterday I confirmed it - I'm back to "normal". My goal was actually about five pounds less (I figure I might as well go for lower), but I honestly feel really good at the weight I am. I may always have a little mummy-tummy, but I'm not really concerned about that. Once I'm not suffering from so much sleep deprivation and able to consistently work out again, I may get down another five pounds. But I'm more concerned about staying active at this point. So hopefully we'll get this sleep deprivation problem solved soon.