How my baby sleep trains me

I accidentally attachment parented my first because she needed to nurse all day, every day (or so it seemed). The transition to crib was tough for all of this.

This time I was going to wear my baby, bed-share, nurse on demand, the works.

And then I had my baby.

And he was nothing like my first. And I was nothing like the first time around.

This time, when I could feel myself struggling with my temper because my screaming baby wouldn't stop, I just put him down and took a break. Sometimes he would cry the whole time, but often he would fall asleep.

He's found his thumb. If I can't rock/bounce him to sleep, he usually can calm himself down within minutes.

This past week he's been falling asleep at fairly predictable times. And by 7:30 pm he's usually ready for sleep and stays asleep until around midnight.

Then I usually nurse him next to me and he sleeps next to me until morning.

But the past couple of nights he doesn't want to sleep next to me anymore. He nurses, and then he squirms and kicks and then I put him back in his rock n play and he goes right back into a deep sleep.

This morning he just needed to be burped and then slept in his own bed for another couple of hours. He's been napping beautifully and he's so happy for most of his awake time. He loves to smile and make baby noises.

He's only three months old, so I'm sure I'm in for all kinds of changes. But for now my baby is teaching me about letting him sleep.

What if....extraordinary?

I'm listening to Andy Stanley preach tonight, and it's a good challenge:

What if you decided to be extraordinary in your roles in life? What if you asked yourself, "What would an extraordinary person do?"

If we are Christians, we believe that we matter, that everyone is created in God's image, and should be treated that way.

My heart is broken tonight. There's so much sadness in my tiny little world. Most of the time I can live in my little bubble and pretend everything is peachy.
But there's death, miscarriage, divorce, broken relationships, letters from prison. It hurts my heart to feel the hurt of others around me. To admit my own hurt instead of living in denial.

If we could see us the way He sees us. Would we do what is right in our own eyes? We say it's OK because nobody gets hurt-except somebody always gets hurt. People are valuable, they are not commodities, and they should never be treated as such.

What if I thought before each decision, "If I were extraordinary, how would I act? How would I treat the person (my kids, my spouse, my family, the cashier at the grocery store) if I really believed they are extraordinary?"

I would yell less.

I would hug my kids and my husband more.

I would say, "I love you" and show it as often as possible.