Sleep Training...

Since last week I decided, NO MORE. I absolutely has not rushed Jai' into anything(unlike I did Julian) .. simply because he is my baby... and probably my last baby. With Julian I rushed solids, rushed sleeping alone, sleeping through the night, potty training, walking.. etc.etc.etc.  annnnnd i regretted it, so this go around I said I did not want to rush Jai into growing up.
He has done everything at his own pace, with little assistance from me...Until last week. Lately, Jai' has been going to bed at his usual time..... then waking around midnight and staying up, talking/whining until 4-5ish. After trying to console him over and over, I found myself sleeping on his floor next to his crib/praying/begging GOD/ and finally, found myself cranky,tried & frustrated.  I decided sleep trainging take 2 was about to find it's way to my house hold.

Tuesday-Friday... Jai still woke around the same times, each and every night. I cut his naps down to two naps per day(morning 1.5 hour and evening 1 hour). I tried my best to keep him up as long as possible and also pushed back his bedtime from 630-7... to 8pm. It seemed to be working, slightly, but was an adjustment. He would not get fed in the middle the night anymore( weaned him down to nothing/water throughout the week) and would try to console him when he first started talking, then if that wasn't cutting it for him, i'd just shut the door and would go to sleep..ignoring him best I could.

Being he still was waking, and I was simply TRYING to ignore him.. I figured this process was not moving along as quickly as I had hoped.. but consistency is key, so I was going to keep trying.

Saturday we had plans to see some friends that live out of town that were in the area. They came over to visit. We had a nice visit, and Jai' of course missed nap due to company( which i was totally okay with). Sunday we went to church, followed by a picnic at the park... then back to church for group. Jai got half a nap in the AM, in order to make church on time. and almost a full nap once we finally got home around 3pm & went to bed around 8 pm last night. To my surprise, Jai went his butt to sleep and I stayed awake waiting for Josh to return from bringing a recruit to new orleans... and to watch Army wives & Client List. We went to bed around 11, and i thought sure Jai would be up within a hour. Nope. 4:48 am, He finally woke! HOLY smokes.. that is the LONGEST he has EVER slept! and to me that is SLEEPING thought the night.. holy smokes- Sweet Success! Thank you Jesus!!!

This was the first time in about 3 years that I slept all night! And it is amazing what one can accomplish when fully rested! This morning I have already worked in my garden, mopped floors, steamed floors, cooked tonight and tomorrows dinner, bathe' Jai* he helped in garden too* made lunch, cleaned from lunch, put Jai to nap & cleaned front & back porch! yup, and its only 1:44! :)
I realize with Julian, when he first started sleeping through the night( 11 months old) it was hit and miss for the first month(ish time frame).. and then it became more of a nightly occurrence. I am praying, and crossing my fingers that Jai just goes right into sleeping every night... but being today, his third tooth is erupting, I'm afraid it will be the exact opposite. Insane, a week ago our Peurto rican neighbor saw us on the porch and came to say Hello. She saw Jai smile, and noticed his two front, bottom teeth, and said.. Oh look, the other two will be up soon. I replied ," where??" she pointed,... but honestly, there was nothing to see. Not even swelling. She went on saying," I give it two weeks and it will be up." i really thought she was seeing a glare or something.. because there was NO EVIDENCE of anything. Annnddd.. what do ya know? she was right! I can hardly believe it! I dont know what exactly she saw that I didnt, but she def. knew!  He has been a crying miss all day, wit a small temp. Poor baby is miserable.. hopefully, it comes out quicker than the first two that took their sweet ol' time

The boys and I have also been taking our evening strolls to pick black berries! Julian thinks highly of these wild grown berries but not so highly of the picky bushes- so mommy is left doing the dirty work.

Pinterest pops!

Both were sugar free & the pudding pops had only 12 carbs! Jai had his very own type of pudding pop! Yummy

Picture catchup from last week...

 

Yes. Despite Julian's age and maturity over Jai's, he still instigates, and par takes in emptying wipe boxes with his little brother. BUSTED, Twice in one day. Come'on.. Really boys?

                                       
Does anyone think it's possible for my kids to be any cuties? I mean, seriously.. how cute are they?

 Here's Jai on one of his rash healing, diaper less day.... Do you see a stream on my threshold? hmm..

 

 

G rated stripping

Well late last week, Jai had his second diaper rash since birth, his first being only a month ago. I had detected then, that my cloth diapers weren't operating as they should, and were starting to pollute the air surrounding the diaper pail & the bathroom. I began to have a sneaky suspicion that this diaper rash was due to some type of build up in his diapers, that was causing all these signs of problem.
After much research, I narrowed my build up to be mineral build up from our hard water. I decided I was not going to do the typical 'strip' on my diapers, because thats what I tried after the first diaper rash, and clearly that did not take care of the problem, considering it reoccurred. Sooooo... I did things my way, of course a much more intense, OCD induced way. But first i did an experiment...


I then filled the boys bath tub with the hottest water possible, and added 2 table spoons of blue dawn. I threw my diapers in and let them soak for 60 minutes. When I when back i added MORE hot hot hot water, brought in a empty laundry basket, and got tub side, and began scrubbing. I pulled all four layers apart by hand, and scrubbed them. After the separating and scrubbing, I took the shower head down, and drained the tub. Each insert then was rinsed, rinsed, rinsed and rinsed some more, then set in the laundry basket. (I did batches of 10) After there were 10 inserts rinsed clean of blue dawn, i brought inserts to the kitchen where i had two pots boiling. I then added inserts in to boil for 15 minutes. after boiling they were put on a rinse cycle in the wash, followed by a clean w/ detergent and 3 more rinses. This went on until every insert was clean... ( process was repeated about 5 times since i have about 50 inserts)

AFTER i planned to put them in the dryer. USUALLY, they are hung dry, but after all that hard work i was tired, AND besides i wanted them to be as soft as possible so dried inside was my choice. BUT i soon found out.. our heating element in our dryer had went out. GR. just my luck. ON to the clothes line.... where they dried. They now are more absorbent than ever, so clean, soft, and dont smell at all..even when spoiled.  Can I get an AMEN?

Jai's bottom is now all better. We went a few days diaper less,(except for bedtime..then we worse throwaways) followed by a weekend of throwaways, and now back to using our beloved cloth. Oh Happy Day.

^this is the experiment. Look at how my diapers were repelling! This was leaving moisture on my baby's bottom, causing irritation. Not to meantion the cause of the repelling, was build up which leads to ammonia- which causes burns! Ouch!

The soak

The boil

Ju's green thumb

Only one cucumber plant so far! Suppose the rest are late bloomers