Parenting: heart-wrenching bedtimes, week 1.

Now imagine him crying. :(

Now imagine him crying. :(

Today is the end of the first week Sullivan has gone to bed by himself.

Up until this past Monday, Sullivan had been co-sleeping with us. Pretty much since he was born. When he was an infant, we had his crib side-car’d to the bed (for safety reasons). There was a brief while when we moved his crib into his own room (around age 1) and I would lay him down in his bed at around 9pm. He would inevitably wake up around midnight or so, and we’d end up just bringing him to bed with us. It was tough; Mel and I were both full-time students so we just really never had the available time to dedicate to getting him into a routine. Plus, it’s just really hard when you’re holding the door shut so he can’t open it, all while he’s screaming tearfully and trying to get you to let him out (“Yah-yeeeee!!!! Maiiiii!!! Baff? Toyees?”) Continue reading

Introducing: Freyja Haiku Hill

Freyja, 15 minute oldAt 1:47pm on July 8th, Freyja Haiku Hill was born at McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, weighing 9 lbs, 4.7 oz and measuring 22″ long. She has dark hair and dark eyes, although it’s too early to tell what color. (They look dark blue, but that will change)

Before you read any further here, I suggest you read my wife’s blag post about her pre-birth feelings and fears/reservations from last time. (The Jean Harper called it “sobering”) It’s not too long, I’ll wait.

Continue reading

It’s like Deja Dad, all over again

In case I haven’t talked to you in a while, we’re having our second (and LAST) child; it’s a girl. It’s also nearly here — we’re in the final waiting days.

I’ve been mostly involved in the whole process so far; I go to all the OB appts, Mel and I have talked about the birth-plan, and I’m somewhat educated on the process (enough that I know some buzzwords and am able to ask some questions to our OB).

In spite of all that, it really hadn’t hit me that we’re going to have a little girl until Melissa made this:

Wow.

I’m going to have a daughter soon. Continue reading

Parenting: much ado about sleeping

Sullivan!Look at that face — Could you possibly resist it if it were crying?

Because that’s precisely what pretty much every “parental guide”, other parents (including our own!), and advice column has advised us to do at night, when he wakes up. “Just let them cry it out,” they say, “they’ll get over it after a few nights.”

I just can’t do it though — we’ve tried it. For about 2 or 3 days, when he would wake up, I would callously make him wait before we went in. First wait-period was 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 — every time he wakes up (which is a bit of a mis-statement, as he never really goes back to sleep) the duration of the delay increases.

The problem is, it doesn’t work. One night he cried for 2 and a half hours solid. Seriously. He’s done this in the car too. The kid’s got lungs like the Three Tenors. Continue reading

Sullivan does something cute

Today, when I was leaving for work, I knelt down and kissed Sullivan on his head and said “Bye stinker!” then I kissed my wife goodbye and walked towards the door. As I was unlocking the door, I heard Sullivan make a noise and I turned around. He went “Dah!” and was waving his arm.

Sullivan was waving goodbye to me!

As I backed out of the door, I continued to wave back at him, and he continued to wave back at me.

What an adorable little kid. :)