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Friday, March 19, 2010

7 Quick Takes ~ Vol. 16

Hosted at Conversion Diary

1. Night weening (This may be a "long" quick take): I haven't slept through the night for over ten months now... John still wakes up two, sometimes three or four, times each night to nurse. Each nursing session wouldn't really end. John would just fall asleep while suckling for who knows how long (I would fall asleep too). Needless to say, John has still been sleeping in our bed during the night. As of late, it has been getting a little crowded in our bed and John is becoming a wiggler. So Andrew and I decided it was time for John to be weened to his own bed to stop all this night nursing. We have a twin mattress on the floor next to my side of the bed and that's where John has been taking his naps. Now our goal is to have him spend his nights there as well! Boy has it been a long week! I think we just completed night #4 of the weening process (it's all a hazy, sleepy blur...). Two nights ago, I got close to no sleep. Even when John was asleep, I was up worrying about him (hey, give me a break, I have been sleeping right next to him his whole life!) or thinking about silly random things.

On to the good news: Last night John went to bed at 8pm and he did not nurse until 6am. That's ten hours!!! This is a huge FIRST for him! He did wake up for his regular nursing times but he is learning to go back to sleep with just some snuggles from Mommy. He still wasn't in his bed the whole night, but I see this as a step in the right direction! I am determined, no matter how much sleep I lose, that John will be in his own bed, and he won't need to be pacifying himself on me the whole night.

2. Fun with a box: Yesterday, my mom came in to watch John while I did some clean up around the house (Thank you, Mom!!) We received some hand-me-downs in this diaper box - which turned in the perfect car for John! He and Grandma had fun driving it all around the house:



3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! Andrew's dad's birthday is today (and it is the feast day of his namesake - St. Joseph)! My New Years resolution was to send birthday cards to our close family members, but I have already failed on a couple. We missed sending out Jenna's card in January (sorry!), and now I have no time left to send Dad's card; though, I have been thinking about it all week (see #1 as my excuse for being absent minded!).

Dad, we love you and we hope you have a wonderful day! I will be praying for you this weekend (see # 7) and we can't wait to see you next weekend!

4. Fun with friends: John and I have been going on play dates with a mommy/son pair, Emily and James. John and James are only three months apart (James is older), so it is pretty fun to get the boys together. We are planning on going to the city pool every other week and the library on the alternate weeks. It's been great getting out and doing fun stuff with John and our friends! Last week we went to the pool. James had a blast - he was splashing all over the place! John had his legs wrapped around me like a koala bear and was shivering the whole time... maybe I shouldn't make his nighttime bath so jacuzzi-like!

5. Soup supper and conversion story: John and I helped host the soup supper at our church on Wednesday night. While we were there a couple from our parish gave their "witness talk" (testimony) to everyone there, as part of the Catholics Come Home campaign. They are both recent converts to the Catholic faith from Protestantism. The wife spoke about how they embraced the Church's teaching against contraception. She said that she was impressed to learn that before the 1930s, all Christian churches were against the use of contraception and that the Catholic Church is the sole remaining Church who has stayed firm in this teaching. At the time of their conversion, they already had four children and she felt like she couldn't handle any more. She prayed to Our Lord, telling Him that she couldn't handle more children - emotionally and physically. She felt God answer her prayer by saying "I know, but I can." She cried... I cried. It was beautiful! How true it is that in our humanity we can feel so overwhelmed and burdened, but if we place all our hope and trust in God, He will help us through any challenge we may face. Today, they have been blessed with six children and they are open to God's will in planning their family.

6. Pizza cutter (multi-use): Our pizza cutter has become my new best friend. When cutting up bite sized finger foods for John, using the pizza cutter is so quick and effortless! Right now he enjoys eating pieces of cheese, bread, carrots, and pancakes. I love not having to spend money on those expensive, made-for-baby finger foods!

7. Silent retreat: Today at 1:30pm, John and I will be heading down to Beaverton, OR for a silent retreat. It will be at Our Lady of Peace retreat center. I have been there several times and I am really looking forward to a weekend of contemplation. The last time we went, John was only about an inch big and he was nestled inside me, so he may be more of a distraction this time. Let's be honest... I'll be lucky if I get any contemplation or silence in this weekend!! But I am sure God will bless me for my effort to have some exclusive time with Him.

4 comments:

  1. We're excited to see you this weekend, Lindsey (even though we won't be conversing...with each other at least), and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Yes, it's VERY distracting to have a baby with you on retreat, but as I told Andrew, the first thing you have to do is lower your expectations of silence, recollection, etc. and second, prepare your heart for special graces that God has prepared for you on this retreat.

    On weaning: I finally got to the point where you're at right now at about 13 months with Clare and (stupidly) chose the week that Tom was gone for work to do Clare's night time weaning. Agh. I think that no matter how many books you read and how many techniques you learn about there's no way around a LOOOOOOOONG week once you decide to do it. Praying for you.

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  2. If it makes you feel better, John's night nursing schedule is SO TOTALLY NORMAL for his age. Do you guys have a king size bed? If not it's a great investment, particularly if you plan on more little ones! I remember when Alice was a tot we had a queen-size and that could get pretty crowded, but it was so worth it and then when we were expecting #2 yeah, we had to get the king and Alice moved into her own bed, which is in our room, at 3, when she had good comprehension/understanding of where she was in relation to us and was potty trained and I felt like that was a more seamless transition than when I tried putting her in a bed at 2 yrs old. If you're feeling any anxiety, not being able to sleep soundly because he's not by your side, that's mommy instinct and could possibly mean that you two still need each other at night. I hear you, though. Night-time parenting is a challenge and a blessing! I love your blog. I hope you guys have a great retreat and I hope to meet you in person next Thursday. :-)

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  3. Sounds like you are exactly where I was one month ago with Gabriel. He still gets up a few times but he does not nurse. I am noticing him eating more this week and taking more frequent and longer naps, so I'm hoping this is actually working. Prayers for you and John!

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  4. Elena was about 11 months when she finally slept through the night in her own bed, although often I'll still bring her into bed with me when she wakes up. I need to break that habit bad. :) Hang in there!

    A silent retreat with baby in tow? That's impressive.

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