She is mobile!

Rhea has always been a physical baby....I recall going to the pediatrician when she was just a week old and having her comment on how "in her body" this girl was. She had solid head control and was never a very "floppy" baby. She started being able to sit unassisted at about four months and by five months you could be pretty certain she wasn't going to topple over...though she does now and again.

We have been embarking on our own gentle "sleep conditioning" meaning we have been trying to help her learn how to sleep without the constant crutch of nursing so that she can feel what it's like to fall asleep on her own. I'm not ready for the full on "sleep training...cry it out" method and hope we can avoid it for both our sakes. Right before I started trying to shift her sleep patterns a bit she had begun to want to nurse until she was dead asleep..which meant that every time I tried to take the boob out of her mouth she would root around and wake herself up..even if she was already asleep. It was frustrating for both of us...and I knew we had to make a change.

I started by making sure I knew she had eaten enough (nothing like self doubt to throw a serious monkey wrench into anything you try to do with your baby) and started to stop nursing when I knew she was full but not asleep. Honestly it wasn't that difficult a transition...after a few frustrated jabs in my general direction and some complaining she started putting herself to sleep. Of course the first week was the easiest and as is true with all things to do with "baby schedules" (a laughable two words if there ever where any) things are constantly changing and she is getting more adept at ways to keep herself awake. Last night it was a constant head shaking as she started to drift to sleep. Yep...her eyes would start to close and then as if compelled by some force other than her own, her head would start quickly moving back and forth and her eyes would pop open. It was usually followed by a quick hand jab in my direction or a grabbing of my face. (when I said gentle I meant it..I stay with her until she falls asleep..eventually I will make my way out of the room before she is sleeping). But it was kind of hilarious...hilarious in a why in the world would a baby fight sleep kind of way!! I know this is normal and have read theories ranging from separation anxiety to over tiredness being the cause. When relaying this story to my good friend Hai Nhu she said her daughter Evelyn did the same exact thing which either means all babies do this or we happen to have babies equally adept at making us crazy. But in the end she eventually got herself to sleep with very little complaining. I went off to Pilates and when I returned home asked Bert how she had been...he said she had stayed asleep without issue.

So imagine my surprise when I go to get into bed and for a split second CAN'T SEE RHEA IN THE BED!!! (I will admit I had already taken my contacts out but still) When I got closer to the bed, a little panicked, I saw that she had managed to squirm her way all the way to the head of the bed and was sleeping lengthwise with her back against the wall (where the headboard would be if we had one). The crazy part is that the pillows put in place to keep her from rolling off the bed were undisturbed..she had managed to wiggle past them and get herself comfy between our two pillows. Crazy.

So it is time for phase two of the gentle sleep plan...getting her into a crib at least for naps and the first part of the night. I am ordering an organic crib mattress today (I have read many scary articles about the chemicals in baby mattresses) and will start with that phase after we get back from vacation.

She slept great last night though...and so did I. The world is looking like a beautiful place again.