Spring

Well, God gave us a wonderful present for Easter. Saturday night after Gabriel went to sleep, we actually heard him wake up and put himself back to sleep! He finally got it! Now it's not like we are sleeping through the night, but it's much better than waking up every hour to hour and a half. Now it's more like 1-2 times a night usually.

After he got the night thing down, the naps went haywire. I saw a change today that I hope is hope for the future.

Gabe is definitely looking in our eyes more and smiling. These are signs of attachement, and we are seeing progress. We know it will take months, but it's good to know we seem to be heading in the right direction.

On Sunday, I was sitting with Gabriel and it sounded like he said "ball" and "apple." I got a ball and an apple from the fridge and kept going over and over with him. Today he would smile when I would say it, and sometimes he would repeat it. Just like two people just starting to learn each others language.

I can't tell you how blessed we have been with meals. Last Friday was our last one, and boy was it the best chicken pot pie I've ever had. Steve said he is having withdrawal already.

Overall the girls are doing well, though Lauren still has her occasional issues, and Addison had a stomach bug this weekend. Addison is like us and just hardly ever throws up, so it really caught us off guard. Poor Steve was stuck at home with them, her puking and Gabriel screaming at the same time. I told him I would have lost it. Instead, he was fine, and Lauren and I played a little at Spring Fest.

I (Heather) appologize for all the whining I have done. We are very blessed, and things could be much worse. I only have to look in our church bulletin to see that. I wish I could be many things, and one of those things would be to look on hard times as a growth opportunity. No, I look on it as hard times, and I want out, now! I also will tell it like it is. I just can't sugarcoat and say we are doing wonderfully and that everything is peaches and cream. Just can't do it, as I feel this would be dishonest. For those of you who wish I would, I just say sorry. I'm just trying to be honest.

Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon. I know some of you have been waiting.

When does it work?

Ok, sleep training is not working so far. He's actually getting up more often! Argh. Now it is almost like clockwork, 45 minutes after he finally cries himself to sleep. Then again around 11:00, 1:00 and 5:00, if we are lucky. Last night there were two more in there. God help us! The only positive note is he is getting himself to sleep in under an hour when we put him to bed.

Smiles, Tears, and other life events

I am definitely seeing more smiles out of Gabriel during the day. He is also making eye contact more with me the past few days. He still pushes me away, and doesn't like to look in my eyes when we are close together, but we are making progress. I like to term it I'm now at babysitter status. In the beginning we were having a fun overnight. Then we got the I hate you stage. Then we got the I'm here stage.

As far as the tears go, we decided on Sunday that we would try to teach Gabriel how to put himself back to sleep on his own starting this weekend. It was not an easy decision, as we have been advised in books and by others not to let him cry. Well, after seeing him scream through several medical procedures (and that's ok), and him getting worse at sleeping at night (waking up every hour to hour and a half until about 1-2 a.m.), we decided we really didn't have a choice. We had done everything we could to help him otherwise. Unfortunately, by Monday night, he forced our hand to do it sooner. Steve put him to bed in the middle of the night completely asleep 4 times, and he woke back up crying each time he was placed in the bed. We are trying to do it in the most comforting way possible, to somehow make it a little better. We are staying in the room with him, doing the "sh" thing, and touching him. Here's to hoping this works. At least he slept from 10:30 last night to 4:00 this morning, and not back up until 7:30. I also got 2 almost 1-1/2 hour naps out of him today, which is completely unheard of. Unfortunately tonight, he only took 1 ounce of milk, and couldn't stay awake past 7:30. Bad start.

It must have been over a month ago, Lauren and I were heading out the garage door, when I didn't realize she had her hand on the door post, and I gently closed the door. However, we had the windows open in the house at the time, and my gentle close turned into a hard slam. She cried, but since we had thick, new door seals recently added, I didn't think anything of it. Until a week ago when I noticed her ring finger nail looked funny. Confirmed at her check up that her nail had died. She has spent the past couple days thoroughly enjoying grossing out her parents with her dangling nail. She especially loves to do this at the dinner table. It finally came off today, thank you Lord!

Birthday and notes

Yesterday was Lauren's 4th birthday. I can't believe she is 4! Most of the morning she struggled to get Mommy's attention and be a big helper. But she quietly loved her party at Chuck E Cheese. Though you couldn't tell from her outward appearance, her prayer that night said that she really enjoyed her party. Happy Birthday, my sweet girl.

Notes:
Gabriel is starting to sleep better (we had a very rough couple nights last week), and recognizes his name. We are going through another transition with him, I think. Noticing less smiles the past couple days, and he has not ate very well the past 24 hours. Not sure if teething may also be the culprit.

Lauren hit her max patience with giving mommy over to Gabriel today. She was ultra slow/disobedient on getting dressed, eating, drinking, doing what I asked her to do, you name it. She then proceeded to dump sand on the floor, get scissors out, and try to play with bubbles indoors, all in the span of about an hour. I tried to get some time in with her after her nap, but she cried out, which woke up Gabe (possibly), which led to very little mommy time. Argh. I really miss her too.

Addison is still totally in love with her little brother. She gets the biggest smiles now. She is just her normal disobedient self.

Addison and I got to go to the Michael W Smith/Steven Curtis Chapman United Tour on Sunday night. She was a big grouch about going, but she just LOVED it. It was so much fun to do that with her. We really needed that time together.

I should be in bed, but at this point I might as well see who gets eliminated on American Idol:)

Goodnight!