The Burtnetts at Rest

This is how the Burtnett family sleeps every night.

I have to say, I never thought I would be a proponent of the "family bed," but it is the difference between Lucy sleeping for 1 hour vs. 4-5 hours. Plus, the snuggles are the best. There is nothing better than waking up and being able to see her, smell her and cuddle with her. I will miss it when we move her to the bassinet soon.

You can't make this stuff up

We got a smile this morning. A real, honest to god, not the result of gas, smile. It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen. It (almost) made up for the nightmare she's been the last two nights. I can't wait to see more.

The funny part of the experience is when the smile occurred. We're heading to Indy this weekend. And, as the dad, it is Justin's duty to take out the duty (i.e. dirty diapers). Since we'll be gone the whole weekend, I asked Justin to take out the diapers this morning so they won't sit and be even nastier by Sunday. When I asked this, I was holding Lucy and sort of mocking Justin. I might have said something in a sing-song voice like "ha ha, your daddy has to take out the dirty diapers." In response, Justin peeked his head over my shoulder and responded with something like "Lucy, I've got to take out your smelly diapers." Then....THE SMILE! It was as if she was laughing at the fact Justin had to take out her crap. It was awesome. I love this girl.

Forget the old challenge, we have a new one now...bottle feeding

We've given up trying to get her to sleep without us. She's gotten a bit better, so our efforts are not entirely for naught. At night she now sleeps next to me, instead of on me. But she's somehow learned how to wiggle her way over to me in the middle of the night to snuggle. She can't exactly roll over, but she can throw her head around which is enough to get her into the divot in the bed and she kind of falls/rolls next to me. I can't lie. I like it. We spoon. We'll tackle this "problem" later.

She's taken a few naps by herself in our bed (not her own) and she can sleep in the swing like a champ. (Thanks Wayne and Kristin!!!) As long as I can either get her to sleep or almost to sleep I can get at least 15 minutes of free time. Sometimes even 45 minutes. (That's only happened twice though). Everyone is happy with this development because it means that I can shower and eat.

On to the new challenge. Bottle feeding....

All of the books say that parents should wait until breast feeding is "established" to introduce a bottle. But what exactly does "established" mean? 1 week? 2 weeks?....for us, it meant 4 weeks of breast feeding and 5 weeks of life. Let's just say I think we waited too long. Lucy HATES it.

The books also say that someone other than the mom should give the baby the bottle because if she can smell the mom (seriously, smell) or hear the mom, then the baby won't take the bottle because she knows the breast is close. This has meant that I have been relegated to the other room and/or the shower and/or the grocery store when Justin struggles with Lucy. Its been hard on all three of us. Lucy doesn't understand what's going on, so she cries, which kills Justin and I. Justin feels like he's torturing her and I feel horrible because I know I can stop the cries by just feeding her. Hopefully things will get better. Keep your fingers crossed!

Go Cubs Go!!

Happy Birthday America

Chubby Wubberson (a/k/a Chins McGee)

We have a 9 pounder!!

The Next Challenge

While Justin and I think it is absolutely adorable that Lucy is such a cuddle bug that she will only nap either on our chests or in our arms, I have a feeling that the day care workers will not think it's quite as cute. I can't imagine they will react in a "good" way when I tell them they need to spend their entire day with a Baby Bjorn strapped to their chests. Alas, our next challenge.

This week I am trying to train Lucy to nap in her crib. It's day two and the experiment is thus far an utter failure. (She is sleeping in her Baby Bjorn as I type this). Yesterday she was the gassiest baby on the planet and wouldn't sleep anywhere, let alone in her crib. Combine her incessant crying with the fact that I'd been up since 3:30 pm and you get a husband that left work early to care for his wife and child. Such a good man.

Now, day two I'm so afraid of a yesterday repeat that for her two naps so far I've given the experiment about 10 minutes to work. Funny that it's not working. I suppose this week (and likely next week, but hopefully not the week after that) Lucy will be training me just as much as I'm training her. Pray for us both.