5:30 A.M.

We are tweaking our sleep plan, due to the fact that Noah wakes up every morning at 5:00. This is the time that Noah seems to hit his peak, he is unbelievably perky and bubbly. We hear him in the other room, talking to himself and exploring every corner of the crib and anything else he can reach through the crib bars. He messes with the fan and light switches, he plays with the camera/crib monitor, and if the door is cracked, he opens it--all from the confines of his crib. With all those activities, he is able to entertain himself for a good 30 minutes. And then his talking escalates into pleas for attention and cries for help. When it is too loud to ignore, we go in and get him up, I feed him, and then he is even perkier than before. So we do what you might expect sleep deprived parents to do--we plant the child in front of the television, while we lay on the couch and wait for the sun to rise, trying to hold on until morning naptime. Today I was wondering if there was something I could do to squeeze more sleep out of the nights, but then I felt greedy, so maybe we will be content with what we've got now, and as much as possible, enjoy those early morning cartoons.

(5:30 A.M.)

first day of not-summer

For us, the summer is over. Kyle is back to Snow Canyon High School today, and I am trying to remember what a stay-at-home mom and baby should be doing. We went on a walk (in the early morning hours, of course. Physical activity after 10:00 a.m. in St. George is a death wish. Even though our summer is over, apparently St. George summer weather is just getting warmed up.) We ended up at the Albertson's a few blocks away, because Noah was on his last diaper and had depleted our baby wipes supply. We walked through the aisles looking at greeting cards--Noah especially liked the ones with dogs. He gets a kick out of my dog noises and always grabs my tongue when I do my dog pant. On the walk back home we saw the neighbor doggie and I was proud because Noah didn't pull the dog's hair or poke his eye, as he has been known to do. Then, morning nap, coloring, lunch, and shower. And now after 40 minutes of wrestling Noah to take a nap (in spite of our successes, we still have some sleep training kinks to work out), I won, and I have a window of opportunity to do whatever I want. So here's a few summer pictures.

Sleep update

Noah did it. He had the best night of his whole life. He went to bed at 7:30, woke up for a few minutes at 8:30, and then slept until 6:30 AM. I have never been more proud, or more rested. I love the Baby Whisperer.

Pioneer Day Celebration

I got together with old friends for a picnic in the park on Pioneer Day. Fun like always. We met our freshman year at BYU, when we were thrown together as roommates in the dorms. We've been pretty decent at keeping in touch since we've moved on to the other things and places.

Megan (and Tyler), Laura (Agnes and Eliot), Me and Noah, and Ella (with Jane).

On the way home...


This is Ella and Jane while we were stranded under an overpass due to an overheated car. Right as Ella's husband Matt pulled up to rescue us, a policeman came and knocked on our window and asked: "Is everything alright here?" Then, more questions. He seemed more on the suspicious than compassionate side, not what I expected after having to deal with the tragedy of a car overheating. No further questions, and then he walked back to his police car. Ella said: "I hate cops." And then Matt was at our window, and asked us if the policeman told us what happened (No, he hadn't). So Matt gave us the story we missed. The cop had received a call-in report of our vehicle parked under the overpass with its passengers involved in a domestic dispute. The officer answered the call and arrived at our car at the same time Matt did. The officer wouldn't let Matt come to talk to us until the officer first investigated the reported disturbance. That's when he came to our window to question us. Our story checked out, and so no charges were pressed or further investigation issued.

But we were still left with questions. Had Ella and I thrown angry gestures at each other? Did one of us look manly and mean, like an abusive husband? Or were we simply two angry sisters caught in a moment of sibling rivalry? Or could Matt have been the Angry Husband, and I was the friend who came to rescue Battered Ella? Or had the cars driving by heard me yelling, and wrongfully assumed I was yelling out of anger, when I was actually attempting to be understood by Ella with her hearing impairment? ....I guess we will never know.

The Scene of the Crime

Sleep would be nice

It's official. Tonight is the night Noah learns to sleep. Who knew that sleep is a skill that must be learned? I guess some parents get babies that are sleep lovers, and that's nice for them. We aren't one of those families. But unlike the mess of our house, I will take the blame for this. It isn't Noah's fault he can't sleep right because every week he sleeps in a different bed in a different room in a different house. We've been all over the place this summer, and sweet little Noah has just gone with the flow. But he brought home some habits from our travels. Habits that if you consider sleeping through the night a good thing, are bad.

1. We hold him and rock him until he is asleep in our arms and then sneak him into the crib.
   
2. Since most of the time we sleep in the same room as him, every time he wakes up, we do too, and we run to his rescue.
3. I feed him every time he wakes up.
4. As a result of the frequent night feedings, many nights the diaper just can't hold it all, and he wakes up in wet pajamas and crib sheets (or bed sheets, if he happens to be in our bed that night).

And so, now that we are done traveling (Kyle starts doing his teacher things this week, so our summer is over), it's time to learn new habits. Our method of choice comes from the baby whisperer lady. If you aren't familiar with her techniques, here it is in a nutshell: baby cries, you pick up him up. Baby calms a little, then baby goes back down in his crib. Then baby cries again. And repeat repeat repeat. Fun fun fun. It's amazing what people will do when they are sleep deprived.

Anyway, wish us luck. I put some pictures up of Noah sleeping in honor of the occasion. Thanks to everyone who has given us advice and encouragement. Think of us when you are sleeping and dreaming!

Noah was here

...which is why we keep him in here...

our water baby