Happy Baby

Over the last few months we've had some trouble with Sydney at night - she's been waking up 4 - 5 times and just needs her nuk put back in. We still swaddle her - so there is no way for her to find it herself. We decided this was becoming a sleep prop and before Christmas we took a long weekend and started the arduous task of breaking her of it at bedtime. Things had been going well, but between the craziness of the holidays and her being sick last week the nuk made a reappearance. So this week now that she's better we decided to try to phase it out again. It has gone extremely well and she now goes down without a nuk at bedtime and at naps with pretty much zero fuss. She's been sleeping about 11 hours at night without so much as a peep!
She's been waking up very happy as you can see from the video I took after one of her naps this afternoon.

This video is actually from last month - Syd has a toy cow and chicken (thanks Meghan!) that have become some of her favorites...and some of Richard's favorites too. :)

I Feel Like I've Been Busy

I feel like I've been busy, but I can't really think of anything in particular that I've done...

Sydney turned 6 months old on the 18th - I just can't believe how quickly this year is passing. As a first time parent I find myself at two ends of the emotional spectrum - on the one hand I don't want her to grow up too quickly, but on the other I'm excited for the next stage and the next accomplishment. Below are a few highlights from the last couple weeks.

Sydney has found her feet.

She likes prunes!

Happy Girl.

We've been talking about getting a tv for our bedroom...when we redid the basement two summers ago we moved the tv from the living room downstairs. Prior to Sydney we spent a lot of time down there. Since Sydney, our tv time has been significantly decreased -- we usually only watch after she's gone to bed. Inevitably, just when we get settled she needs her nuk put in and one of us is trekking back upstairs. So, laziness is our primary reason but the basement is also cold and in the winter it would be nice to snuggle under the covers and watch a movie. The thing is, our philosophy has always been that the bedroom should be a sanctuary of sorts and reserved for sleeping and...well...you know. :) So - thoughts on this - will a tv in the bedroom turn on the apathy and turn off the romance?

Then and Now

Then: Mom and me

Now: Sydney

Then: Mom, Kirsten, me, Barb
Now: Matt and Sydney

Then: Mom and me

Now: SydneyThen: Grandma (Liz) Hassler
Now: Eric and SydneyThen: Roger and Eric
Now: Sydney

Then: Eric
Now: Sydney