Snow!!

Yay for vacation days, it might not be quite as horrible as they thought but I didn't have to drive in it at 5am!

Dear Fellow Babies

(this was on baby center too funny, must share!!)

Dear Fellow Babies,

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months.

Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in.

I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night.

I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
My sleep sack tickled my foot.
I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?
The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn’t like it touching me.
I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between
feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don’t worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.

Also, I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the sleep sheep with rain noises puts me to sleep, sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn’t get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn’t really need sleep.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

Death Storm 2011

ahhh...that dark purple 12+ inch snow forecast looming over Michigan right now, I live there!  There is a blizzard warning out there right now.  Its begun, the wind is a blowin' and the snow is a fallin'!


Lucky for me I heard rumor of the huge storm Sunday evening and my brain was working for once and I logged onto my work calendar saw no body had taken the day off yet (we are only allowed to have 5 people off a day) and I immediately sent in my request for Wednesday and Thursday off.  Not so lucky for the 20 or so other people who had the same idea Monday morning!  We are essential staff so even if the University is closed  tomorrow for students (MSU already is closed, UofM will probably wait and see but its coming!) we are still required to be there.  We do not get personal days, and if you call in tomorrow you get an unexcused absence.  Or you can try and call in sick, but you better believe that if you do you will need a doctors note.  I have an hour drive to work on a perfect, sunny, good traffic day I can make it in about 50 mins....Tomorrow will be a nightmare.  Thankfully I was approved and will enjoy the snow from my living room, tomorrow and Thursday!  YAY!  Sorry co-workers... or not.


So far its Death Storm, Snowmageddon, snOMG, Snowpocalypse, A Snowtastrophy, & Snow Big Deal.