Finally...no infections & better sleep! :)

I think this is the first post we have had in a LONG time where we don't have any illnesses to report. Julia has recovered from her colds and ear infections. On Friday, she had another ear check and from the small amount of Julia's ear drums that the doctor could see, the infections have cleared. Julia has extremely narrow ear canals and her ear drums are set very far back. Because of this, the doctor wants to double-check her hearing just to be safe. We are pretty sure she can hear because she hears us all the time and resonds appropriately. She loves to hear Mike whistle (something I can't do) and playing peek-a-boo and laughing when we say "boo!". Because of her narrow canals, the ear wax builds up and doesn't clear as well, so she may have to get her ears cleaned out by a doctor every once in a while. We will see an audiologist (hearing doctor) in about 2 weeks to test her hearing. She was tested when she was born and also in the NICU and she passed both of those tests easily, so we are not really concerned, but appreciate the check.


Since Julia has recovered from her infections, we had to get her back on a better sleep schedule. She got very used to us comforting her all the time in the middle of the night when she would wake up rubbing her ears from ear pain and congestion. She was starting to wake up 2-4 times a night and it was getting very difficult. She was losing sleep and of course we were too. So, we had to do the "tough love" method (as my coworker nicely puts it). This is where you basically let them cry it out. We didn't let her cry it out by herself the whole time though. We did what is called graduated extintion (from a baby sleeping book we have). This is where you rock them into a sleepy state, put them in their crib and let them cry and check on them every 10 minutes or so. On Tuesday we started the process. We did our typical bedtime routine of her lullaby CD, rocking, bottle and short rocking after she finished the bottle. I put her in the crib and of course she was not happy with this. She cried and when I walked out of the room she cried harder. This of course is heartbreaking to hear, but we knew it was for her own good. After 10 minutes Mike checked on her and comforted her by rubbing her head and telling her it was time to sleep, but not actually picking her up. She was asleep within 30 minutes! She woke up twice that night (a good start). The next night she cried for about 2 minutes tops and only woke up once. The next nights were about 5-10 minutes of whimpering/crying and she woke up around 3:30am mostly because her diaper was soaked and we had to change sheets. So, we got some overnight diapers and the next night she slept until 4am (another triumph...almost through the night). We are so happy she is only waking up once in the middle of the night and she is actually taking really good naps at home too (she usually only naps well at daycare). Today she napped for about 2 1/2 hours in her crib! Amazing! We always had to hold her for her naps and she would usually only nap for 20 minutes. So we are making some great progress in the sleep department which has helped us function better at work too! Julia is also more mobile in her crib. She rolls all over the place in her sleep and we never know what position we will find her in. Now that she can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy we don't have to worry about her sleeping on her tummy. She seems to prefer sleeping on her tummy , but of course we put her on her back to start with, but she always ends up on her tummy. Because of her crazy rolling, we had to get some mesh, breathable (better for SIDS reduction) crib bumpers to protect her arms and legs from getting stuck in the crib bars.


This week, we finally had a deck installed on our house. This was the first of many house projects on our list. The company that installed it, All Ways Decks, did a fabulous job and we couldn't be happier. The deck is all composite material, so we never have to stain! On Saturday, we went to a local furniture store to get some nice deck furniture. It was delivered today, but unfortunately is is raining and we won't be able to enjoy it until the weather improves.

Our new deck!

Julia soothing herself during her nap by sucking on her sleeve!

Yes, she sleeps in all positions!

A nice, big crib to sleep in and she sleeps at the very head or very foot of the bed!