Baby Kevin's Gift for Mommy

You may be tired of Christmas related posts but I however forgot to tell you what Baby Kevin got me. Now I must prepare some of you for what you are about to read. It may seem odd or even strange but it works for us.

I still rock Baby Kevin to sleep. Yes I know he is over 8 months old now and should be fully independent- but he is not. (Disclaimer: I am not judging those babies who are already “independent”. I realize that every baby is different) As a new mom, I had this misconception that all babies sleep through the night and “independently” by 6 months. Yes I still laugh at myself. No one had openly shared how their babies slept. I have been reassured by other moms of “non- independent” babies (and my pediatrician) that his behavior is perfectly normal for his age.

Anyways no more rambling back to the reason for this post. :) Baby Kevin realized that me “rocking” him to sleep by holding him and bouncing on a medicine ball- while great exercise- can be tiring and not so comfortable at times. So he enlisted his dad’s help. Daddy Kevin selected the perfect chair and then got up at 4am and put Baby Kevin’s gift to me by the tree complete with a big red bow and a sweet card. I woke up Christmas morning to find his present for me. I was sooooo excited!

It’s perfect. It’s cushy and has an ottoman. It quietly glides and has 2 very convenient side pockets to hold my cell phone and the TV remote. I love and even look forward to rocking him to sleep now (not that I ever hated rocking him to sleep- it’s just a lot more enjoyable now!). It doesn’t take that long normally but I do hold him for a while now after he has dozed off so I can fully appreciate the time with him. He is so adorable and peaceful when he sleeps.

Our bedtime routine is now bath, story time in our special chair, bed time prayers and then I rock him to sleep. I start the process around 7:30 and he’s normally always in his crib fast asleep by 8. However lately I’ve been tempted to just hold him while I watch TV and just enjoy him and my fabulous new chair. I don’t know why I didn’t get one from the beginning.

Anyways so yeah I really love his present to me. I plan on using it for a while longer and then we’ll slowly start the sleep training process. I have read 2 books so far in preparation for the full blown sleep training. I figure I’ll wait until he is a year old before I worry about it. For now- I LOVE my new rocking chair and truly enjoy holding him as he fall sleeps and flashes me his “sleep grins”.

Here are some pictures. Warning: the last two pictures are very random and maybe TMI for some.

Nooooo!! Auntie Ashley I don't want to put on that outfit. You can't make me. (side note: Ashley of course was not putting him in a headlock! :-) and he was perfectly fine)

See- he was perfectly fine. He pulled it together and got right into posing for grandma. The outfit was one of Oma's presents.

and now for the random pictures....

This is what happens when you get up at 5:40am and you need to leave for work by 5:50am. You may forget to pack the bottles that you need for pumping. lol I was a little surprised by error at first but I improvised.
Just the downside of pumping on the go. Normally it is a non issue BUT I broke my car attachment 15 mins earlier so I had searched high and low and this is what I was left with. uhmm yeah I didn't feed Baby Kevin this batch. Something about the bathroom floor did not seem clean.