Happy 3 Month Birthday!

Happy 3 Month Birthday Abby and Jimmy. Here is my favorite shots from the 3 month photo shoot. And I love this one - Jim was doing all kinds of stuff to get the babies to smile and laugh. And boy did they ever - but catching it on camera was another story.

Anyways... what's new with the babies? Not too much. Except remember how the last couple posts, I have been talking about how easy-going the babies are. Well, I take that back. Okay, okay, I don't really, since overall they are pretty easy-going. But, wow, if they miss their nap, or don't sleep long enough, they are SUPER cranky!

I have been reading up on different techniques to test out here to get the babies to learn to self soothe and thus then eventually they will sleep longer. I am reading all kinds of books to look for different techniques to employ. Ok, I admit, I am not really reading them, as I don't have a ton of time, but instead I shall call is skimming for the parts that apply to me/us.

I am trying to follow the EASY schedule - which is Eat, Activity, Sleep and You (time for me). It is going fairly well, and it makes sense. The babies get up, have a bottle (pretty much drinking 5.5oz now) and then we play together. Sometime they play on the play mat, sometimes we do tummy time and practice rolling on the ground, and sometime they hang out with their favorite friends hanging from the bouncer. Pretty much an hour after they first wake up, they start to show signs of being tired. So, then I start the nap time routine - which is usually a quick book while in the bouncer, then they are swaddled and I cuddle them while singing My Favorite Things from Sound of Music. At that point they look pretty sleepy (or are just pretending to get me to stop singing) and I put them in their cribs. Usually the start of the nap is successful. However, almost always, they both will wake up after 40-50 minutes and will start fussing/crying. I am trying not to rush in there to comfort them and instead see if they will self-soothe back to sleep. Abby is a pro at putting herself back to sleep. Jimmy - well, not so much. So I usually will have go in to give Jimmy his pacifier, rub his belly while shhhhh-ing. It sometimes work, sometimes doesn't.

Nighttime sleep is going great with Abby. She pretty much has been sleeping between eight and nine hours without waking. Most of the time though, I will wake her up when Jimmy wakes to eat, just so they stay on close to the same schedule. Jimmy does not sleep well at all. When we put him to bed between eight and nine, he sleeps great for the first couple hours. But then by 2 or 3am, he is up every 20-40 minutes or so, crying out. And from there, he pretty much fusses every 30-60 minutes until I get up with him in the morning. I have tried feeding him, giving him his paci, rocking him and anything else you can think of - to no avail. So I have no idea what is going on with him and how to get him to sleep better at night.

And now - a cute video to end the post with. Even though Jimmy is a troubled sleeper, he definitely makes up for it with his cuteness during the day! What a cute little guy!