Giving thanks and giving thanks for Sleep Lady.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it more than all the others, though it seems to be the redheaded step-child of the holiday world. Standing in between Halloween and Christmas, the two favorites. Unlike the favored children, Thanksgiving comes without festive clothes, decorations or the promise of getting something. It's unassuming, quiet and the very best holiday there is. I always get sad when people decorate before Thanksgiving for Christmas, it just seems mean to such a nice holiday. Anyway, I was excited for this year more than any other. Last year was wonderful, as we had a brand new baby to be thankful for, but I was still dealing with all the fun post partum issues and being totally sleep deprived, so it lost its luster a bit. This year I couldn't wait to dress Theo in a handsome outfit and watch him try out some turkey (of course, I thought by now he'd have some teeth to eat it with!). 

We went to Richmond for Thanksgiving this year and enjoyed spending time with the family. We broke our steadfast rule about not letting Theo watch TV and let him see the Macy's Day Parade (and to my secret delight - he barely even glanced at it, he's got better things to do!). We dressed him in fall clothes, sighed about how grown he looked and watched him play with his cousins, bang around in the kitchen cabinets and try out his walking feet. We didn't do the thing where we all say what we are thankful for, but I did say that we are very thankful that our child is healthy. Susan and I see so many sick children and hurting families and I am thankful not just when the calendar says to be, but every day that Theo has battled nothing more than exactly one cold in his whole life. 

Like I did last year, I did think of some specific things to be thankful for this year:

1. Theo. He is by far, the smartest, most loving, cutest baby on the planet and I couldn't love anyone more than him (well, and Susan, of course). I love being his Mama and tell him all the time that after taking care of SOOOO many other babies, the universe saved the very best one for me. 

2. My marriage. It's been said that a new baby tests a marriage. How about a new baby + an unexpected job loss in the worst economic times of our lifetime? Yeah, hello stressful. We stuck together even when the sticking was tough. We never turned on each other and kept focused on what was really important. Susan shows me every day that she was worth the wait.

3. My jobs. Job wise, things have been tough since graduate school. The economy is bad and when that happens, my field dries up. Add to that feeling like working full time away from Theo was completely intolerable and well, it sucked. My job taking care of Sydney helps fill in the gaps of working part time and feels like helping out family, not work. Theo is tucked in his bed not missing me, and that makes me feel good. My Duke job is pretty close to perfect. Every job has its issues, but really - I love the people I work with, I love the work, I love the pay and I LOVE working part time. It's the best of both worlds in that I can use my degree and advance my career, but still be a Mama most of the time. 

4. Susan's job. Susan's job pays our bills and keeps her home all week with Theo. Between us, we have 4 jobs and our child has never been in daycare - not that daycare is bad, it's just not for us. We waited a long time for this baby and I am so thankful neither of us have had to miss a thing.

5. Breastfeeding. I've talked about this a lot, but I am SO thankful that I have been given the privilege to breastfeed my child. I love it. I love how healthy it has made him and how it feels to be doing something so meaningful for him. 

Those are the big ones this year. I'm thankful for many other things on a daily basis, but those are the ones that stick out as the highlights. 

And, I am thankful for Sleep Lady.

I haven't posted an update in awhile, but it's gone really, really well. We stuck with it while we were in Virginia for the holiday and it was definitely bumpy. We got him to go down fine, but he had a lot of wakings in which he would NOT go to sleep without nursing and/or being with us. Prior to this, I was only nursing him once in the night, around 3:00am. I found it was impossible to bring him to bed then because he would just sniff out the boobs, so I was feeding him and putting him back in his crib. 

Last night was our first night home and he even had a new crib (our old one was recalled). He went down fine with me sitting on the closed toilet in the adjoining bathroom. He cried out once after being down only 45 minutes, but rolled over and went back to sleep before I could even get up. He woke up two other times, at 11:30 and 2:30 and all I had to do was lay him down, cover him up, give him Mr. Monkey and walk out!! He put himself right back to sleep. Last night was the first night in one year and two weeks that I have not had to breastfeed in the middle of the night. AMAZING. 

Tonight I decided to push my luck and try out not staying in his sight line while he fell asleep (which wasn't supposed to happen for 2 more days). He did great!! As I type, he's fast asleep, all by himself. 

While I wish co-sleeping would have continued to work, it just wasn't going to while I was still nursing. And we think nursing is more important than co-sleeping, so something had to change. He's doing really well with the transition and I am glad we waited until he was old enough to be ready and until we found a method that allowed us to do this gently. Aside from when we tried it one night right before he got sick (then stopped until he was well) he has literally not shed a single tear over this. And for THAT I am super thankful. 

Hopefully he will continue to do as well as he did last night. I think we are well on our way to sleeping through the night without any wakings at all. Hurray!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and also had lots to be thankful for.