Crying it Out

I had an interesting facebook moment the other day. Is it sad that I have facebook moments? Anyways, one of my friend's put an article on how it is harmful to let your baby cry out. I responded that the only thing that worked for me was letting him cry it out. It was either that, or my sanity. Seriously. He was waking up approximately 5-6 times a night. I mentioned in a previous post that I was sleep training, and i referred to an angry bear as my current state. After a few more months, I started to look like this:

I was just exhausted. I didn't want to do anything, and whenever bedtime approached I had heart palpitations thinking about how many times I would have to get up at night and "comfort him". Because the article said we need to comfort our babies all night long or else they will become serial killers.  I decided to sleep train. It was hard. It was all out war between me and Ibby. He didn't want to sleep. He wanted me to rock him, nurse, and walk him around his room all night. As much as I love doting on my child, I needed my rest. After a week of tears and frustration, he started sleeping through the night. No more swings, swaddle, and me stumbling back and forth from my room to his. It was magical. My life changed. I brushed my hair in the morning, became a functional human being, and am occasionally social. He still wakes up sometimes, and if he cries for longer then half an hour, I go in there to see what the problem is, so I am not the devil. 

After I commented about it, a few mothers indirectly jumped down my throat. I can almost hear the tsk tsk in their voices. "What a horrible mother. I still get up with my 6 year old at night and comfort him. True, I look like I have aged 20 years, and still cannot have a decent conversation or accomplish any tasks because I'm up all night, but my baby is going to be a wonderful adult."  Sorry Dr. Sears and all you loving moms out there. But my child cried himself to sleep. Me sleeping made me a better mother for my child, so I am all for crying it out, its either that or me crying all night and all day. 

My Life through my almost Toddler

I haven't blogged in a while. Most of you probably think it's because I'm lazy. But the reason is ya'll is because I don't think I've cooked a good meal or read a book for a while now. When I go into the kitchen to cook, Ibby is attached to my legs nagging and crying. I basically throw together meals in under 5 minutes hoping that nothing splatters my son and that the food is edible. Everything I cook now is to accommodate my EXTREMELY picky baby. This kid is the pickiest eater ever. My nerves are frayed, and he isn't even a toddler yet. If it wasn't for bananas and oatmeal, he would probably starve.

I haven't read a good book in months. When I sit down to read, he crawls up to the couch, stands up and swats the book out of my hand. He gives me this amazed look, like "did you really think I would let you read? Are you INSANE?" He proceeds to stomp on my book.  By the time I put him to sleep at night and I sit down to read, I pass out in a semi coma.

My computer use is limited. Whenever I sit down on the computer, he crawls underneath the desk, and stands up at my chair crying for me to pick him up. If I don't, he proceeds to destroy the printer. Once he is in my lap, he slams happily at the keyboard.

Also, on a side note, I am covered in his snot 90% of the time. TMI?

My life may seem bleek to ya'll, but I am lovin it. Because even though I have no time to do anything I want to do,  I get to do lots of other fun stuff.  This age he is at is probably the most fun age. We can play, read stories, and watching him experience things for the first time is awesome. True, if I read brown bear one more time I am going to rip the book up into shreds, but he gets such a kick out of it, how can I not read it to him? So I leave you with a very simple recipe. Lentil soup, which is one of the few things my child will eat. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1) Two cups of red lentils
2) One chopped up carrot
3) One chopped up onion
4) One chopped up red bell pepper
5) One potato
6) 3 cups of chicken stock
7) Salt and Pepper to taste
8) One tablespoon of cumin.
8) Olive oil

This is really easy to make. Saute the onions in some olive oil, add the stock and all the veggies and lentils. Let it come to a boil, and then simmer. I usually let it boil for around an hour, and then I add the cumin, salt and pepper, and use my hand blender to mix it. After that, I just pour a little bit of olive oil on top for flavor. Ibby loves it. I usually pour some for him on top of brown rice and he eats it up.