Ebb and Flow...of life.

I feel like I have these moments, epihanies, daily. I always think to write about them, and then life gets busy and I don't. Today was a big one for me. So I am taking the time. (for the record its taken me four days to get this post finished lol)

Having Jude has been such a huge blessing in my life for a million reasons. Things that happened with the births and first year of life with my other kids made me hungry for answers, and something different. I had an innate sense that something wasn't right. So I read, I explored, I asked myself questions that were sometimes hard to answer because of the painful truth I had to admit...which was, not every choice I made was the right one. Thats ok, when you know better, you do better... right.

Long story short is that Jude has been a 100% "attached" baby. In every sense of the word. He still nurses on demand, sleeps with us in our bed, has NEVER been left to cry-it out for any reason, was accidentally a baby-led solids starter, non-vaccinated, born at home, IN the water, amber necklace wearing, cloth-diapered bottomed, baby who is worn around in various slings kid.

I have loved every second of it.

However, he is getting older, I am starting new life adventures, and I have felt for a few weeks that its time to change one aspect of this equation.

I am ready for a full nights sleep.

So we have started the process for this. I am reading a great book on
how to do this humanely, and sensitively to his needs and emotions. This will not be a 3 day and its done kind of deal, This could take a few months, and again, I am ok with this. My goal is that by the time he is 2 (that is 8 months away still) he is sleeping through the night, and co-sleeping with his big brother and not us.

We have purchased a "lovey" a stuffed duck toy, bought a lullaby CD (Jewel), and started a bedtime ritual. Bath, baby massage, read a book, lay in bed, nurse while listening to CD and cuddling ducky, drift off to dreamland. SO far so good. Tonight is night four and he was officially "in bed" at 7:15pm, this is the earliest EVER since he's made his appearance earth-side!!! WOOHOO

So we keep going with this process, and with gentle encouragement from me, hopefully he will be sleeping through the night in the next couple months. If not, thats ok, he will someday :)

The biggest sort of "affirmation" moment is that my aunt flo decided to make her FIRST visit since Jude's birth (I am sorry if this is TMI, but its the truth and relevant to the post so...) the day after we started this process. It was like my body's way of saying, yep if you wanted you could have another kid now, and we know that means its time to get some good sleep. So its bittersweet, my little guy is not so little anymore, life marches on, and all that business.

Here is a pic of my not so little guy playing with his sister, he saw her playing in daddy's shirt off the clothes line outside, and pulled one down to play in too.... #growingup