Saturday, October 23, 2010

Family Bonding

Baby boy, well, actually almost four year old boy, has had a hard transition from being an attention getting Mamma's boy to sharing the lap with baby sister! Not only has his spot on the lap been replaced, but he missed me so much while I was in Korea!

Don't get me wrong he is very good to his sister and very protective, but the whiny..."Momma hold me, Momma I love you" chorus has been a repetitive sound since we came home. My bet is these two will be thick as theives before too long at all!
So, yesterday I decided we needed some one-on-one time...we went shoe shopping for him and to get ice cream cones at his favorite place:
Showing off his new shoes!
 
Annalee had her first doctor visit...she is healthy and wonderful! She is above the 95th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference, which puts her on target to be a 5' 9" beauty when she grows up!

The Dr. advised to go to three meals a day with bottles between since she is wanting to munch on our table food everytime we eat!
He also agreed that there is no biologic reason for her to not be sleeping through the night, and if she did wake up to make night time wakings super boring, so she wouldn't want to wake up every night for play time!
She can really make some moves and sing with her Pororo microphone!
Of course, it is so cute she even cracks up her own little self!
Every night since we arrived home our sweet girl has been waking up and 1am - 2am and continue to want to play with Mommy for a few hours!
Of course by about 5 am Annalee & Mommy are wiped out and ready to sleep 'til noon!
Well mommy had already decided that day that we were sleeping the days away, so drastic changes were in order. Let's just say there was a ton of prayer that our plan would work with minimal damage to our bonding that was going great!!!

So the plan was this...no more than two 1 hour naps during the day, keep her up until 10pm and up no later than 8am. Well, the first day she took about an hour and a half nap and by 8:45pm was done, finished, not enjoying our plan and ready for sleep. Well, although there was much crying involved she stayed awake until 9:30pm and then down for the night...

However, she was awake at 2:30am...UGH! Mommy was not happy...baby was not happy, so we got a bottle and hit the mattress in her room. She refused the bottle, but did sleep next to me on and off, until she took the bottle sometime in the wee hours of the morning...another sleep til noon day for mom.

Daddy woke her before 8am and the next day of sleep training began. Day two...1.5 hours in naps, great feedings, very cranky baby...leading to an all out cry fest again before bedtime...at which time I totally began to wonder if I was destroying every bit of bonding and attachment we had built and feeling a bit like the meanest mommy in the world!

However, the next morning when we all woke at 7:00 am after 9.5 hours of sleep and a happy, not crying girl...I was soooo happy! Today has been wonderful...we are all well rested...Annalee has been a joy. In fact while Dad and little Oppa took a nap, we were having mom & daughter play time. I will kiss her chubby little cheeks and say, "Oh, I love kisses from my girl." I said give Mommay a kiss and she planted a big, sloppy baby drool kiss on me!!! Be still my heart! I actually woke up the boys in my woohoos of excitement!!!!

So today we had a mini photo shoot of our rested and happy kids before heading to the school's fall harvest festival...they are just too adorable! You can see the thrill of the photo shoot on their various facial expressions!


(If you haven't noticed yet - little girl loves electronics and is always reaching for them - cell phone, camera, remote...doesn't matter..and boy is she fast!)



By the way, did I mention our girl loves to ride in the car...in her car seat...of course she always has her little big brother beside her for entertainment!
All are in bed and I am praying and hoping we have another super night of sleep. We are so thankful that the structure we are providing seems to be facilitating the bonding and attachment versus damaging it! God sure has blessed us beyond measure!

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