Jensen Family Christmas Party

Last night we had the annual Jensen Family Christmas party. We had the traditional reading of the Christmas story by Uncle Jim, a delicious dinner, the traditional " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" white elephant game by the other Uncle Jim, and a new tradition -- a visit from Santa. It was Davis's first time meeting the jolly man...

He did pretty well until it was time for him to sit on Santa's lap...

7 Months Old!

Davis turned 7 months old on Wednesday. He celebrated with a trip to the doctor and a new prescription! Yes, he has another ear infection. This time we caught it pretty early (thanks to mother's intuition), but the doctor was worried it might have hung on through the last antibiotic (since it had been less than a month since his last ear infection). So Davis is trying a stronger medicine, which apparently tastes better than amoxicillan because he doesn't fight me nearly as much when I give it to him. The amoxicillan required two people to administer (Russ literally hold Davis's head still while I gave him the medicine), but I can give him this new stuff on his own. Yeah! Anyhow, his ear infections have been accompanied by lovely colds, and I've been reminded of how much he hates getting his nose wiped! And, needless to say, his sickness has put his sleep training on hold...again... Maybe the first of the year will bring good health and few enough interruptions to our schedule that his sleep training will be successful...

Latest Pics

I thought Davis just looked extra cute last Wednesday. I spiked his hair a little bit (although, there is also a significant amount of static going on as well...). Here are my favorites from that batch of photos. Davis is sitting on the cute Toy Story couch that Grandma & Grandpa Hadfield bought him for Christmas (and gave to him last week so that he could enjoy it). Davis absolutely loves sitting up -- he doesn't fall on his face much anymore, which is definitely a plus! Oh - and that soccer ball is not a prop -- he was playing with it and was actually surrounded by some of his favorite toys when I took these pics.

Sleep Training

So when 10 pm hit on Monday night, and Davis was still not asleep, we (Russ) decided that sleep training must begin that very night. We put Davis to bed and of course he cried hard...for 45 minutes. I kept checking on him every 5 minutes, then 10, then 15 (thanks Dr. Ferber). He slept for a few hours, and then we repeated the crying for another 45 minutes at about 1:30 am. Long story short, last night we had another 45 minutes of crying, but then he slept for over 6 hours! His naps were better yesterday too.

However, as I type this, I can hear Davis crying his guts out. "Mom mom mom mom mom!!" That's what he says when he is angry, and when he cries hysterically and sounds so pitiful, it rips my heart out! Tonight is the first night I have to put him to bed by myself with this new crying method, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to take it. It is truly awful to hear my little baby screaming. I know that he needs better sleep habits, which will be a greater benefit to him than nursing every two hours all night long. And I know that I need more sleep. But it is so hard to listen to him cry out without helping him!

More Thanksgiving Pics

In addition to our little Thanksgiving family photo shoot, my darling older sis, Amy, took family photos too. These are some of my favorites -- they really capture the personality of her adorable kids! Isn't Amy lovely?!