Cry It Out & Mom Life

First, let me just start by saying....

Today is Dannika's LAST day as a 4 year old!!!!!!!!!!!!

To commemorate this special/sad day, here is her last week as a 4 year old...

Get ready for a sentimental post tomorrow...

 

This week has tested me and challenged me as a mother.

With Dannika in VBS (Vacation Bible School), it just threw off our whole routine.

And by OUR whole routine, I mean Mattis' routine.

Add that on top of the fact that he regressed in his night time sleep habit.

Right after Nick left, he started sleeping and waking up at night like a newborn.

I thought he'd "get over it", and I'd have my champion night time sleeper back.

But no.

This week, I decided to go for my "go to" method...

Cry. It. Out.

Dannika cried it out....

Even after a series of judgmental moms told me it was mean...

(The same moms who made me feel like a bad mother for not breastfeeding my daughter...yeah...you know who you are.)

But after a few nights of crying it out, Dannika was sleeping through the entire night.

And after two nights of Mattis crying it out, he slept through the night last night.

He woke up genuinely a happier baby.

 

I am a firm believer in the Dr. Ferber method of sleep training.

Today was the last day of VBS, and as happy as I am that Dannika has been having such an amazing time and experience, this mama needs a break....

That is until Monday when she starts dance camp.

Did I mention that we signed her up to continue doing gymnastics throughout the summer??!!

 

I give full props to my mama who raised my sister and I while working.

I don't know how she managed to work full time AND shuttle both my sister and I to dance, piano, violin, cello, practices for school activities, and Kumon (google it).

I guess this is my new "mom life".

Here are some pics of "mom life"...

Perfectly content at Target with an empty Starbucks cup with ice in it...

I was so exhausted yesterday afternoon, that I decided to just throw both kids in the kiddie pool while I sat in a lawn chair just "supervising".

Oh, this little guy got his first bloody nose.

He fell face first when he lost his footing while pulling up on furniture.

I kinda felt like a bad mother for a minute because I didn't freak out.

My reaction was, "yay buddy! You got your first bloody nose!"

Then 2 hours later after reading too much Google and Yahoo answers, I decided to call my neighbor (a nurse) to make sure I didn't have to take him in to the doctor.

Since there was no swelling, bruising, or strange behavior, we were cleared.

I trapped him in our living room because I had to get some things done.

Unfortunately, the living room leads directly to the playroom where all the fun things are at...

We've done lots of Jam Time days.

I prefer taking the kids here instead of an outdoor park because Mattis can freely crawl around.

It's a great life I live, believe it or not...