Almost 20 Months!

*disclaimer* This is a long one!

I feel like I haven't updated with a REAL "kid update" since before Max was born. I have a midterm on Tuesday (*blech* Grammar) that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. I haven't even cracked the books/notes to brush up on it! I know I will at some point before the test, but I think I am in denial that school is coming to a close and i'll have to find something else to occupy my time with. *grin* Who am I kidding? I just hope I don't turn into a bump on a log! I have the tendency to go one way or the other on the activity spectrum.

Faith is almost 20 months (next week!!) and is in a really fun, but CONSTANT stage. She is constantly needing something and if she doesn't get it right away, she is constantly crying. So, it's easier to not deal with school work while I interact with Faith. She does enjoy playing in our backyard, especially if it involves water and/or the dogs. She's been slapping her leg and yelling "Come, Maddie! Maddie! Come!". Ok, so it isn't quite as pronounced as that, so Maddie has no idea that she is being called, but it's getting there. And it's darn cute.

A few weeks ago, Faith started cutting a boatload of new teeth. She now has 12 and is working on a few more! We brush those pearly whites twice a day and she stays inspired to brush by us brushing with her or we buy her a new toothbrush with a new design (no characters still!).

Because of the teething (which she has dealt surprisingly well with) her sleeping has been disrupted. To be more accurate, her GOING to sleep has been disrupted. We've worked very hard, for the entire duration of Faith's life, to be consistent with bedtime and to steer clear of things we think are "bad habits". That is not to say that when Faith is sick or hurting (i.e., teething) that we don't give her a little extra love and snuggles. However, over time, this falls into a "bad habit" category for us. She gets used to us rocking, reading, or rubbing her back to sleep. For a time, we were having to sit in the room until she fell asleep. Any creak in the floor as we ninjaed our way out, or even when our ankles would crack (seriously!) would set her off and we'd have to start over. Being our kid, once she started crying, she could do it for HOURS (just like her mama).

So, rather than feeling like we were going to end up on Nanny 911 for having to sit in her room until she is 9, we decided to do something about it. The teeth had poked through, she was not sick, and her room was a comfortable temperature, so it was now or never for us. Both Jason and I wanted to be able to read her a story, give her a kiss, and turn out the light and have her fall asleep on her own. So, we started reading her bedtime stories on OUR bed, instead of her bed. Her bedroom is for sleeping. We get our snuggle time in elsewhere. Then, we go to her room and do our "kisses routine" and she points to her bed. We've draped 2 receiving blankets over the edges of the crib that point to the door and the glider so she can't constantly check to see if we are sitting there. We read one or two stories (two if she was put in her crib REALLY awake) and that's it. We try to not be so ninja about getting out of the room. That just sucks.

Here are the results for the first few nights:

Night 1: took 10 minutes to realize we were gone. Cried for 15 minutes.
Night 2: took 7 minutes to realize we were gone. Cried for 45 minutes. (eek!)
Night 3: took 5 minutes to realize we were gone. Cried for 3 minutes. (yay!)
Night 4: never cried
Night 5: never cried

While it was tough, we had decided that once she was in the crib, she was in there. Its not fun to hear your baby cry, yes. BUT, I think the end result was waaaaay worth it! For the first time in her LIFE, Faith is in her crib awake (but drowsy) and doesn't cry when we leave. Success. :)

So, that's our update for now. I don't have any pictures *gasp* but trust me, she's as cute as she was in the pigtails (which, BTW, are still hit or miss).

For Max updates, go to my sister's blog! I figured I needn't update fully on him since he is HER kid and she has been doing a great job of posting updates on his progress.

Thanks for reading!