Sleeping Through the Night...??? JINX!

The sleep training began months ago..... but we have failed and failed and failed. Finally about 1 month ago I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could J.D.. Monty had been waking up every 1-2 hours. He was throwing fits every time he woke up and would get frustrated with nursing. His two bottom teeth had just come in and needless to say, we weren't functioning because of lack of sleep. Someone even asked me if Monty had allergies because of the puffiness under his eyes.... no allergies, just no sleep. I was done. No more. 

SO it began... with batman pi's... 

We bot him some new pi's that were more breathable and didn't make him sweat so much. Also, changing him was much easier than unbuttoning a one piece pj suit. 

It started with me on the couch, and Monty in a pack n play since we don't have room for a crib. J.D. and Dawson were sent to our bedroom to shut the doors and get a good night's rest. For 2 weeks, I would lay Monty down with a binkie and walk away after one late night feeding. I would wait 2 minutes, go back and lay him down, and walk away for 3 minutes... I would add a minute each time. I wouldn't feed him if he woke up, I'd just lay him back down and walk away. 

WELL, this was exhausting after 2 weeks. BUT it was good because I was able to come to terms with the fact that he really was okay without eating and he wasn't hurting himself. SO then I just started to lay him down, walk away until he went to sleep. If he woke up, then I would lay him down and walk away without going back in. He CRIED and CRIED, but after 1 week of this he did it! He slept through the night!! I didn't, but he did! 

This was the morning after he slept through the night! 

He did it again and again.... Then after 4 straight days, my mom came into town and we had a chaotic weekend. He only woke up once or twice, but still.... my hard work and long nights were reversed. THEN we had to get 2 immunization shots. That blew it all! He screamed and whined for 2 days straight. LITERALLY with no exaggerations. He screamed unless I was holding him... but still even then. Since then, (a week ago) he has had  a constant runny nose, red eyes, diarrhea, stuffiness, and aches. 

He has also started throwing these fits about going to sleep. He will toss and turn and whine and scream when he is so tired and refuses to go to sleep. This got so bad yesterday, I finally put him in the high chair with a little food and I turned around to finish making dinner.... 

2 minutes later I found this. 

He is this exhausted. So I'm going to return back to letting him cry it out once he gets feeling better. We have accomplished a lot even though we've regressed a bit. He isn't eating through the night and sustains himself for a good 8-10 hours. He isn't waking up as much as he was... and he is becoming better with self soothing through out the whole day. I also can just give him his binkie and he lays right back down by himself. I don't have to do anything but put the binkie in. 

Other than that, he is such a cute little boy. He loves Dawson and loves Dawson's approval (laughter) over anything he does. He giggles right along with him. Dawson has taught him how to 'mark it with an M' on Dawson's hand for the Patty Cake song. It's amazing! Dawson also taught him how to motion 'bye bye." 

Dawson loves to have Monty use his stuff. Above Monty is sitting in Dawson's chair eating a sausage pancake corn dog.... Dawson loved it so much he took the picture. 

Monty loves to pull out the dvd's, crawl like a stink bug, and pull on my hair. He is very persistent and can hold a straight face longer than anyone I know. 

He is standing on his own and can stand from a sitting position. It's so neat to see him grow and develop. He is SO strong. He has a deep crispy voice which is crazy for this little baby. Everyone comments on how his voice is already deep... lol! He is the ward's favorite baby and buddy. He is passed around while I teach my 6-7 year olds. The last thing I want to mention is that how much he loves the outdoors. Monty begs to go outside. He will stand next to the door and bang and bang and yell and yell. He will crawl outside so fast if the door opens for just a second. If the door gets shut before he makes it outside he cries with anger. 

It's the funniest thing to see how smart he is at 9 months. 

He is such a cute baby and we love him so much! 

Our Little Man is 6!!

This year was such a big hit for Dawson. Turning 6 is such a big deal apparently. :-) Dawson's birthday fell on a Thursday and since J.D. was going to leave at 3:30 thursday morning and not get home until extremely late, we decided to let Dawson open 2 gifts from us Wednesday night. Dawson had been asking every day for the last week if he could open these presents. The time was finally here! The big one first.....

He was SO excited!! A reversible camp/hunting orange coat. This was a much needed gift because this kid has grown so much since last year, he didn't have a coat that was long enough for his arms. 

                                 

Next was the small present. I took a video and no pictures.... but I wrapped it in a small vanilla imitation flavoring box. So when Dawson opened the present he looked at it and said, "What is it? Is this a medicine or something?" He was so confused. He kept opening and he got his very own personalize pocket knife! FINALLY!! HE is old enough to have one. He has asked for one for over a year now. The responsibility of owning a knife came with some strict rules that Dawson gladly accepted and continues to repeat to everyone. He is so amazing. He tells everyone, "I got a pocket knife!!! But it's special and only used for survival and hunting. I can't show my friends unless my mom or dad is there. I can't use it unless my mom and dad are there. AND I have to keep it in a special place that I can't tell anyone." This 6 year old definitely is proud to take on this huge responsibility. We are so proud of him. 

The next day was THURSDAY, September 18th, 2014. I woke Dawson up at 7:30 and he immediately jumped out of bed and said, "MOM! I'm 6!!" It was so cute and funny. He got all ready was excited to go to school. It was homecoming week for the high school here, and every day that week was designated to a way to dress up and have school spirit. This day was 'hat' day. Dawson wore his Disney land Mickey Mouse Wizard hat. I made a start crown to go over it that said, "Birthday Boy". We had also made cupcakes the day before for his class. So we got to school, and took the cupcakes in. When I picked Dawson up he had a crown, a card, a birthday certificate and a BIG SMILE. It was such a great day! 

It was Saturday the 20th that we held the BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY. This year's theme that Dawson chose was 'Police Party."' I was pretty grateful for this theme when comparing it to last year's root beer theme. This year was definitely easier to be creative with. We'd been planning and preparing for this for over a month. The day was here and so was Grandma!

Side note: My mom came for the weekend! We drove to Billings and picked her up friday. Then she was able to be here for Dawson's party, first soccer game, and primary program! It was the perfect weekend. 

Back to the party day...... We reserved the library basement for FREE!!! And the decorating began. Dawson had some specific requests at this party and I hope I delivered... It was to be a police training party. 

#1- Mug shots.... I made the measurement poster. Then put black paper over a dry erase board. This way everyone could erase the name and write their own for each individual mug shot. I cut out each number and letter to paste onto the black... I was pretty proud of this one. Dawson took many mug shots, side shots, backward shots.... we had to get the full effect. 

                                 

As each recruit came to the party they put on a mustache or glasses and took we took their personal mug shot. It was SOOO FUNNY! 

Here's a couple guests...

We practiced shooting at balloon criminal faces with a dart gun....

We practiced lining up for exercises to perfect our skills of jumping, running, rolling, tossing, etc.

 We practiced kicking a bomb (pinyata) around. 

We defused the bomb in a fast manner and saved the city. 

We had a badge ceremony as each recruit finished their training ready to go out and protect the civilians of our city. 

THEN we had to have to celebrate with a cake.... Specially requested by Dawson, we had a doughnut cake "because that's what police men like on all the movies." 

Afterwards, the kids played around until their parents came. It was so much fun! 

Happy Birthday Dawson! We are so proud of who you are and so grateful for the joy and happiness you bring into our lives. 

After the party, literally right after, Dawson had his first soccer game of the season. We were excited to see how things went this year because last year he was kind of just running around.... 

What do ya know.... he was AMAZING! This boy runs hard and scored 4 our of the 7 goals for his team "The Bandits". 

We were totally impressed. He defended so well, could dribble, 

and worked with his teammates in passing. 

There were so many parents that kept saying how good Dawson was and how fast he was. It's amazing how much he learned from last year and now he is able to actually do the things he learned this year. He loves soccer and loves being a part of a team. 

After the game it was time to open up all the gifts and play. He played and played for hours with all of his new toys. Even Monty had fun! Monty didn't really understand that sitting on the track isn't what its for, but he was happy.

Thank you to everyone who remembered our little man's birthday and for all the fun gifts. 

He really was happy and loves being 6.