he is sooo darling! hang in there, as they ALL say, it goes by in a blink! :) how i miss a soft newborn body to hold...:)

Hi Jim. You letter i received. Thanks! Photos is GREAT!!!!

i was drawn to your sentence about those 'little' moments bring joy that melt everything else away, and leaves smiles... it's a truth i've been trying to see and trust myself, and i just last night tried posting a bit about it.
i'm wishing you sweet dreams!
p.s. he's adorable!

I hope the quiet here means ZZZZZZZZs there. Sending you all good thoughts of sweet, yummy, delicious sleep :~)

hang in there.
(easy for me to say since my
boy shortie is still in utero)

he IS veryveryvery cute.
this picture is my favorite so far!

peaceful dreams to you...

Oh Honey...trust me - you will sleep again one day! It's a little like labor - you remember that it was stinking hard, but you'd do it all over again in a heart beat! I can remember when Ava started to sleep a little more and I would then wake up on my own to check on her to make sure she was okay! Insanity! I finally had the freedom to sleep, but I still woke up! You are not alone! Love you!

i hope the meeting with the sleep consultant went well. would you be willing to share what you learned on the blog?
thanks!

He Makes Me To Laugh!

Wonderful photo today! I hope you're able to get your sleep patterns back the way you like them really soon. Nothing's worse than a lack of sleep! My sympathies go out to you.

He looks just like you. This is the first time I've ever left a comment. I love love love your blogs. You inspire me every day Andrea.

If you feel like it, I hope you'll share with us what the sleep consultant says. I'm interested in what they say about baby sleep (since mine didn't sleep for a very long time and I'm not sure what I could have done. Now a good sleeper at 2.5 though).

What a sweet, sweet baby boy you have. I've been enjoying all of the cute pictures. I hope you are able to get some much needed rest soon!

What a cutie! You are obviously having a lot of fun taking pics of your little guy. It will all work out eventually -- in 20 years or so!

Does Ben have colic? His belly is so bloated and distended it looks painful! Maybe I just don't know what bloated baby belly looks like!!!

Ben is so freakin' cute, and the bloated budda belly to boot.

Your openess & honesty is admirable. As a mother of two boys, 2 and 5, I wish I had asked for help in those beginning months.

Hang in there. Ben's a lucky boy.

what a great decision! there are those out there that have done this before and helping you along the path to sleep for all should be adressed in whatever manner/method works for you. good luck! and give that little buddha belly an extra rub for me, ben's biggest fan.

He's like super yogi baby!
I am sorry, though, that things are so rough right now... :(

Good Luck with your sleep plan!

I love that photo! He looks so happy!

Sleep will come. It's so hard in the beginning. I felt exhausted for the first year. So much so that I actually went to the doctor and had blood work done because I was beginning to think something was wrong with me!

I hope that the consultant helps you.

Wishing you many restful nights with an abundance of happy dreams!

Susan

from one Andrea to another:
AMAZING, you are both just amazing. I'm not one to oh and ah, but lord, how can I help but sit here wide-eyed and smiling when I look at your Ben?

Wishing you love and sleep.

PS we have another round of IVF this friday; wish us luck! (or really -- truthfully -- wish me acceptance for whatever happens. I THINK I'm there, I THINK I'm there, no -- I AM.

Yeah, just letting you know I'm back for the 4th or 5th time to look at that photo. It makes my ovaries clench and sign sweet siren songs to me. Ben! Enough with the perfection already! My body can't handle it!

Reading, especially conflicting advice, stinks doesn't it? I agree with it being totally overwhelming.....

But, Ben's picture is priceless. Totally gives me baby-envy!! My littlest is already over 2.

Hugs Andrea.

R/

sending you sleep and rest and lots of lovin'...and that baby! SO CUTE!

sending you sleep and rest and lots of lovin'...and that baby! SO CUTE!

Ahhhh sweet happy smiling Ben.....now be a dear and let your 'rents get some sleep! Hahahaha..as if.

OMG..that is so cute.
What a character he is going to grow up to be.

oh my gosh. total happy buddha!!! so much cuteness. this picture gives me such joy.

so glad you are nurturing yourself by being brave to ask for help.

a "plan for sleep" sounds yummy...

i wish for you long hours of dream soaked sleep, my friend...long hours.

love you. xo

I always sensed that with Peter our oldest it was so hard because he could sense we were new parents - babies seem so intuitive that way. This is the unique bond with our firstborn - it is a real trial and you go through it together. When they are as cute as this little guy it helps. Plus he is smart - you get more sleep with those kids who sit around like a bag of potatoes (never had one of those here) but you may be raising someone who will be a leader and change society for the better.

hi,

you are smart to take charge and think about what to do. you are the parent and have to decide how things are going to be (for the first couple of years at least!). people can say 'oh this will pass' but in my experience, it wont pass unless you decide to form a plan to help you get the sleep you need.

What a sweet little baby! I can already tell how very loved he is! That tummy is TOO CUTE!! Round baby tummies are the best. As far as sleep goes, there's an old wives' tale about flipping babies around in their crib. I don't know exactly how it works but my great grandmother flipped my uncle when he was a sleepless infant and my grandparents swore that it worked. (I send that tidbit to you more as an amusing story than actual advice) Good luck sleeping. Hopefully the specialist will help.

No, seriously Andrea, that is the BEST BABY PICTURE EVER. That little baby Ben is doing for infants what Wim Wenders did for angels ... making me look at them in an entirely new and sublime way.

You haven't just capture an image there, you've captured a spirit! Fantastic!

For goodness sakes Andrea, the cuteness is just overwhelming. Too bad he's not a sleeper...YET! Good thing he's adorable!

Keep the faith and remember, it's OK to let him cry. A few nights of sticking it out (OK, I had to leave the house and my husband stuck it out)worked wonders for both my girlies. But I think I let them pretty much rule the roost till 4 or 5 months. Dang, you're getting a head start! Go girl. Sleep rules! GOOD LUCK!

PS. I am anti-BabyWise myself (like Seth) but found great info in Ann Douglas's 'Sleep Solutions' book.

A girlfriend of mine called the books a "library of anxiety." Stick with your instincts, your good mother friends, your baby, and your expert reinforcements. Good luck and sweet dreams!!

i'm right there with you, three month old giving me a total of 6 hrs of sleep on a good night. But you know, Andrea, I'd give anything to hold my little girl again as an infant (she's 4). I'd give a week's worth of sleep to see that gummy smile again and smell her toes. So with this one, thought i'm cranky and lost without sleep, I'm savoring every second I get to hold him. I sleep between them now and snuggle them both at night and I pray for him to sleep more, but until then I hope I can just enjoy every snuggle. It really does go so fast... Good luck to you! He's amazingly beautiful!

3 girls...24, 9 and 7. I don't know how I did it, but after the first few months, we found a rhythm with each other. True, the sleep/hormone shift can make anyone batty, but there was something right in keeping things simple and slow those first weeks that helped us find a dance that worked. The books didn't help...all the advice from friends didn't seem to fit...It boiled down to basic gut feeling.

it will pass...this time next year you'll be amazed at how long a go it seemed

damn... he's cute!

oh my gosh andrea, he's just wonderful! what an joyful smile he has.

I cannot believe how CUTE your baby is!!! I am not a Mom and at this point in my life don't believe I will ever have the opportunity to be (mostly by choice)so I cannot relate to the whole sleeping, feeding baby issues. However I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I so look forward to your pictures and seeing the baby grow! He is SOOOOOOOOO FREAKIN adorable I cannot take it!! I hope your consultant is helpful to you and you are all counting sheep real soon! Keep the pictures coming....they are the best!!!!

It IS confusing, isn't it? I hope you find some sleep solutions for you and your family. (And thank you for sharing the happy buddha photo...feels like cheating, all the joy and none of the work!)

He looks like one of those yogic flyers in Iowa. Perhaps in torturing you he finds enlightenment...

Smart idea about the consultant!

I can't believe how much like a little boy he looks instead of just an infant. He'd look right at home on the body of a 5 year old. Now, if he could just sleep like one....

My husband described the first two weeks (or was it the first two months?) at home with the baby as boot camp. I said it felt more like a fraternity hazing.

But: so so sorry about the sleep deprivation.

Best. Baby. Picture. Ever.

hi, andrea! even though i don't have a little one, i do have insomnia. so, i can totally relate to the torture. your new addition is precious beyond words. i wish you all a little shut-eye. :)

I too can recall those though first months with my "monster baby" - or so we lovingly referred to her. She helped me see just how patient I could be - and I really fell in love with her as we went on that wild ride together - I did drink more though:) jk!

er...that should say she sent me to bed and watched wide-awake-baby for me. yep. in case that wasn't clear.

Oh, I remember those days. I was quite fortunate to have my mother-in-law very close by to send me to bed when things got too bad.

If I weren't so far away I would totally babysit for you every single day so you could get a few hours' sleep in, although he is so darn cute I cannot guarantee you'd get him back. Would you just look at that face? His expressions crack me up and that belly is begging for someone to blow raspberries on it.

er... like this: http://www.ezzo.info/voices.htm

anyone considering babywise would do well to read information like this about just how wrong it can go. it may be that this approach has been a good one for some parents, but it has also been a true nightmare for many infants, children, and families. no resource that advocates hitting children should be taken seriously.

What a beautiful baby and beautiful picture! Look at that perfect little guy (and that belly!). I have a new Ben too (9/27) and I wish you much luck & success with the sleeping.

Good for you! Sometimes expert help is the fastest way to relief.

what a tummy! :)

What an adorable face! =)

Oh - I can't wait to hear what the plan is. I've got number two on the way and I am dreading (while at the same time looking forward to) those first three or four months. I love my sleep and am thankful that for almost every night for the past 18 months I've gotten a full 8 hours. And now it's all going to be ripped away from me in about three months...

Best of luck! I know you'll find a solution that works for all of you. Sleep will come...

this is so darn adorable and joyful!!! put a smile on my face :)

good luck with the sleep ...i can remember those hard times all too well!

xoxo

It will get better...the hardest and most sleepless nights will become a faint memory. Your little buddha is such a beauty!

hang in there....my husband and i always used to say that we were "moving a whole army" every time we ventured out. it gets easier. have you tried, Babywise? the book? i used it....took what i liked and many of my friends swear by it. it's tough in the beginning...but it's worth a try if you are up for trying something new. it really helps to establish a routine....and that is just what some babies crave...at least mine did. this too shall pass....i'll be thinking of you. jamie

Good luck! Hang in there!