There are Days. . .

when I'm so glad that my friend, Shelley, introduced me to Babywise seven years ago. For those of you who don't know, Babywise was written by Gary Ezzo, who, I've discovered, is one of the most hated men on the internet. Whatever. All I know is that it has made our lives with babies wonderful. While none of my kids have ever acted exactly the way it was written in the book, it always gave me a plan and a goal that I wanted to get to. Both Matthew and Andrew struggled with naps, and Nathan fought falling asleep at night, but by the time each of them were four months old, we were cruising along pretty good with all of them sleeping through the night and napping well.

Which brings me to this week. Andrew was up last Saturday night for about an hour and a half in the middle of the night. I still don't have any idea what his problem was. All I know was that he was wailing. So, guess who got to stay up with him? That's right, yours truly. Needless to say, I was exhausted last week at church. After we got home and ate lunch, it was wonderful to be able to put him down and have him fall asleep quickly. (Then I could take a nap too!) Then, yesterday, I was working on cleaning some stuff up in our bedroom when I discovered that he had crawled away and was sitting in his room playing with his toys. (And pulling stuff blankets out of the bottom of his changing table too, but oh well.) I just love that while he loves to cuddle and be held, he also is able to entertain himself for a period of time. I don't worry when I leave him with a babysitter or at the nursery at church, because, while he may fuss when I leave him off, he is able to separate himself from me, and then when we reunite, he knows I'm always coming back. Plus, I get compliments every week on what a happy baby I have. (And that makes me feel good. Yes, I am a shallow person. :-) )