It's been a week .....

One Week down - Ari is still sleeping in his crib- through the night- and the crying is getting down to less then three minutes most of the time - even for naps.....
I couldn't help but capture this on film - I was so so so afraid I would wake him up but really I had to - there was a point when I thought Ari was never going to use his crib ......I am so EXCITED

Daddy's little boy

I don't think a day goes by without someone telling me just how much Ari looks like Ryan-
what is surprising to me is that people often ask me if I am upset by there uncanny resemblance......
WHAT ?!?!?

I was attracted to Ryan for a lot of reasons but of course it helped that I find him EXTREMELY handsome- why would I be bothered .....
HAVE YOU SEEN HOW ADORABLE MY SON IS???

I can honestly say I would not be upset if everyone of my babies turned out as cute as Ari -

*Ryan is going to be really upset that I posted this photo I took of him while he was giving Ari a bath- oh well

Laying with a Lion

Ever since Ari turned 1 I have been horrible at taking his monthly Lion pictures - I totally missed January and I did do February's but it has taken me the entire month to post them. I wanted to take a different photo of Ari and his Lion instead of the usual one on the couch - so when Ari was napping on our bed one day I placed his Lion friend near by to keep him safe..... So here he is - 14 Months old- (now I just need to remember to take March's photos.....)
 
 
 
 

Week in review

Okay I realise I have not been doing the daily re caps from our adventures in Sleep transitioning... but I figured everyone was probably getting bored and I was exhausted
Well here we are it has almost been a week
Ari continues to amaze me He is doing so well at this whole change of schedule/ venue thing

He still cries when we put him down but only for a minute max - and he has almost completely stopped crying during our routine-
I am starting to adjust to our new routine as well - I am waking up fewer times during the night and hearing less phantom cries - so yeah for me too
it has been a long week and I am sure it will continue to feel long for awhile but we are progressing .... yeah

96 hours into project sleeping lion

agh
where to begin - last night was horrible for me. I don't think Ari got up at all - if he did he went back to sleep super quick - however I have started to hear phantom cries .... I am actually going crazy- I should be committed - I must have woken up thirty times last night, I physically got out of bed 5 times... which is really silly because even if he was crying we had already committed to NOT getting him.....
I swear I could hear him crying, I would sit up straight in bed and then nothing -
so needless to say when Ari did wake up this morning at 7:50am, I was EXHAUSTED

his morning nap was o.k. but it only lasted 50 minutes and then he would not take a second nap - (well that part is our fault- we got busy doing stuff and did not notice it was almost 4 and then by then it was to late so we decided to skip the whole second nap and move bedtime up to seven but Ari started to crash on Ryan's shoulders so we moved bedtime up to 6:30pm - I left Ari's room at 6:28pm and I think it has been quiet in there since 6:33pm

and now I am ready for bed

Day 3.... I think

I am pretty sure this is our third night of sleep transitioning for Ari - (although I will be honest I have no idea as this seems to be the longest three days of my life)
Ari's first nap of the day was o.k -
by his second nap he was totally on to us- as soon as I picked up a book and started heading to his room he was in tears
I read the entire story to him while he wailed away ....
I think he got about 45 minutes of sleep

and now it is 8:29pm and he is still crying - Ryan and I left his room at 8:20pm so its not like it has been forever - BUT his crying started as we were walking up the stairs - so he basically cried for his entire bath (he was happy for a tiny part in the middle) cried through his baby massage, and getting into pj's- cried through Harold and the Purple crayon and counting with Oswald.... and through Ryan and I singing I am a Child of God .... TWICE

so at this point it seems like he has been crying forever

Is this normal - HE HATES HATES HATES anything and everything that has anything to do with our night time routine- if you pick up a book, he starts to cry, take him into his room - he screams, start the bath.... he opens his own flood gates (I can't really fault him for crying when I sing - I am NO bikini girl*)

seriously is this normal - I don't want him to hate his night time routine, I thought that was the whole point of a night time routine, to get them prepared to go to sleep - Ari's routine just seems to get him all upset....

It's 8:34pm and my baby is still crying

and I have no idea how tomorrow is going to work with Church - two naps is new to us - so church being from 9-12 is sort of right in the middle
Ari will probably get up somewhere between 7 and 8 tomorrow which means he will be ready for his first nap between 9 and 10 ..... agh I am already stressed

it's 8:36 and I don't hear anything - for now ... cross your fingers for me

nope he is still crying

*if you missed the American Idol reference ....where have you BEEN?!?!?

another night

Okay night number 2- here is how it played out
Ari woke up about thirty minutes after he went down, but only cried for about three minutes. Then he woke up again at midnight - and cried for less then a minute.... and from there is was smooth sailing til 8am
Today we I decided both his naps should be in his crib so at 10am I put him in his crib and he cried for five minutes - then he woke up about 30 minutes into the nap - he cried again for less then a minute and I woke him up 11:20 (I know what you are thinking NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY ... I know, I know but I didn't want this nap to go to long and interfere with his afternoon nap

and guess what else.....


HE STILL LOVES ME .....

Sleep Training Day 2

Okay so here we are again-
tonight we got off to a late start (that part is Ryan's fault... agh) so we had to omit the bath from our routine tonight
8:25pm I kissed Ari's head and lay him down for the last time - and shut the door - tonight was harder and I had already prepared myself for that - as soon as we started the bed time routine he started to cry, last night he was excited for a baby massage - tonight he knew something was up
so basically he cried through our whole night time routine
I exected the crying to be a lot worse that last night -

well it is 8:31pm and while I can still hear whimpers coming from his room - it is not a constant cry and I can only believe it is more of Ari trying to fight back sleep then it is him being upset with the arrangement (or that is what I tell myself)

naptime today was sortof successful- I do believe that Ari got about 30 minutes of sleep - but then he got up and was crying - I decided to take a shower and if he was still crying when I got out I would go in and get him - I am only going to make him stay in his room for a nap for an hour (that is how long he usually naps for anyway)
plus he got a morning nap - which we are not used to - so I think it will balance out

On a side note - Ari has the coolest night light ever - well, actually its a lava lamp (I can't find the star night light we bought for him what seems like ages ago) so he is using Ryan's old lava lamp - I think its a little creepy cause it glows red - but whatever I guess it gives him something to look at while he lay in his crib thinking how horrible I am for kicking him out of his bed........


well right now it is silent in Ari's room - I am already expecting a cry in about 30 minutes and then another one around 11 but hopefully we will be as successful as last night

thanks for all your support - I promise to get back to posting something more interesting as soon as possible

The results show.....

okay if you tuned into this post thinking you were going to hear me gush about American Idol- you are going to be sorely dissapointed.
BUT for those of you following the saga of sleep training - well here you go - the results after night number 1
Ari cried for about 45 minutes total and then was out- I was finally able to peak in without waking him up .... oh he looked so cute, I wanted to grab my camera and take a shot or too but I knew that was just tempting fate.
We did hear him wake up once probably around 9:30pm but he only cried for less then a minute and that was it. I didn't even attempt to go back in there -

Ryan and I got to sleep at 11:00- without fighting with Ari (who usually has his second wind by then and is going CRAZY) I got to sleep next to my husband for this first time in AGES ... okay well like a year

We heard another peep from Ari around 11:15pm and again I hesitated, took a deep breath and counted to 10 and when I was done - so was Ari - so I didn't need to go in at all

I have to admit that I did not get a good nights sleep- I did miss my little guy - and I kept worrying that something was wrong, that I was doing the wrong thing - that I needed to go and check on him, etc. etc. but I stayed put

and guess what....
ARI SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yep that is right, the boy who we would jokingly refer to as "on the boob all night" was totally fine not nursing -

We woke up at 7am when Ryan gets up for work and heard some noises (pre- cry) coming from Ari's room so I went in there and picked up my happy baby boy!!!!!

So night one is down - yeah it was better then I expected - but I am preparing for bumps in the road.

This whole thing is a little hard on me however - one of the perks of having Ari sleeping with us, on our schedule was sleeping in- on most days I could get Ari to sleep in til atleast 9:30 or 10:00-
but with this new earlier bed time - 8:00pm, and new rise time 7:00am - I will have to adjust
Did you know the morning show it 4 hours long --- and to think I thought it was just Kathy Lee and Hooda .... WOW

anyway - today Ari and I took his first nap together - (hey I miss cuddling with him) he napped from 9:00am to 10:30am

and at 1:30pm I put him down for his first nap in his crib........YIKES
Ari cried until 1:38pm and I haven't heard a peep yet ......


Oh.... the other thing about this whole "sleep transition" we are doing is the new curfew we have... Ari's bedtime routine starts at 7:30pm so that means whatever we have planned for our nights needs to get us home before 7:30pm - oh well we will adjust

I am already loving the time I get to myself (and not having to worrry that Ari is getting out of our bed or off the couch, (where he usually napped)

It is 8:52pm

It is 8:52pm and I don't hear anything coming out of Ari's room - so of course I assume the worst MY BABY HAS STOPPED BREATHING - I AM A HORRIBLE MOTHER
so I rush to the door and begin to turn the handle - it makes the tiny "creeeeak" and the wimpering begins
GREAT
well atleast I know he is breathing


here we go again

wait......the wimpering has stopped ......I promise I won't check on him for atleast thirty minutes

man this is hard

Sleep Training Night 1

Okay so this is it, Ryan and I have committed to getting Ari to:
a) Sleep in his crib
b) Go to bed at a reasonable time for a 1 year old
and c) stop nursing constantly throughout the night

bye bye family bed - you were fun while you lasted. I will miss you a little but your time has come. I am still a huge support of the family bed (if it works for you) but understand that it is not for everyone. I think that the family bed helped me especially while I was working to connect, or rather re-connect with Ari after a long day at work and it kept my milk supply strong enough to nurse Ari for the year+ as I had desired.

So after reading a slew of books about how to wean your child, how to sleep train them, and so on and so forth - we have decided that with Ari we are going to try the "cry it out" approach -

Today is NIGHT #1
7:00pm-7:30pm -- Ari free play we did block and cars
7:30pm - upstairs for last nursing of the night and bath time
7:45pm - baby massage, books and song
8:12pm - I shut the door to my little ones room, and my heart broke....

I have read that the average for the first night is about an hour of crying.... Ari seems to be one of those "exceptions to the rule" so I am guessing this kid won't give up til day break

It's been 12 minutes and I can still hear him - man this stinks
Ryan is at a scouts meeting so I have to be strong - I don't want a five year old sleeping in my bed and its not going to get any easier tomorrow or a week from Thursday or next Friday ....be strong Joy ... man this stinks

I am glad that Ari has not started to call for me - his crys are just crys of anger at this time - it would really crush me if he were saying "mama, mama...."

We have to do it this time - we can not back down -

I love him -
I am a good mom. right? -

it's 8:30pm and I am feeling weak - how long can a pack meeting be???

A seat with a view

Ari is hilarious- he loves commercials - TV shows, agh who cares, but when the commercials come on he literally STOPS whatever he is doing and runs into the family room to get a glimps that the ad. I have no idea how he knows the difference, especially when we watch shows that change sets, characters and such quickly (like Saturday Night Live for example) but there is no fooling Ari he knows a commercial - and he LOVES them


So here he is in his high chair during dinner, and oh wait - "Ari is there something you are trying to see, has something caught your eye perhaps???"


so whats the view from his high chair anyway?

you should have guessed

A mouth full of chompers

This is the best picture we could get to display Ari's teeth
He just doesn't like to show them off
But they are in there... TRUST ME
As of right now he has
four in front (top and bottom)
teeth in the back corners on top and bottom
so ..... that makes 12 teeth!!!!!

Eating Update

So we seem to be doing a little bit better at getting Ari to eat ....
He is still pretty much only eating baby food, (stage 2 &3)
But he is eating with less of a fight





Here he is eating his new favorite (he was never really one for cheerios, but yeah he seems to really like Jumbo Rice Crispies









what a handsome little guy





he is even getting pretty good at feeding himself with his spoons





good grub :)

True LOVE

My Cute little guy

Here is Ari being as cute as he ever is - I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love Ari, and amazingly I fall in love with him more and more everyday

Merry Christmas

I told you I had a lot of catching up to do - So here is a little Christmas recap. We were so excited for Ari's Christmas that we didn't take any pictures of any of the rest of us- oh well - he is the best looking of the bunch especially early in the morning.

Flash Back

While we were at home my mom had me put Ari in this little outfit - it is straight out of the sixties - literally...
This outfit was actually given to my mom (I think by her mom) for my sister Jill - so its really old - and all of us kids have worn it- and now Ari has too...

 
 
 

Are you kidding me ?!?!?!?

 

 

 

 

Poor Uncle Brandon, all he wanted to do was get some stuff done on his laptop.... maybe now he understands why I don't blog as often as I should!!!!!

What's in a Name

Ari BURTON Williams

 

I had no doubt in my mind as soon as we knew we were having a boy, that his middle name would be Burton.

Ari, this is your Opa, Burton. He lives far away, but he is always close to our hearts. I named you after him so he will always be a part of you. There are many things I hope you get from your Opa..... (not just a name)

Your Opa is the hardest worker I have ever known. When he has a job to do, he does not put it off and he does not quit until it is finished (even if he really SHOULD take a break) I hope you inherit his work ethics.

Your Opa is very smart, he knows something about everything and somethings he knows EVERYTHING about. When I was little I remember him teaching me the state capitals and times tables. Your Opa is great at playing games - SkipBo, kings corners, cribbage- you name it he is up to play a hand a two.

Your Opa Burton has the best handwriting I have ever seen. It is so perfect and neat. It doesn't matter what he is writing, be it just a quick note to take to the store or a letter to family - his writing is always clean and neat, never sloppy. This is especially cool because he is left handed - and usually people who are left handed don't write so neatly. I hope you will always take your time in life and not be sloppy... no matter the task.

Your Opa is the best story teller EVER, I will try to do my best to tell you his stories - but I will know they won't be nearly as good. Fatt Johnny and Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox came alive to me every night your Opa told me a story. I hope you get his imagination and creativity.

Ari I know you are well suited for your name. I know you will be strong, honest, caring, eager, neat and intelligent - just like your Opa Burton.
I love you both so much

 

Ari Burton Williams & Opa Burton 12/2008
It was so great to go home so my Dad could meet Ari
Burt and Lil' Burt will be best buds forever!!!

My boys......

Well they are my boys... in one way or another. We were so glad that Brandon could take a break from classes in Madison and come visit for a few days when we were back in Wisconsin- Here is our failed attempt at getting all my boys together for a picture....

 

My little (much bigger then I am) bro keeps reminding me that Berkelee is the 2nd dog I have "given" to my parents to care for --- It's only partially true, sure I brought home Brutus (but you do not argue with Papa Cal, and he told me to take him home) and it wasn't like they weren't aware that I was leaving for college in a few days when I brought home Brut....

 



so fun - Everyone loves Brandon

Wisconsin trip

In December Ari and I took a trip back to Wisconsin (what were we thinking - it was freezing) I think they shouldn't leagally let anyone visit Wisconsin in the winter- it is just way to cold....

 

It was so nice though - Ari was so excited to see his puppy (well a MUCH fatter version, of his puppy)

 

Here is Ari braving the cold so he can get some snow play time - he wasn't that excited about it, I guess he was born to be a California boy (can't say I blame him)

 

 

Catch up...

Okay I just realised how much catch up I need to do on our blog - so I am going to attempt to do a little catching up - please bare with me