Soooooo, there is a lot to catch up on!
I'll have to start a month ago, when we tearfully said goodbye to Mama Mary. Mama Mary enjoyed over two months with us in Hilo and is as devoted to Lance as his very own parents. Not only did she shower the little guy with total love and admiration, she took great care of Stef and I too!
When she wasn't hanging with Lance and patiently rocking him to sleep, she was remarking on all of his newly acquired skills and developments.
When she wasn't doing either of these, Mama Mary was in her room, glued to the food network conjuring up the latest gourmet meal to cook us for dinner!As you can guess, when she wasn't doing any of these, Mama Mary was busting her rump in the kitchen (on a regular Tuesday or Wednesday night) working on a multiple course dinner for the family. We were so spoiled!
It goes without saying that having Mama Mary here to help those first few months was invaluable. But, just as valuable to me was the chance to develop my own relationship with the woman who raised my hubby and to know and love each other completely separate from Stefan! We even had the opportunity to gang up on him a couple times for using poor manners! :)
It was also a very special time for Stef to spend with his mom- the most time together in many years!!
We MISS her sooooo much already but she has promised to come back and is campaigning for our next baby to be born in the winter months so that she can escape the cold temperatures in Gainesville (it was 22 degrees yesterday!).A couple of weeks after Mama Mary left, the Harmeling family hopped on the plane to celebrate the holidays with the other side of the family!
Ready to board our first flight! Asleep!
Mid way across the Pacific
Lance was a fantastic airplane traveler and did great on the trip, despite being dragged here and there to run errands, hang with family, and celebrate the holidays.
bundled up
He LOVED being with his cousins. Will and Lance may have been brothers in another lifetime because Will just couldn't get enough of the little guy!
Lance had his official "coming out party" hosted by my mom and sisters and took it all in stride as he met lots of aunties and uncles and got passed around from loving hands to loving hands. Thanks again for the great afternoon!!
As I mentioned above, it has been a month of sleep deprivation for Mommy. Why? Well, partially it was adjusting to the cold, dry California weather which was pretty difficult for Lance. Thankfully, Tera lent the godsend humidifier, which helped a little but the poor guy didn't sleep too well on the trip. More importantly, Lance is officially out of the "fourth trimester" newborn stage and over the past month and a half has become even MORE aware and engaged with this crazy world! He quickly decided what exactly he needed to fall asleep (nursing or bouncing) and would wake up and cry for one or the other several times a night. Ay yay yay! says the mommy who had gotten very used to the 5-7 hour stretches of sleep.
What to do?
Well, start with reading a million books on sleep...
Then consult with your loving sisters...
Then post a cry of help on facebook! What do you know? A girl I played AYSO soccer with in Junior High responded with a title I had not yet poured over! and guess what? It was "the" book!
I really did not think (or hope) that I would fall into the Cry It Out category of sleep training. In fact, I think I thought that I would never have to even sleep train at all! That Lance would continue his long stretches and magically learn how to put himself to sleep! Not so.
With far too many sleepless nights under my belt, Stef and I decided to simply "try" the crying strategy. I kept reminding myself that Lance is learning a VERY important skill- how to fall asleep on his own. That has helped the process. So far, we are a week in and the little monkey almost has it down!! He has officially attached to a lovie blanket and fusses for a few minutes after we put him down, but can now fall asleep on his own! I spent the first few days feeling totally liberated and wondering what to do with the extra 30-45 minutes that I was spending bouncing/rocking/swinging in the hammock to help him fall asleep. Amazing! Now, of course, I am looking back and having my first "It goes by SO fast" moment as a mom. No more falling asleep in my arms?? already?!! The grass is always greener!
Aside from learning how to sleep, Lance has been up to a LOT of talking... all kinds of sounds and squeals that I'm sure are communicating exactly how he's feeling and what he's thinking. And- he working very hard on rolling from back to front! He can somehow get his head from one end of the crib to the other, doing a complete 180, with sheer wiggle power. Lance's other favorite activity is putting his feet in his mouth. He can actually do it when he coordinates his hand placement right! Lance is still a long, lean machine- I don't think we're gonna get a chubby baby here folks... but he is healthy, active, and seems to be pretty happy in his skin!
Happy 2010 everyone!
