Being the Borquez's

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Thanks to Ferber, Scout and prayers!

Thanks to the Ferber method and Scout my little big boy has finally graduated to sleeping through the night in his own crib. Yay! I can hardly believe it myself. Chris and I have been wanting to start the Ferber Method (graduated extinction) for several weeks now and it seemed like we were continually putting it off but for very valid reasons. We were all sick at one point and then Super had a couple more teeth we waited to pop through before tackling our sleep issue. Kal-el seemed pretty tired Saturday after our visit with the Easter Bunny so Chris and I decided that this was a great time to try to get him accustomed to getting to sleep on his own in his crib. Chris carried Super upstairs at about 9:30. He generally doesn't start to show any sings of sleepiness until around this time, sometimes even later but he was already spent from our busy day. The process started off very similar to our previous Ferber attempts. As soon as he was laid down in his crib he started squaling. Chris stayed in the room with him but didn't look at him or interact with him whatsoever. I kissed him goodnight and walked across the hall to our bedroom to put some laundry away and get my mind off my crying, miserable baby. A turned the video monitor in our bedroom on so I could observe the progress with the sound turned down a little. Fifteen minutes into my folding I realised that I no longer heard crying...could it be? I glanced over at the monitor and saw that sweetest thing. Kal-el had crawled over to Scout, a green dog toy that Mom and Aunt Vicki got him for his birthday and cuddled up to him, cried one last time then laid his little head on him and fell asleep. Scout is precious, he plays music, talks, and is programmed to call your childs name. Kal-el wasn't on the list of names b/c it's a unique name but Thomas was so the puppy toy calls him by his first name. I received a text message from Chris saying " He just fell asleep...I love you..don't reply back". Of course I already knew this b/c I had just seen it for myself. We were so excited and proud of him. What I thought would take all night and alot of tears ..from me and him..ended up being a smooth transition with minimal crying. We did carry him back to our bed at about 4am of this first night. I'm all about gradual exposure to something new, at this point we were just so happy that he was able to lay down and fall asleep by himself. He previously wouldn't even lay down if he was sleepy instead he would stand up and cry until someone came to hold him and help him get to sleep.

Sunday was the second night of Ferber and it went even better than the first. We were pleased because this is exactly how this method is supposed to work. Kal-el woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night. We let a few minutes pass then Chris and got up to go comfort him .I glanced at the monitor and saw him stop crying and crawl over to Scout and do the same thing he had done previously. He snuggled up to him and fell asleep. It was a bitter sweet moment for me because I used to be Scout. All night long I would be the one he would snuggle with and sleep on but at the same time I was so happy that my little boy has learned to soothe himself to sleep. Now his Dada and I can get some sleep without having to worry about rolling over on our man. I'm grateful that prayers were answered and each night just gets easier. Last night Super didn't even so much as whimper when we put him in at bedtime he just hugged Scout and drifted off to dreamland!

I took this right after he fell asleep..how sweet is this?

Cuddleing with Scout :)

The green pup of sleep himself

He still wakes up perfectly happy..and is every bit the same

baby for all of you Ferber critics :) Check out those dimples!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Extended Easter..Visit with Aunt Kiki

This evening when I got off work Mimsy and I carried Super over to his Aunt Kiki's house to visit. We had planned to visit the day before, on Easter but little man ended up getting sleepy and rather fussy after dinner so we headed home instead. Aunt Vicki made Kal-el the cutest bunny cake I think I've ever seen and it was just too yummy. She also got him an adorable little stuffed easter bunny. Super adores all things stuffed. While we were sitting around talking and catching up we hear a really loud car alarm going off and couldn't understand where it was coming from. I happen to glance over at Kal-el and he has confiscated Aunt Vicki's key ring and was pressing every button on it with a mischievous look on his little face..Rotten! But we knew that :) We all had such a nice visit. We look forward to more in the future. Kal-el has a blast spending time with Aunt Vicki!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Weekend

What a great weekend it has been! It seems like its Kal-el first Easter simply b/c last year he was a newborn and too young to enjoy it and I was still recovering from my cesarean. To kick off Super's 2nd Easter we began the festivities Saturday night with a trip to the mall to see the flea bag err umm I mean the Easter Bunny lol. As Chris and I walked to the back of the very looong line of bunny attackers we began discussing how we thought our beautiful little boy would deal with the pastel ball of fur in frount of him. As we walked up I remember Chris saying "You don't think he'll hit him do you?" I sort of shrugged then replied "very real possibility". We walked up to the bunny of easter and lo and behold Kal-el reached out for him. Double sighs of relief from Chris and I. Oh good he thinks he's just a really big stuffed animal. Yet another surpise as munchkin begins kissing the bunny and squealing to him in baby talk followed by a really big hug. He refused to even go to Dada when it was the next child's turn. He always wants his Dada but he was just so in love with the bunny for the time being. When Chris put him down briefly he tried to toddle back over to floppy ears just one more time. We paid the over priced penalty for visiting the bunny then headed home. We put Kal-el in his own crib and put the Ferber method to the test. We stayed strong and in 20 min he was out...sound asleep. Hopefully tonight will be as successful. Additional post on this subject to follow so stay tuned! Easter morning we all got ready to go to church . I feel bad because we hadn't been in over month but Chris's Sunday work schedule has been all over the place. Super got to enjoy the company of the other sweet children at our church via a visit to the church daycare following a nice little fit that lead to him throwing his head back and frolicing on the floor. He was wonderful in the nursery however and Chris and I got to go back in the sanctuary and enjoy the message. Following church Nannie, Poppa, Mimsy, Kal-el, Chris and myself headed to Fiesta to eat. We decided to forgo the traditional Easter lunch/dinner and just take it easy and enjoy each other's company. We had a great time and Kal-el loves Mexican food. I wonder where he got that from? Our family had a great Easter this year. I look forward to when Super can enjoy an Easter egg hunt and understand the real meaning of Easter. In the mean time he got a whole table's worth of Easter goodies! Happy Easter! :)

My boys are munching on Peeps..Yum!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Kal-el's First Haircut

Not a big change and there was certainly no destroying of curls but alas today was the day that Super got a much needed trim marking April 1st as his very first hair cut. Yay! Chris and I were more than ready despite begs and pleas from several family members urgeing us not to "touch that baby's hair." We stressed to them that we had absolutely no intentions of giving him a buzz cut and that we merely desired to trim the very ends of his new curls to give a little body to his fine hair. That and the fact the back was getting way too long and I have a serious phobia in regards to mullets. No really. Oh yes and the hair growing over his ears on each sides gave the illusion of little wings. He is my angel but these had to go. When the hair police aka our family members tured their heads we slipped out the back door towards Dwight Cox's scissors. He is the best with all things hair not to mention he is a truely wonderful human being. Kal-el was such a good boy in his chair while Dada held him. Dwight even remarked what a happy baby he is. Munchkin seemed to really enjoy himself and we couldn't be happier with the results...no shock there...not a big change..it was perfect...just what he needed...and everyone can rest easy the curls are still in tact :)