Long, Sleepless Nights

This week has been long, for Madison has not been sleeping well, which we have learned is the parents' fault, but as my parents will probably think when they read this, it is always the parents' fault. Pretty much everything we have done to put Madison asleep, feeding her before bed or when she wakes up, rocking/bouncing her, sleep with them are all things we have been doing in our desperate attempt to keep Madison sleeping through the night. It does not help that our house is 800 sq feet, and her crib is less than 8 feet from our heads, and though the sleep deprevation is not helping her brain development, the screaming has definitely developed her lung capacity. Seriously, it is a big deal, for Shelly and My sanity and for Madison's own well being, and so this afternoon, it was not surprising to find both Shelly and I reading books on infant sleeping habits. To be honest, just the fact that there is more than one book on infant sleep problems comforts me and reassures my psyche that Shelly and I are not the worst parents out there, just inexperienced. The solution to helping Madison sleep is to not get her in the night, and let her cry it out when she wakes up. This is harder for Shelly to do than me -I have no problem tuning out the screaming- so I gave Shelly some earplugs, which she took as a joke, but I believe that she might reconsider after these next couple of days.

Last week her big development (besides not sleeping through the night) was to consistantly roll over from her stomach to her back. She can not go the other way (back to stomach), and, as much as she as being on her stomach, I don't think she is in any rush, but this was a huge milestone anyway.

This week Madison is suppose to become more social. Studying people's faces, iniating smiling or laughing, and she should start and trying to sit up. Well, I am a little skeptical on her sitting, but she is definitely a social baby. She loves people, and no matter how much of a terror she can be to her parents, she always puts on her best behavior for other people, and Shelly and I have to convince others that she is not the perfect little angel she appears.

Well, the Super Bowl is over, and I think the Bud Light commercials take the cake, but in the Hummer commercial with Godzilla and some robot, and they give birth to an H3, which they call their little monster, Madison is driving the Hummer. Seriously, look close next time you see the commercial.