Trying to keep up...

I told myself that I would do my best to try to keep up with this blog. As my wife put it, it's going to be a record for our daughter and I don't want it to be a patchwork of memories. I am hoping that this will be somewhat continuous and flow easily (although I can't promise anything).

While I have to admit that there were some frustrating times after Isla was born, I think that was due more to a lack of sleep than Isla crying or being fussy. She is actually one of the most content little babies that I have ever seen. It was hard at first to get any real sleep, but Heather and I eventually figured out a schedule where I would get up during the night so she could sleep, and then after Heather left for work, I would get to crash for a few hours. Most of the time, with eyes barely open, I would make my way to Isla's room in the middle of the night (getting through our obstacle course in the apartment was a task in itself), feed her and rock her to sleep. Easy enough. It was the few nights in between all of the easy ones that would make it frustrating. It seemed that no matter what I tried, Isla would wriggle and squirm and cry. I didn't do anything different from any other night, so how could I be doing something wrong?

                                                             {such a sweet little girl}

It wasn't until at least several weeks after Isla was born that I had my "Ah-ha!" moment. After feeding Isla one night and doing my best to rock and sing every lullaby under the sun, Isla began her ritual of doing her best to break free. I have always been afraid of both letting her slip out of my arms and squeezing to tight, but when she attempted to escape, I held her a little more firmly and it seemed to calm her down. I couldn't believe something worked! I felt like I had to hold my breath and not make any sudden movements....it took all of five minutes to get her back to sleep from that point. And from that night on, I was the self-proclaimed master of getting our daughter back to sleep. And if you were to ask me what my favorite item is that we got for Isla, I wouldn't hesitate to say "The Sleep Sack!". It's an easy choice when, at 13 weeks, she's sleeping about 10 hours straight during the night.