The Crying It Out Is Wearing Me Out

This whole crying it out thing has been hard on me. Vivian still wakes up in the morning wearing a big happy smile, and she naps whenever she feels like it. I, on the other hand, am quite tired. Funny, the first night that she finally went 12 hours without waking up did not go well for mama. I was awakened at 12:30 am with a big pee pee situation from one who drank too much on a hot summer evening spent outdoors. So after weeks and weeks of feeding a baby in the middle of the night, she slept and I was up again. Henry woke up at 1 am today with a 101.5 fever. This is as low energy as he's been in ages. The poor guy doesn't feel well. I took to the basement for my workout, and she asked me to hold him on my back on the treadmill. I did it for him. He just wanted to be close to mommy. All in all, Miss Vivian has made it over a huge sleep hump. Her wakings have moved from 2 am to closer to 4 am, and she'll go back to sleep on her own without nursing. This is huge, and I'm thrilled. She has slept 12 hours straight twice in the last week, so I mustn't complain. She's so fat and cute. Five months?! She's going to crawl and take steps before I know it. Henry calls her Vivian, instead of Baby Sis, now. I love the sound of her name on his lips. So sweet.

Yesterday Olivia was playing with Henry, and she teasingly said, "Henry, do you love Maggie?" Maggie is one of her friends. Henry said, "No, I love BALLS!" He does, too. He dribbles the soccer ball at his sister's baseball games. He played catch and throw with the volleyball at another baseball game. He "shoots hoops" and asks to "hit baseballs" at every opportunity.

The swimming is coming along nicely. Ev is really progressing. She can kick and do arm strokes and cover some water with her face in the pool. Henry just jumps off the stairs to me and either kicks or does the "reach and pull" move. Olivia watched him underwater and about choked on water after laughing at seeing his huge underwater smile.

I love summertime with my children. We're really having fun. I'll hate to see it end.