Weekend in DC

This past week Tani had a number of milestones. He starting crawling forward on his hands and knees - a few weeks before he was getting around on his belly. Also Tani's 4th tooth came through! He was having difficult nights during the week - we think from the teething pain. On Thursday night we drove down to DC to see Grandma Susan and Grandpa Morris. Tani slept on the drive down and was suprised and delighted to see Grandma Susan when he woke up. Grandpa Morris made a wonderful Shabbat dinner the next night and Tani enjoyed chicken and sweet potatoes. On Saturday Tani picked up Cheerios and was able to feed himself. Eating is an even more enjoyable activity now and Cheerios have risen to the top of his favorite food list - Tani can feed himself peas too but they're a little harder to manage and he sometimes needs help from his mommies if he wants the majority of them to end up in his mouth. We took walks with Tani to the Washington Mall. The solar decathalon was taking place - very inspiring to see college students designing and building homes that run just on solar power. We had a wonderful visit and were sad to leave Sunday morning.

Sleep

We've been working on helping Tani to sleep better over the past 6 weeks, starting in earnest on August 24, with the help of Dr. Weisbluth's book and the support of our pediatrician. Tani had been waking up every 1-2 hours all night and Mommy Melissa was exhausted and it was only three weeks before High Holidays. In fact, she was waking up every hour or two even if Tani hadn't woken up. We had read multiple books and talked to family, friends, and colleauges about the best ways to help babies sleep through the night. We thought we'd never let him cry but realized that might be the best solution for all (ok, sometimes the generation that came before us is right!). Mommy Melissa made him special pajamas with the Hebrew names of the angels on them to protect him. We put him to bed ~7 pm after a bath, book, and songs - he had previously been going to bed at 9 pm. Mommy Neysa thought he'd cry all night if we didn't go to soothe him. Tani's mommies prayed for him to sleep and for God to be with him. He did cry for 45 minutes but then fell asleep and slept for four hours (that's what we remember anyway). Mommy Melissa did nurse him then and when he was finished put him back to sleep and he fell asleep quickly. We can't remember if he slept until 6 am or woke at 4 am, but whatever it was this was a great improvement - he slept much better and was happier during the day and Mommy Melissa was able to get better sleep herself. We are also more conscious of helping Tani get his morning and afternoon naps. When we wakes from his naps he is ready to explore the world. When he's tired he gets frustrated easily. Melissa wrote her Rosh Hashanah sermon about overcoming fear and experiencing awe, inspired by our experiences helping Tani to fall asleep.