In her CRIB!

So, this past week we spent Monday through Thursday up at the cottage. After a week and a half of crazy running around and birthday celebrations left and right, we decided it would be a good idea to just relax for a few days. Add to that the fact that our friends, B and S, and their daughter E, were in town visiting (S's grandmother lives literally about 15 minutes from the cottage) and we had to go!

The weather up there was BEAUTIFUL! It was the most perfect trip we've had up there so far, in my opinion (other than the fact that it was only 4 days).....the combination of beautiful weather, warm and calm lake water, and how QUIET the lake was (we only saw two other boats the ENTIRE week...) made it an absolutely ideal time to be up there. I am hoping we can go back in a couple of weeks, when all the trees are changing color.

It was really nice to see B, S, and E also, and to see E and Audia play together. I wish we had had a bit more time to spend with them, but there's always next summer.

But on to the big news! We decided before we left that upon our return, we would try to sleep train Audia again. We tried back when she was 6 months old, and she cried so hard for so long that she threw up 3 times, and I said 'never again.' But the differences between a 6 month old and a 12 month old are huge, so we decided to give it another go.

This time we did things a little differently. Mainly, I was not in the room at all. Chris stayed with her, in a chair beside her crib, until she fell asleep. And literally 30 minutes after I left the room, I got a text from him saying that she's asleep. THIRTY MINUTES! She woke up a few times during the night, but only fed once (and I'm not sure it was even necessary....in fact, we found that if I didn't take any part in trying to get her back to sleep, she fell back to sleep much faster). We'll see how subsequent nights go....I am still sort of waiting to find out that last night was a fluke......but needless to say I am completely beside-myself-thrilled not only that it only took a half hour, but that there was no vomiting. LOL.

Who knows why some things work for some kids and other things work for others; I certainly don't! But, I am really glad that through it all, we've listened to our gut instincts and followed Audia's cue on so many things. I will never regret co-sleeping.....I think that our co-sleeping is part of the reason that she is so secure and smart and happy, and am confident that it was what she needed. But, I am also so glad that we decided to try sleep training again, because if we had never tried it, we would never know what the possibilities were.