Victory Lap for Baby Z

Yeah for Baby Z!!
On Thursday, Baby Z had a full, long nap in the afternoon with only a quick fuss at the 45-minute mark. Yeah!! I can't believe how good it felt to see some progress toward our goal. He was so much happier in the evening after a good afternoon nap. It was such a joy to see him with a full tank of sleep. Even others (we were at my Mom's for dinner) noticed the difference.

Since this last hurdle, I've been thinking more about other challenges we've been through and how God has helped us make it through and I've seen the results of our effort and persistence. It's so easy for me to get focused on the current problem rather than think about the past successes. (And I always thought I would never be like the Israelites who moaned about dying in the desert after God had rescued them so many times.)

So, I wanted to list a few of our past victories to remember how good God is. And, I'll have it written down for the next challenge that comes.

>Spit Up Bonanza - When it felt like feeding always involved a change of clothes for me and Baby Z. It was especially fun when it hit the only pair of pants that fit after just washing them. And then there was the 7 spit-ups-in-a-row time I was convinced that something was very, very wrong with Baby Z and called the doctor sobbing. Unlike the doctor's prediction that he would grow out of it by the time he was one, Baby Z got a lot better after 4 months. I also got a lot better at handling the spit up and only rarely does he get me good. :)

> Sleeping Through the Night - There was a time when Baby Z was resolutely stuck on the 3 hour feeding schedule- waking up exactly every 3 hours all night long. I waited and waited for the magic to kick in when I would just wake up one morning and realize he made it through the night. Nope. I had to work at dropping both of the middle of the night feedings - about 1 or 2 am and then 4 or 5 am. It was always hard to listen to crying at night, when 5 minutes seemed like 20, but we did it. All in all, it usually took 2-3 nights and then we were through it.

>Waking Up At Night (5-6 month-old version -because I'm sure there will be more ahead) - This one was the Pacifier problem I have already written about. We made it through that one too! And Baby Z is sleeping very soundly all night. Just a little bit of chatting early in the morning (around 6:30am or so), and then back to sleep until 8am.

That's it for now. Many more challenges and victories ahead!