Going Crazy!

***April Fools Post***

So Jeanie and I have been going crazy over how difficult it is to be parents. At times Jewell is requiring up to two hours to put her to sleep. That means rocking, shushing, swaddling, and going in a dark room fro two hours! And then many times she'll only sleep only half an hour before waking up.

So Jeanie has been doing some research and we have decided to try the Ferber Method. Otherwise known as cry-it-out. We started trying this method before but it didn't work so well. Jeanie was freaking out and Jewell showed a great ability to cry at full volume for a very long time.

But this time we are prepared. We have developed our own Ferber/Nelson method of teaching a child to put themselves to sleep. In case you didn't follow the supplied link the Ferber method basically involves letting your baby cry themselves to sleep. The modifications that we have made are slight but make a huge difference.

The fact is no one wants to listen to a baby crying for hours. You can try using headphones to block the sound. But really the best solution is to stop the sound at its source. For this you will need a bandanna. Make sure to fold the bandanna into a very thin stip so that you don't cover the baby's nose. Then tie the bandanna tightly around the baby's mouth. (Note that it is very important to swaddle the baby tightly so they can't pull the silencer off.)

The next modification to the Ferber method in the Ferber/Nelson method is suspension. You need to make the baby feel like they are in the womb so they will be comfortable. We toyed around with the idea of a water tank but Jewell had so much trouble breathing with the regulator that we tossed that idea. So we decided that hanging the baby by their feet would be the best solution. (It works just like in the first Batman movie.)

So starting tonight we will begin Jewell's sleep training. We are quite confident we will have a happy, well rested baby in no time at all with these new changes.

Happy Two Months Jewell!

Today is Jewell's two month birthday. Hooray! Jeanie and I celebrated by going out to Coldstone and using our buy one get one free coupon. So we ate some tasty ice cream and then walked around while Jewell slept in the Baby Bjorn. Unfortunately she woke up before we got to the car and started fussing. She was all out screaming by the time we got home. She just doesn't like her car seat.

Since I forgot to bring my camera on the ice cream trip I snapped a few shots of her on her changing table so you can compare her at birth, one month, and two months. She really has grown.

Birth

One MonthTwo Months

New Clothes!

Jewell received some new clothes just in time for her 2 month birthday. The white shirt/dress is from Jewell's Grandpa Joel. He got it on his trip to Mexico. He was there for some sort of archeology conference or meeting or something. (I actually prefer to think that story is a cover for his real reason to go to Mexico -- to check up on his drug business.)

The other two outfits were a surprise from our totally awesome friend Britt. Jewell and Emery were already destined to be BFF but now I'm pretty Britt is one Jewell's best friends too. Jewell loves her new outfits and can't wait to grow into them. I'll put some pics of Jewell wearing them as soon as she can wear them.

Easter Dresses

Elisabeth and Jewell both had very cute Easter dresses. This morning Elisabeth was being absolutely adorable towards Jewell.

Elisabeth Loves Jewell

Jewell is vary smiley these days. It's pretty rare that I catch it on film (digital film) though. Today was one of my lucky days.

Happy Easter!

We are spending our Easter at Heath and Michele's place. We had the egg hunt the day before because that worked better with Elisabeth's nap schedule than Sunday afternoon. I played two roles in this event: Easter Bunny and photographer.

Bad Bunny

Two at Once

Jewell's Outside Time

More Easter at the Other Nelsons

So Heath tells me that his daughter Elisabeth has been playing like many of her stuffed toys are babies lately. Well when a real baby showed up Elisabeth still didn't know quite what to do. (I think it's fortunate she didn't treat the real baby the same as her toys.)

Heath and Jewell

So Heath was coaching her a little but on what to do. The extent of her interaction so far has been to pat Jewell on the head, point out her body parts when Heath names them off, and to feign like she is kissing her. It's absolutely adorable!

You are Healed!

Easter at the Other Nelson's

So pretty much everyone in the family had met Jewell except my brother's wife Michele. So Jeanie and I decided that we should and spend Easter weekend at their place in Salem. So far we have already learned a few things:

• Leaving Seattle on I-5 South at 3:15 pm is a bad idea.
• Jewell doesn't like traveling.
• Jewell can cry at full volume for 45 minutes straight.
• Traveling with children can make or break a relationship.
• Jeanie is very forgiving.
• Trying to pass a semi at night, in the rain, with a screaming baby in the car is very difficult.
• And no matter what happens I will always love my little Jewell.

Jewell Doesn't Need to Walk

It looks like Jewell has decided to bypass walking and move right on to more efficient means of locomotion. You'll have to see it to believe it. (If you check this right after I post the video probably won't be live yet.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While Jewell and I decided to forego the green beer and corned beef hash we were still feeling a little bit festive today.

Juicy Jewell

So I'm taking my morning shower and Jeanie comes in the bathroom shouting, "Look!" I'm thinking "Oh no! Something is wrong with Jewell." Fortunately that wasn't the case. It was an exclamation of cuteness not of trouble. Jeanie had that Jewell fit her Juicy Couture jacket that is sized for a 6 month old. Jeanie was so excited. Jewell does look mighty cute in her little jacket. It is a present from Jeanie's Mom. She started looking for in on Ebay not long after Jewell was born. There are matching pants but those are still way too big.

A little Jewell in Juicy Couture.

Bonus Picture

More Video

Here's a little video of Jewell that I just uploaded. It's just some test footage that I shot and decided to put online since I already had it on the computer.

Getting an Early Start

We have had a fair amount of sunny (or not overly rainy) weather lately in Seattle. This has inspired me to start looking at my local climbing guidebooks again. So I took the opportunity to bond with my daughter. We're covering two of my favorite hobbies here -- reading and climbing.

Baby E's Very Own Post

Elisabeth Profile, originally uploaded by longroper.

I was looking through my photos from the weekend and I saw this wonderful picture of Baby E that I had forgotten about. I like this picture so much that I am dedicating a post just to this picture. Enjoy.

Baby Blessing

Our little family outside of the church.

Jewell in her little white dress.

I gave Jewell her baby blessing in church yesterday. We did it in Milton-Freewater because a lot of our family was already in town for Trevor's wedding. It was great that we could do it there because my Grandpa was able to stand in. Jeanie's parents, sister, grandmother, and aunt all made it for the blessing. Her aunt came all the way from Mesa, AZ. It was great to have them there. The whole weekend really reminded me what a blessing it is to have such a wonderful immediate and extended family.

Four Generations

Yesterday we had four generations of the Athay family together. We had Great Grandma and the three J. Lorraines (from left to right: Jewell, Jeanie, Beth, Joyce).

Cousins

This last Thanksgiving Jeanie and I went to Jeanie's grandmother's house in Vancouver, WA. Well my brother Heath doesn't live too far from there so we met up and went to the mall in Vancouver together. We made a stop at the Children's Place and bought some matching outfits for Jewell (then unborn) and Elisabeth. It was the first article of clothing that I picked out for Jewell. This weekend is the first time we have been able to get Jewell and Elisabeth together for a photo shoot. Elisabeth didn't totally understand what was going on but with Heath's help we still managed to get some good photos. (I'm sure Jewell didn't understand what was happening either but she isn't mobile enough to escape.) Here are a few of them: