Happy Friday! As Little Buddy approaches his five-month milestone, we want to hear your thoughts on sleep training. Since he was born, our routine has always been to wrap him up in his soft blanket, turn on a TV show, and let him fall asleep all cuddled up to us. (Mr. Handsome is usually the one to put him to sleep, while I get things done or relax.) Then once he is fully out, we swaddle him and put him to bed.
Some nights it’s very smooth and quick, other nights he fusses and fights it. When he was really little, we had to walk him around the living room for what felt like an eternity, and we are grateful that he doesn’t usually require that anymore. Little Buddy sleeps through the night most of the time now (usually wakes up between 5:00 and 7:00am), and to say that we are thrilled is an understatement. When he does wake up in the middle of the night, I am able to wrap him in his blanket and rock him back to sleep. On days when he wakes up early in the morning, he usually wants to go down for a nap almost right away. Our son definitely likes his sleep!
We are constantly being told to “watch out” because our next child is likely going to be a terrible sleeper. We have joked about it, but for now, we are just feeling very grateful.
I will say, though, that what Little Buddy lacks in overnight fussiness, he makes up for in daytime fussiness…
From the time he was a few weeks old (after the “baby honeymoon” phase passed, when he would just sleep all the time), he has been pretty fussy on most days. Not unhappy, but just especially particular about frequent diaper changes, feedings every two hours (that’s the downside of a baby that sleeps through the night–he still wants to eat the same amount in a 24-hour period, so that means feeding ever two hours during the day), and naps whenever he desires them. (Unless we are running errands and he conks out in his car seat, he requires that we hold him while he falls asleep, sometimes through a lot of tears.)…
Back in 2015 and 2017, I released posts titled “Ask Ellie” and “Ask Ellie 2.0.” Tons of readers submitted questions, and I answered them in blog posts and videos. Since it’s been a while, I wanted to do another “Ask Ellie” post.
Merry Christmas to all of my wonderful blog readers! How are you celebrating? What I love about holidays like Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter is that they are celebrated by people across the world, each with their own traditions. It’s just really neat to me to think about millions (if not billions) of folks from different countries and backgrounds, although thousands of miles apart, all focused on the same thing at the same time.
With my due date less than four weeks away, we are nearing the end of this pregnancy journey and are very ready to meet our son. I’m also eager to have labor, delivery, and recovery behind me. Mr. Handsome and I have chosen to deliver our baby at a hospital under the care of a nurse midwife. I have had a few minor complications during pregnancy that likely won’t cause any issues during labor, but in case something comes up, we like the idea of having access to emergency care.
Throughout my pregnancy, countless people have asked if I have had any cravings, and the answer has always been no. With morning sickness, certain foods (like fruit and carbs) have been easier to eat than others, but I haven’t found myself desperately desiring something specific. In the past few days, however, another common pregnancy “phenomenon” has hit me in a big way: Nesting.
The day after Thanksgiving, I jumped in the car at 8am to do a few hours of Black Friday shopping, and the first thing I noticed (aside from the frost on the windshield and the frigid morning air) was that quite a few radio stations had suddenly started playing Christmas music. We still had turkey and stuffing leftovers in the fridge and pie crumbs on the table, but Thanksgiving was over, and Christmas had officially begun.
With 
