The Vinson Family: January 2009

It's hard to believe that it is almost February and our little guy is going to be turning TWO! Wow!!!!! Here's an update on some new things they are doing:

Rachel is sitting up and saying "Dadda"
Josh is sleeping in a big boy bed
Rachel is eating more solid foods
Josh often doesn't want to have his diaper changed
Rachel gets around by rolling everywhere and is about to crawl
Josh often doesn't like to put clothes on OR take them off
They both love to entertain each other and us
They are both still wonderful and a blessing to spend every day with

For those of you that heard of our struggles over the holidays (I'm referring to Josh transitioning to the bed), we have success! He now goes down for naps and bedtime very well. To recap, here's the story:

The weekend before Christmas when we were out of town, Josh decided to climb out of the pack-n-play twice in one night. It was horrific. We heard a loud thump on the hardwood floors and then painful cries. He was not happy and neither were we, but after consoling, he calmed down. We tried putting him back in the crib (he was so sleepy), but he was also very worked up and still wanted out. Thus, he escaped again! After the same comfort routine, we realized we could not put him back in the pack-n-play so that night Jason layed down with him until he fell asleep. The following night, my Mom was on duty and stayed in the room with Josh while he fell asleep in the pack-n-play.

After that weekend, we knew he wasn't interested at all in sleeping in it anymore but we still tried our crib at home. The first night back he fell asleep in the car and transferred to the crib without a fuss. The next day Jason was in charge of putting Josh down as usual while I was rehearsing at church. Josh fussed in the crib (this fussing reoccured in the past few weeks on and off), but Jason let him cry it out for 20 muinutes.

That night, as we always do, we went in to check on the kids and Josh was in his bed. I asked Jason, "Are you sure you put him in the crib?" "Yes," he said. "Why?" "Well, he's asleep in his bed." We couldn't believe it, but after that night we deicided that it was clear- Josh wanted to sleep in his bed. So, after a week or so of working on keeping him in his bed to go to sleep and not banging on the door for us or trying to escape, we had success. First came happiness at nighttime and then during naptime. The whole ordeal reminded me of how consistency and discipline at an early age really pays off. This success story gives me hope on other areas of discipline that we are working on. I'm so thankful he's sleeping well again. Praise God!