Sleep Training, Picnics and Dinner Dates

I have resolved to get Marino to start sleeping in his crib at night. Unfortunately, he has regressed to the point of refusing to sleep anywhere other than in our arms or in the bed with Evan and I. ::sigh:: At 11 months old, its time to get him to start sleeping by himself. After speaking with our pediatrician, she convinced me the best approach would be to let him "cry it out" but with us in a chair next to his crib, so he knows he is safe and not alone. Last night it took 1 hour and 15 minutes of him SCREAMING before he fell asleep. He woke at 1am to eat and then at 3am Evan brought him to bed with us because he was crying, and, well, we are pretty lazy at 3am. Tonight, we had company and he stayed up until they left at 9:30 (!) and then passed out.

A quick AW for myself...I got my grades for the semester and I got an A in both of my classes this semester (::ahem:: my first semester back at school since Marino was born). I've actually never gotten an A in both classes in one semester, so I was pretty pleased with myself. It helps, of course, that they were both classes in Affordable Housing Policy, which is my primary area of interest in my Masters program. But, I've now brought my overall graduate GPA up to a 3.6 so I am pretty pleased with myself. 30 credits down, 18 to go! ::AW over, back to Marino stories::

Today, Marino's daycare had a family picnic and all three of us attended. Unfortunately, we had a monsoon right as it was time for the picnic to start, so the picnic ended up in the gym. Marino attends a daycare for medically fragile children, which has been a blessing for us. We can leave him there without reservations...they totally "get it." They have nurses on staff at all times and the nurses can administer medicine and other medical treatments (such as the nebulizer he needed last month). They also take serious precautions to prevent the spread of infection, which was really critical for us this 1st RSV season. Marino was there 5 months before he had any illness at all (not many daycare mamas can say that!). But more importantly, he is loved there and he loves all of his "teachers" and friends. He has never been upset when I leave him in the morning, he is always excited for the day. They also have monthly and weekly "lesson plans" so the babies are exposed to a number of new concepts. They do arts and crafts, listen to music, read lots of books, do stretches, go for many walks...its awesome. Its been amazing for us and I can only imagine the relief it provides for families of children with greater medical needs.

Here is a picture of Marino with Sharon, the Director of the daycare program. She and Marino are partners in laughter...they both love to laugh (especially with each other).

And here he is with his afternoon teacher, Sherry, who all of us (Marino, Evan and I) all adore.

After the picnic, Marino and I met up with Patti, Miranda and Pacey for dinner (Aunt Kerry was supposed to join us be she had to work:( ). Patti's baby will be here sometime in the next few weeks, I can't believe it! I was just saying at dinner how strange it is that a year ago, none of the 3 of us were moms and now we all are! Here is a picture of everyone...isn't Patti's bump adorable! Can't wait to meet her baby girl!
After dinner Miranda and Pacey came over to play. Pacey is just the happiest baby in the world and completely adaptable to every situation. She and Marino played pretty well together this evening (except when she made her happy noises, which still terrify Marino).

Wish us luck with the sleeping tonight!