Core and Sleep Secrets

This evening, after a dinner of a mango smoothie, I did Core Secrets ab Assault, a program developed by Gunnar Peterson.
I didn't think it was very hard, and it sure was short (was tempted to do it twice) but it was a lot of fun, especially since I was able to do it upstairs in the family room, with Stefan crawling around me as my personal trainer.

What a treasure he is turning out to be.

This evening I took him to bed at 9 (Boomer passed out at 8 -- no nap again) and put him in his crib awake, gave him his silky and his stuffed hippo, kissed him goodnight, and he didn't even cry, just rolled over and began moaning himself to sleep. I did a much more effective job sleep training Stefan, because I taught him to nap in his crib, and didn't wait until he was asleep to put him in there. I didn't feed him a bottle to sleep. I didn't night feed him untill 10 1/2 months. I didn't drive him around or put him in his car seat to nap. I didn't hold him, while he napped, for 2 hours, twice a day, at around 10 months. I did not make a special nap place on the floor for him, consisting of an egg-crate foam mattress pad inside a duvet cover.

Yes, I did all these things with Boomer. First Time Mama Syndrome.

With Stefan, I simply quit feeding him at night when he turned 9 months. He cried the first two nights for about 20 minutes, and that was it. For naps, just watched for him to rub his eyes, and in the crib he went. He'd yell for 5 minutes, then he was out. The secret was, I didn't listen to the yelling. I turned off the monitor, and flipped it on, to check, every few minutes. 99% of the time, after 5 minutes, I heard silence. Of course, then I'd have to go and check if he was OK, and he was.
Now, he knows what to do when he goes in there, and does it, the sweet little soul. Crib equals great place to get some good z's.

I have to add, though, that their personalities are markedly different. I have no idea if all of the above would have worked with Boomer. And since I will never know, I will not beat myself up, or think I screwed up. Instead, I will enjoy what is right now.

It is pure heaven to get to actually sleep again, and not be awakened by Boomer, screaming, at 4 or 5 AM. He is sleeping until 7:30 (!) Stefan gets up at 6:30, but never screams or cries when he awakens, so I don't bolt upright in bed, heart pounding with the horrible rush of adrenaline I used to get every single morning, courtesy of my firstborn son, who, thank God, is now calling me happily instead of using a meltdown to bring me to his room.

Stefan is almost over his reflux, does not need for his breast milk to be mixed with rice and powdered formula (drinks it straight! Woohoo!) and does not cry in the evenings anymore, on the contrary, he's very joyful. He looks me in the eye with a very flirty smile and declares, "Buh!"
I keep thanking him for showing up. I can't imagine having only Boomer, and Boomer is much better off, because his brother always puts him in a good mood. They have these hugfests and laugh marathons that make my heart just sing. Stefan tries to give Boom kisses. They are going to be very close, I can see it already.

Life is very, very good right now, and I feel rested.
I also feel lighter, and feel that I am taking up less space. It's hard to describe; I don't feel more energy, but I am less tired and can move around with greater ease.

Even my lower back doesn't hurt as much.

Finally.