Alynne is 15 weeks old today! It has been a heck of a week! Friday, I had to leave work early to take her to the doctor for her diaper rash, (remember when I said it wasn’t bad? lol). It turned out to be a fungal infection, but fortunately it doesn’t bother her at all. Then Saturday began our process of teaching Aly to self soothe, which I will get to shortly. Other than that, we are starting to get into a routine of play dates with a couple neighbors. It’s been fun, and I can’t wait for to actually be able to play! 3 months old is such a fun age!

Feeding 
Nothing has changed here!

Sleeping
So like I said, Saturday we started our adventures of self-soothing. For the last several weeks Aly has been waking up in the middle of the night wanting her paci back, and instead of this getting better, it just kept getting worse (Friday night I was up 7 times with her). It also had spilled into her naps. She would wake halfway through her nap wanting her paci back. So we decided we had to try something because we are both exhausted! So I will go into detail about what we did for my future self to remember (and anyone else who cares).

We would give her her paci to start out with. If she spit it out (which she almost always did), we would let her cry for 15 minutes before we would come give it back to her and console her. If she spit it out again, we’d wait another 15 minutes, and so on. Let’s just say it’s been a rough few days. But I am forever grateful for my mommy friends who have encouraged me along the way. A dear friend shared this verse with me to pray over Aly: “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” –Proverbs 3:24

We said we would try it for a week and see how things go. It has been incredibly emotionally tiring. We are currently on the 5th day. At first, we didn’t seem to be seeing much progress really. Naps were crazy. Nights were long. Finally, last night we decided to put her down for bed without her paci. And she actually fell asleep within 15 minutes, and slept all the way until she ate at 5, and then right back down until I woke her at 8:10!!! This is what we’ve been aiming for! We were overjoyed this morning to say the least. We have continued the no paci thing all day today, and so far, the max she has cried is 10 minutes and she hasn’t woken up mid nap yet! I think we found the culprit!! We are praying that tonight goes well like last night. I am so proud of my baby girl. I knew she could learn to go to sleep on her own, we just needed to push her a little.

And you know what, Monday night as I listened to my daughter cry, I couldn’t help but be pointed back to God. I love my daughter so much, and it is so incredibly hard to hear her crying, but I know that the outcome will be good and is in her best interest. Multiply that times infinity- How painful must it have been for God to watch His son Jesus die on the cross and not intervene, knowing that it would save the world? I can’t even begin to fathom the love that God has for His children. I am so thankful God has entrusted me to be a mom, and that He uses it daily to teach me.

Wake Time
Aly still stays awake for about 1.25 hours before being ready for naptime. She does very well with independent playtime. She has started reaching for toys more. If she’s laying nearby a toy she wants, she will stretch and wriggle her body to reach it. Yesterday while Ron was in the other room, Aly had scooted all the way off of her little play mat! She is going to be on the move before we know it.

Schedule 
We have tried to stick to her schedule as best as possible, despite our sleep training craziness! So not much new there!

Here's some of this week's favorite pics!

Alynne Tiffany- Week 15